Hymns 1273
Scripture Reading:
John 6:51a I am the living bread which came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever.
John 6:57 As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.
EATING BEING A BASIC MATTER IN THE BIBLE
After God created man, He did not do anything with him, nor did He charge him to do anything for Him. According to Genesis 1 and 2, the basic requirement for living in the presence of God is to eat properly. What matters the most in God’s presence is what and how we eat. Hence, in the Bible eating is a basic concept concerning our relationship with God. (Life-study of Hebrews, pp. 643-645)
EATING AND ENJOYMENT
In the Gospel of John
When you come to a feast, it is not your purpose to study the different courses of food. Study at such a time would frustrate you from the enjoyment of eating. In like manner, we should come to John’s writings—to his Gospel, Epistles, and Revelation—regarding them as courses of a spiritual feast. When some hear this, they may wonder how we can say that John’s writings are a feast. The answer is that no other writings in the Bible emphasize the matter of eating as much as John’s writings do. One chapter in the Gospel of John, chapter six, is almost entirely devoted to eating. There the Lord Jesus says, “I am the bread of life” (vv. 35, 48). Then He goes on to say that He is the living bread and that if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever (v. 51); that unless we eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, we have no life in us (v. 53); that he who eats His flesh and drinks His blood has eternal life (v. 54) and abides in Him (v. 56); and that the one who eats Him will also live because of Him (v. 57), for he who “eats this bread shall live forever”(v. 58). To be sure, eating is strongly emphasized in chapter six of John’s Gospel. To eat of the Lord as the bread of life is to feast on Him.
In the Book of Revelation
John also has much to say concerning eating in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 2:7 the Lord Jesus says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” To eat of the tree of life is to enjoy Christ as our life supply. It was God’s original intention that man should eat of the tree of life (Gen. 2:9, 16). But due to the fall of man the tree of life was closed to him (Gen. 3:22-24). Through the redemption of Christ, the way to touch the tree of life, which is God Himself in Christ as life to man, has been opened again (Heb.10:19-20).
Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.” In this verse “dine” means to take the principal meal of the day at evening. Here the Lord promises to dine with the one who opens the door to Him. To dine is not merely to eat certain foods, but it is to enjoy the riches of a meal. This dining may refer to the eating of the rich produce of the good land of Canaan by the children of Israel (Josh. 5:10-12).
These verses from the book of Revelation indicate that the Lord desires to recover the eating by God’s people of the proper food as ordained by God and typified by the tree of life, the manna, and the produce of the good land, all of which are types of the various aspects of Christ as food to us. In his writings John definitely emphasizes the rich enjoyment of Christ by feasting on Him. (Life-study of 1, 2, & 3 John, Jude, pp. 23-24)
THE NEED TO KEEP EATING
I want to say again that after the creation of man and even in God’s redemption of man, the basic concept regarding our being in the presence of God is this matter of eating. Thus, we must devote our complete attention to it. Do not try to learn so many things — just continue to eat well in the presence of the Lord. I was a Christian for over thirty years before I knew anything about eating in the spirit. I was never taught about this. Many of us can testify that before we came into the church, we were never told that we could eat Jesus. But from beginning to end, the Bible covers the matter of eating. The Bible begins and ends with the eating of the tree of life (Rev. 2:7, 22:1-2, 14). (Life-study of Hebrews, p. 645)
EATING GOD AND EXPRESSING HIM
The Need to Keep Eating
The kind of food we eat is reflected in our facial color. Suppose you do not eat well for some time. This may cause your face to have a very unhealthy appearance. But if someone has a healthy diet, this will be expressed in his facial color. By looking at his face you will know that he has been eating nourishing food, for the food he eats causes him to have a healthy appearance. The principle is the same with eating God. The more we eat God, the more we express Him.
The result of eating God is that we express Him. After we enjoy the divine life, we express the divine life. God is life, and the Word also is life. This Word speaks, defines, explains, and expresses God. God speaks for Himself. But He does not merely speak objectively from the heavens. He also speaks subjectively through us as a result of our eating of Him. Today our God speaks not only from the heavens; He also speaks through us, through our being. In what way does God speak through us? God speaks by our eating and enjoyment of Him. (Life-study of 1, 2, & 3 John, Jude, p. 27)
Further Reading: Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 58; Life-study of 1, 2, & 3 John, Jude, msg. 3; The Lord’s Recovery of Eating, msgs. 1-3; The Wonderful Christ in the Canon of the New Testament, chs. 2, 20
