Provision

“Who is Jesus?” – Message 1

April 28, 2019

1. Introduction (John 6:1-25; C/R: Exodus 3:14; Hebrews 13:8)
2. If I asked you to tell me who you are, what would you say?
3. How would you describe yourself? (Most begin by naming our occupations.)
4. We will begin a new series today which asks the question, “Who is Jesus?”
5. Jesus used word pictures to identify Himself, He utilized illustrations to inform His hearers about His nature, His character and His work.
6. The Bible includes many names for Jesus (over 700 in one list), but we will focus on seven images (metaphors) He used to define Himself in the book of John.
7. These references are unique because Jesus begins each one by saying, “I AM.”
8. The Jews to whom Jesus spoke knew that I AM was the personal name of God (YAHWEH), first spoken to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).
9. “I Am” = YHWH: the self- existent , self- sufficient , ever- present One.
10. Transliterated as “Yahweh,” and “Jehovah” in KJV. (Tetragrammaton: 4 letters)
11. Jesus was identifying Himself as God.
12. The first image is found in our theme verse: John 6:35 (NLT)— Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry again.”
13. Bread was the ordinary staple of the Jewish people of Judea and Galilee in the 1 ^st century, supplemented occasionally by fish or meat and other foods.
14. When Jesus referred to bread, He meant more than simply baked dough made from flour, water, salt yeast; He meant sustenance in all its forms, nourishment necessary to support life.
15. Jesus was declaring Himself divine, and saying that He will provide all that we need to live.

1. BACKGROUND (of John 6): [Please read this whole chapter.]
2. A crowd followed Jesus because they saw His miraculous healing. (John 6:1-4)
3. When mealtime arrived, Jesus fed 5000 men and also women and children with five barley loaves and two small fish from a boy. (John 6:5-11)
4. The disciples took a boat across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. (John 6:16-18)
5. Jesus joined them by walking across the water to reach their boat. (John 6:19-21)
6. Then people came across the lake looking for Him. (John 6:23-24)
7. John 6:25 (NLT)— They found Him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did You get here?” [They asked because the disciples took the only boat and left without Him (John 6:22).]
8. Jesus didn’t answer; He redirected the conversation.
9. APP.: Have you noticed how often we ask God a question and He redirects the conversation?
10. This morning we will learn…

1. How to be Sustained by God: (John 6:26-59)

1. #1 - Pursue eternal life, not perishable things. (John 6:26-27; C/R: Ecclesiastes 6:7; Matthew 6:31-33; Philippians 3:18-19)
2. John 6:26-27 (NLT)— ²⁶  Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with Me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. [Revealing Him as Messiah] ²⁷  But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given Me the seal of His approval.”
3. Jesus identified the people’s real reason for following Him: free food.
4. For these people, obtaining enough food was often difficult because of shortages caused by droughts, or because, even when plentiful, they couldn’t afford it.
5. These people were so focused on getting this food for free that they overlooked that this man might be the long-awaited Messiah sent from God!
6. Are we more concerned with having God solve a problem or supply a need than we are to know Him and to experience eternal life? [Ecc.6:7; Phil.3:18-19]
7. The Scripture says, if we seek God first , He will supply all of our other needs!
8. [Screen] Matthew 6:31–33 (NLT)— ³¹  “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³²  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.”
9. APP.: Do you spend your time trying to make, or improve, your living or by investing in eternity? [The immediate and urgent are distracting us from what is truly and eternally important!]

Another way to be Sustained by God is to…

1. #2 - Practice faith , don’t demand proof . (John 6:28-33; C/R: John 5:24; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-5; Hebrews 11:1,6)
2. John 6:28–31 (NLT)— ²⁸  They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”

²⁹  Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent.”

2. To Jewish hearers, obtaining eternal life consisted of performing works of righteousness that would please God.
3. Their question implied that they thought they could—and they must—satisfy God’s requirements through their own efforts. [Eph.2:8-9; Titus 3:4-5]
4. John 6:30–31 (NLT)— ³⁰  They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if You want us to believe in You. What can You do? ³¹  After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” [John 2:18-19; 5:24; 20:24-29; Heb.11:1,6]
5. This is puzzling since they had already seen the miracle of the loaves and fishes.
6. Rather than believing based on what they had already observed and how they had benefited, they demanded more proof—another miracle.
7. Some of us are behaving in the same way: rather than trusting Jesus based on what we’ve already seen and heard, we want Him to fix our problems, find us a job, heal our sickness, repair our relationship, or perform some other supernatural act before we trust in Him.
8. APP.: What am I demanding from God before I believe in Him?
9. Demanding further evidence from Jesus demonstrates doubt, not faith!

To be sustained by God, …

1. #3 - Perceive of provision from God, not people . (John 6:31-33; C/R: John 3:27; Romans 8:32; Philippians 4:19)
2. John 6:31 (NLT)— "After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
3. These Jews wanted Jesus to provide an on-going supply of bread like Moses did for their ancestors for 40 years in the wilderness!
4. But He corrected their understanding of Moses as their provider.
5. John 6:32-33 (NLT)— ³²  Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now He offers you the true bread from heaven. ³³  The true bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” [John 3:27]
6. APP.: Do you know that God is the provider of all that you have, not yourself or someone else? (He gave you, not only the job, but the ability to perform the job!)
7. Jesus explained that God, not Moses, provided the manna, then added that God offers something greater: true bread from heaven.
8. Undermining Moses’ status likely offended these people because they thought the manna proved Moses’ position and confirmed their right relationship with God.
9. The manna sustained their lives for forty years; but did not provide eternal life and did not even secure their relationship with God.
10. Jesus was saying that being Jewish, even benefitting from the blessings of God was not sufficient; they needed to believe in Him personally to be related to God, to receive eternal life!
11. Being a part of this or any other church is not sufficient: you will benefit from learning and following God’s Word, may enjoy relationships and find fulfillment in service, but you must still be personally related to God by faith. [Matt.13:1-23; Heb.6:4-9]
12. APP.: Do you know God personally? Experientially?

1. #4 - Partake of Jesus for permanent satisfaction . (John 6:34-59; C/R: John 15:7;

2 Peter 1:3)

1. John 6:34 (NLT)— “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”
2. These people heard what Jesus said, so they asked for this miraculous bread, but Jesus’ response surprised them.
3. John 6:35 (NLT)— Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.”
4. Jesus claimed that He could permanently satisfy the hunger and thirst of any person who came to Him in faith.
5. APP.: Do you hunger or thirst? Inner drives that you think would provide you peace, significance, satisfaction, security, if you could attain what you desire?
6. Nothing this world offers can provide lasting peace or satisfaction—that will be found only through intimacy with Christ—through understanding your identity and your significance from knowing what He thinks of you.
7. John 6:47-51 (NLT)— ⁴⁷  “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸  Yes, I am the bread of life! ⁴⁹  Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. ⁵⁰  Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. ⁵¹  I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever…”
8. Eating this bread is accepting Jesus into your life so that He becomes part of you.
9. APP.: Do you want to live forever? Eat the bread from heaven by believing!
10. [Screen] 2 Peter 1:3 (NLT)— ³  By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence. [John 15:7]

• Sustaining people physically locally and in India: Food Drive and Rice for Life.
• Counselors at front and in Care Connection room.