God made us and breathed His life into us. He made all the food that grows to feed us, such as vegetables and fruit. They have life in them too. He also made animals, birds and fish that a large proportion of people also eat. They have life from God in them. Horses are seen in Heaven in the Bible, so maybe there is an animal Heaven too. How we eat is an important part of our satisfaction in life, our health and our ability to work. When we eat, that food becomes a part of us. In Jn 14:20 Jesus spoke about what would happen when the Holy Spirit came “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”. In John chapter 6 there is a lot about food. It starts with Jesus miraculously feeding 5,000 men plus the women and children with them. Then people followed him by boat to Capernaum on the other side of Lake Galilee. In Jn 6:26:“Jesus responded with, Surely the reason why you are so drawn to me is not because of the signs you’ve seen, but the contentment you felt within you when you ate the bread.” ( Mirror Study Bible.) Then in Jn 6:35 He says He is the bread of life. After that he addressed the religious Jews who did not believe He came from the Father. From here I will copy passages from the Mirror Study Bible on how eating can become a spiritual exercise and how this is a key to help us get healthy and lose weight. I don’t pretend to know all this means, but God’s words provide nourishment and guidance. So, Holy Spirit please give revelation as we read Jesus words here from John ch 6 verses 48 to 63.
Jn 6:48 Jesus said “I am the bread of life!”
Jn 6:49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died there in the wilderness. (The manna didn’t kill them, their unbelief in themselves did. The manna was a mere prophetic shadow of me). 6:50 This, what you have here in me standing face to face with you, is the very sustenance of your life; the bread descending out of the heavenly sphere for everyone to eat their fill and not die. 6:51 I am the living bread, I stepped out of the heavenly realm into this earth suit, in the incarnation, so that everyone may feast on the idea of their true incarnate identity mirrored in me and discover the life of the ages incarnate in them! The bread that I will give is my own flesh; it will translate into life for the entire cosmos! 6:52 This brought about a war of words among the Jews! How can this man give us human flesh to eat? (Just like Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman at the well they again got it all wrong! Jesus was pointing to a different womb, well and meal!) 6:53 (Instead of softening the blow by explaining to them what he really meant, Jesus made it a hundred times worse for their religious reasoning, by saying the following!) Amen amen, I say unto you that you have no real life in yourselves until you consume the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood. (The very core of our beingness is founded in our co-association with Jesus, the son of man; it is only in realizing and fully assimilating our oneness in flesh-incarnate context as the son of man, that we discover the truth of our oneness in our joint-genesis as sons of Deity. He is about to take mankind with him into their death, grave and hell and then victoriously co-quicken them and co-raise them into newness of life!). 6:54 Your every meal is a celebration of the incarnation; to eat my flesh and drink my blood is to digest me like your body is designed to digest food and it becomes flesh; this echoes the life of the ages and communicates the fact that you are co-risen with me in the final conclusion of my work of redemption. 6:55 My flesh is food in its truest form and my blood is drink in its truest form. 6:56 The eating of my flesh and drinking of my blood is the celebration of our seamless union - you in me and I in you - because you won’t find you until you find me! (Thoughts eat words like your mouth eats food - both become flesh!) 6:57 As the living Father has sent me and also sustains me so will I sustain the one eating me. I live through my Father - just like my daily food sustains me, so his life permanently resides in me - now you may also continually and habitually feast on me and live through me! 6:58 This is the bread that stepped down out of the heavenly sphere - there is no comparison with the manna your fathers received from heaven [which was merely a prophetic shadow pointing to me]; they ate and they died [without completing their destiny] - now feast on me and celebrate the life of the ages. (Eating and drinking is most significant - every meal is both a reminder and celebration of the incarnation! Every time we face food we are reminded of our beingness in flesh and our seamless oneness with our Maker and one another. See 1 Corinthians 11:26 “Your every meal makes the mandate of his coming relevant and communicates the meaning of the new covenant. Whether you eat or drink, you are declaring your joint inclusion in his death and resurrection, confirming your redeemed innocence.” The word erchomai, to come is in the Aorist tense, elthe - pointing to that which has already happened!. The prophetic picture of the table was very strategic in the tent tabernacle in the wilderness - the priests had to daily place fresh bread on the table in the sanctuary. It was called Showbread, לחם הפנים lechem haPānīm, literally: Face-bread or Bread of the Presence. The Hebrew word for presence means face to face! While Jesus spoke to the two on their way to Emmaus in Luke 24, they did not recognize him, even though their hearts ignited while he was explaining the prophetic promise of mankind’s redemption in all of Scripture, from Moses through the Psalms and the Prophets. In Luke 24v28, “So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further...” Wow! Should Jesus not at this point have given them an opportunity to make a commitment or at least say a “sinners prayer”? Not even the best Rabbi could take them any further, Luke 24:29 But they constrained him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. Luke 24:30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. Luke 24:31 And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. He vanished from their sight because Jesus can no longer be any more present in his person than what he is present in the Word incarnate in us! The moment we discover Jesus in Scripture as in a mirror, our hearts ignite and our very next meal becomes a celebration of our incarnate union! “Every time you eat or drink, remember me!” Every meal celebrates the temple! Your body is God’s address on planet earth! He does not dwell in buildings made by human hands. You will never again need to employ your willpower to diet and get into shape! Willpower is the language of the law! Love and value-consciousness ignites belief. The revelation of the truth sets you free to be free indeed! The days of fast food and junk-food are over! The Table is sacred and celebrates your body as the sanctuary of your redeemed life, the life of your authentic design! Sitting around the table is a feast of friendship and delightful conversation. Eat food that blesses the temple! Most diseases are diet-related! Study nutrition! We have this treasure in earthen vessels! The vessel takes its value from the treasure it holds! Feast your mind on likeness realities - make Deity your diet - digest me! Face your Father!) 6:59 Jesus said these things in a synagogue while teaching in Capernaum. 6:60 Many of his followers said, this teaching is too tough to chew on! 6:61 Jesus perceived what they were murmuring about and said, So you take offence at this?
6:62 What if you see the son of man [representing the human race] ascending to where he was before? See John 3:13: No one can fully engage in heaven’s perspective, unless one’s heavenly origin is realized! The Son of man declares mankind’s co-genesis from above! John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word and the word was face to face with God.) 6:63 It is the Spirit that quickens the poetry of life - the flesh (muscle and willpower) is useless without the spirit. The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and life! I communicate from a different dimension and perspective giving voice and substance to every prophetic shadow and purpose. du Toit, Francois. Mirror Study Bible.
Now this is deep but its also simple. Jesus is using worldly images we can relate to but also saying that food and drink communicate spiritual realities. Psalm 34v8 says “Taste and see the Lord is good.”
In Rev 10:10 John said “ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.(NIV).
The scroll represents God’s words. So one concept Jesus is talking about above is if we treat hearing and reading God’s words the same as eating, taking them into our mouths, chewing them, meditating on them, then speaking them out, it will bring us better health, as well as better living in many ways. Believe Gods words, rejoice in them, be thankful for them and for the food and drink He gives us. That’s how I take it so far, but reread Jesus words again for yourself and ask Holy Spirit how to work that out for you in your eating and living.
More coming, this blog is long enough already!