John 6:36-71 "HOW IS IT... HOW CAN... WHO CAN...? The seven great "I AM" statements in John's Gospel as to Jesus' deity, leave no question as to what He meant when He said, "I AM the Bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst." In these statements He plainly identified Himself as God in all areas of human experience and need. As the Giver and Sustainer of life, the Bread of Life has come and been given to us that we can life forever. Hunger and thirst are two of the things, men cannot do for themselves and we cannot survive without either or both. Our hunger can only be satisfied by what God provides from the earth, and our thirst can only be quenched when we find the water He placed in, on or above the earth. In the same way the need of our spiritual hunger and thirst can only be met by God. Knowing and doing the will of God satisfies our souls and the Lord Jesus promised lasting security to those who come to Him.
It is true God chooses people to be saved, but He does not choose people to be lost. In grace, and by His grace He saves those He chooses. We, on the other hand, have to accept our personal responsibility to repent and believe the Gospel. Our believing doesn't save us, but when we willingly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God saves us Himself. We believe on Him and keep on believing on Him through our whole life; not to keep saved but because God has saved us and our faith is in Him. God guarantees eternal life to all who come to Him by faith. Our salvation is made secure by the One in whom we have placed our faith. Faith goes before sight and prepares our souls to understand the Gospel, our hearts to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and our will to obey Him.
Most people in the years the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth only thought of Him as a man, a carpenter from Nazareth, and would not accept His message nor commit themselves to Him nor submit to His demands to believe on Him in order to come to God. He came with a message that was rejected by most of the people of His day. But to reject the message, is to reject the Messenger - what a serious choice that is. When we receive Him, His life, becomes our life. When He said, "I AM the Bread of Life...," He was stating the fact of His deity. The facts of His Person are taught to us in the early verses of this portion of scripture and then His Purpose is made plain. That purpose is that we would have everlasting life. Eternal life is in Christ alone and we are able to receive that gift when we receive Him. All forms of religious pretense people have done to make themselves acceptable to God have no place in the Christian life. All the "How" questions: How is it..." in regards to Jesus coming down from heaven; "How can..." in regards to eating His flesh; "Who can..." in regards to Him and the Father as one, are often asked of us when we submit to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith even though we do not understand all He says, and can't satisfy every trick question people might ask.
When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, His death on the cross for our sins, and His resurrection from among the dead for our justification, we are united to Him. As the Living Bread He gives and sustains our spiritual life. By trusting in Him by faith, the Holy Spirit gives us the desire and power to do His will, reveals God's truth to us, and enables us to represent our Lord where we live. The spiritual life-giving nourishment of His Person and His life in us, makes possible the reality of godly, holy living. To eat His flesh and drink His blood is obviously not physical but spiritual nourishment. The people back then who heard Him speak knew what He meant but excused themselves from the commitment of partaking of His life and following Him, by the lame excuse of calling it a hard saying.
It is abhorrent to people now to submit to being a participant in the life of the Lord Jesus because it interferes with the life of pleasure and self-seeking the people of the world want. There is no half-way to serve God. Eternal life now and the life-style associated with it, is offensive to the enemies of God. Many such people reject the interest and friendship of one who walks in the Spirit. Some who seemed at first to have an interest in spiritual things when they first hear the Gospel, soon realize faith in Christ changes our life from being compatible with the world and the flesh, to one contrary to those attractions.
The people the Lord was speaking to that day were offended when they heard Him say He was the Living Bread that came down from heaven. What would they say if they saw Him ascend into heaven? Some things are only understood by the Spirit's teaching, not by our fleshly instincts and experience. So who are we really, and what are we willing to do when the lines between the flesh and the Spirit are clearly drawn? Peter's answer to the Lord was simple and to the point, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the Living God." There is no one else we also can go to for eternal life. The blessings of eternal life are not all realized when we first trust the Savior. The conflict and tension that accompanies faith in Christ alone apart from religion and man's ideas, cannot be avoided. We have to go to the Living Bread and commit ourselves to follow Him.