CHRIST – THE BREAD OF LIFE: MENSAH OTABIL, SUNDAY SERVICE MESSAGE, NOVEMBER 29TH, 2020

ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE MESSAGE BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA)

TOPIC: “CHRIST THE BREAD OF LIFE.”

DATE: 29TH NOVEMBER, 2020

TEXT: JOHN 6:32-35

Amen! – Let’s keep Standing (wherever you are reading on the Label of DMC) as we make our DECLARATIONS OF EXCELLENCE, in this Year of Excellence.

… Are you READY?

SAY WITH ME:
Out of Zion, the Perfection of Beauty, God shines forth. The Lord my God causes the righteous to Shine forth as the Sun.

His Awesome Hands has formed me; His Creative Spirit inspires my Mind. He Skillfully guides my hands.

Therefore, I boldly declare: I am Set Apart for Excellence. The Ruler of the Universe has exalted my horn among the Nations. He sets my feet on high! In His Strength, I rise!

By Faith, I Press forward towards the Prize of my Highest Calling.

I believe in my heart, and confess with my mouth: that Jesus is Lord! He is the Vine, I am the Branch; in Him I abide, in Him I Blossom.

As it is written: God, who commanded Light out of darkness, has shone His Light in our hearts;

We have His Treasure in Earthen Vessels. That the Excellence of the Power may be of God, and not of us!

In this Year, I commit to EXCELLENCE, I commit to EXCEPTIONALISM, I commit to do the EXTRAORDINARY.

In Jesus’ Name – Amen and Amen and Amen and Amen!

So, for my Exaltation, we are going to focus on: “CHRIST THE BREAD OF LIFE.”

And it is a way in which Jesus Christ identified Himself in John’s Gospel 6:32-35;

… And I read the Gospel:

32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

This conversation between Jesus and the People, took Place after Jesus had fed five thousand (5,000) People with five (5) loaves of bread and two (2) fish.

It is the Miracle of Jesus that is recorded in all the Four (4) Gospels; because there were so many People Present, and so many People experienced it, so many People saw it.

It was an Unavoidable Miracle of Jesus Christ.

After Jesus had fed five thousand (5,000) People, with five (5) loaves of bread and two (2) small fish; the People wanted to make him King by force!

… It seems as if People wanting things for FREE didn’t start today (laughing)!

So, they were very happy that Jesus had Provided them with bread; and they thought, if He was King, if He was in Government; what a Good Government it would be!

And Jesus knowing their intentions, departed to a Mountain to Pray – So they didn’t see Him for a while!

In the night, Jesus walked on water to go and find His Disciples who were struggling on the Sea of Galilee.

The next day, the masses – The People who had been fed, were still looking for Jesus because free bread is quite an attractive inducement!

So, they found Jesus, and told Him: Jesus, we have been looking for You. Where have you been?

And Jesus said: well I know why you are looking for me: You are not looking for me because of the Signs or the Miracles; you are looking for me because I gave you BREAD TO EAT.

And Jesus then speaks to them about the Bread.

And the People said: Well, we know that our fathers ate bread in the wilderness here – They are talking about the Manna!

And Jesus said: Yes I know! But this BREAD that I will give to you is more than what you ate in the wilderness.

So, there is a conversation going on between Jesus and the People: First (1st) the BREAD they ate. And now they think that, maybe this was like what they ate in the wilderness.

You know what they ate in the wilderness? – They ate Manna for forty (40) Years!

So, they are figuring out: If God gave them Manna for forty (40) years; and this is just Day One (1); then we have a long way of bread eating!

And so they said: Jesus, give us MORE of the bread.

Then Jesus says to them: I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.

And this is the beginning of the many Statements of Jesus Christ where He is identified as “I AM” – I Am the Bread of Life!

He later said: I Am the Door, I Am the Good Shepherd, I Am the Way. And so on and so forth.

But here He says: I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.

So, what Jesus is saying is: The Bread of Life is a PERSON – It is not food; it is not a Commodity.

The Bread of Life is a Person, and it is Jesus Christ! – He is the BREAD OF LIFE.

Now, Jesus did not also say: I HAVE the Bread of Life!

In other words, He doesn’t POSSESS the Bread of Life; He is actually THE BREAD OF LIFE.

So, to Partake of what Jesus gives (of the Bread of Life); you don’t wait for Him to give you something – YOU PARTAKE OF HIM!

Jesus IS the BREAD OF LIFE!

And so, we would discuss a bit about: “WHAT THE BREAD OF LIFE IS – in the context of the Passage we just read (John 6:32-35).

1. The first (1st) thing we note about the BREAD OF LIFE, is that: THE BREAD OF LIFE IS DIVINE.

Jesus said: “This is the True bread that came from HEAVEN.”

It is not Earthly, it is not Carnal, it is not Physical – IT IS DIVINE and it is SPIRITUAL!

… Jesus calls it: “The True Bread.”

And Jesus contrasted Himself with the bread that God gave Israel in the wilderness – They ate that for forty (40) years and it was Physical Bread.

But Jesus said: “I Am the BREAD from Heaven – This is DIVINE BREAD.”

This BREAD is God’s SOLUTION to Human Problems.

The Bread of Life is Heaven’s Solution to all Human Problems.

In Christ Jesus, God reached out to us and gave us the Solutions we are looking for ourselves.

So, it’s a DIVINE BREAD – That is the first (1st) thing we note about the quality of the BREAD OF LIFE.

It’s not something Physical that you go out to buy in the Market!

2. The second (2nd) Quality about the BREAD OF LIFE (that Jesus talks about) is that: IT SATISFIES FULLY.

Jesus says that: “He who EATS of this BREAD, shall never HUNGER, nor THIRST.”

… If you eat it, you will never hunger or thirst!

It’s very interesting that He adds THIRST to it – When He is talking about BREAD – Because BREAD is not water!

But He is saying that: When you EAT of the BREAD OF LIFE, there would be no NEED in your life that would not be SATISFIED – He meets ALL of our NEEDS.

Naturally, when we eat bread, we THIRST!

Because if you have tried it before – If you get a big loaf of bread, and you munch on it. Afterwards you need to push it down with some liquid! – You have to drink some water.

But Jesus says: If you eat this Bread alone (without water); you would not Hunger and you would not THIRST.

Jesus satisfies EVERY NEEDS of ours! He FULLY satisfies us.

And when He meets all our Needs, there is nothing else that we need that He doesn’t SUPPLY.

He meets our Needs, for Self Esteemed; He meets our Needs for Significance; He meets our Needs for Wholeness for Completeness, for Wellness.

Spiritually Needs, Physical Needs, Mental Needs – Jesus FULLY SATISFIES!

And when you EAT of Him; there is no NEED in your life that He cannot satisfy.

We don’t only come to Him just simply for Salvation of our Souls, but He fulfils every Needs of ours.

So the Bread of Life is DIVINE; the Bread of Life FULLY SATISFIES.

3. The third (3rd) thing about the Bread of Life is that: IT IS FOR ALL – It is for EVERYBODY.

Jesus said that: The Bread of Life gives LIFE to the WORLD – Not just for a few People; He gives life to EVERYBODY!

We are reminded of what Jesus Himself said about His Mission in John 3:16: “For God so loved the WORLD …”

Not – For God so loved Ghana and didn’t love Togo; or God so loved Togo and didn’t love Nigeria; or God so loved Nigeria, and didn’t love America.

“FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER;

… Whosoever is whosoever!

I. Whosoever means anybody – Whether you are tall (I shouldn’t say short – some People don’t like it) – Vertically challenged!

II. Whosoever is somebody who is LONG in height and not long in height.

III. Whosoever is somebody who is NARROW in body size and not narrow in body size.

Because this time you have to be very Politically correct! You can’t call People with what they don’t like.

WHOEVER you are: Jesus satisfies EVERY NEEDS OF OURS. And He feeds ALL who come to Him!

If you look at the Miracle of the Feeding of the five Thousand (5,000) – Everybody was fed!

There was nobody who would say: Oh, I sat down, waited for my turn but I didn’t get my bread!

Everybody was fed, and there was left over!

God is able to bless you to a left over, to a running over; with EXTRA that you can’t even contain.

God satisfies to the FULLEST, Jesus satisfies to the FULLEST and He SATISFIES ALL!

There is no Need you have, that is beyond JESUS; there is no Problem you have, that is beyond JESUS.

And when He satisfies you; He satisfies you till there is NO MORE ROOM and then there will be a RUNNING OVER.

David said: “My cup RUNS OVER!”

You can also listen to the audio here: Christ – The Bread of Life – Pastor Mensa Otabil

And in the Miracle, there were “Left Over Baskets” of what had been blessed.

God is not a God of Scarcity – He is the God of ABUNDANCE. He doesn’t bless us small, small, small: because some has to be left over for the next day!

When we were kids (I don’t know whether it’s the same for everybody’s family) but everything was very, very small.

The Bread is SLICED (they don’t break it). And Margarine (butter) was SCOOPED very small.

And you have to manage to spread it! The spreading is your responsibility. The sugar is measured in cubes – You get your Portion; whether it is enough or not, that’s your palaver!

The Milk – they Punched the holes in the Milk Tin; and out dispensational quantity into tea spoons. And if it’s not enough – that’s up to you!

But that’s not who Jesus is – When He pours, He pours the thing; and when He cuts, He gives you everything.

He gives your life all the Sweetness, He gives Blessings in Abundance! Your cup would RUN OVER – and there would be CUP FULL.

He gives life to ALL, He SATISFIES all, He FEEDS all who comes; and there is NO STINGINESS with His Blessing.

What a Mighty God that we serve!

Thank God: He is not like my father or my mother who had to deal with SCARCITY.

But I serve a God who has no SCARCITY; and He can do ALL things – by the FULL MEASURE.

I don’t know about you, but that’s an exciting thought that God has NO SCARCITY, and He is not measuring your Miracle in TEA SPOON!

… Oh yes! He’s not measuring my Miracle in Tea spoon

God doesn’t cut one (1) slice of Miracle – You take this! – He gives me MORE, until I want NO MORE.

Until we say: LORD, there is no more room. Feed us Lord! Fill my cup until there is no more room!

He is THE BREAD OF LIFE. He gives Life to ALL!

The Bread of Life is ETERNAL; He endures to everlasting LIFE. He is ETERNAL.

What He gives to us is not short term, it’s Long Term; It is Eternal and He offers us Life, in the Natural and Spiritual worlds.

He offers us life, in THIS LIFE and the world TO COME – It’s Eternal.

When God Touches our lives, it’s LONG TERM; when He Saves our Souls, it’s LONG TERM.

We are not just saved temporarily, waiting for another Installment, waiting for an Upgrade or an Update.

When He saves us, it’s complete and it suffice in this life on Earth, and life beyond Earth.

… The Bread of Life is ETERNAL!

The Bread of Life is DIVINE, the Bread of Life Fully SATISFIES, the Bread of Life is for ALL; the Bread of Life is ETERNAL.

So WHAT MUST WE DO WITH THE BREAD OF LIFE.

What does Jesus want us to do with the Bread of Life?

In John 6:51, Jesus says: “I am the “Living Bread” which came down from Heaven.

If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever; and the Bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

Another word for ‘My FLESH’ is ‘My BODY.’

“… The Bread that I GIVE, is My BODY.”

Now, if you follow how this conversation is going, Jesus gave them Bread by multiplying five (5) loaves of bread – They thought that ‘this is MANNA.’

So, they improved it from the Bread to the Manna!

And they think: Well, it lasted for forty (40) years in the wilderness. We probably are going to have forty (40) years of Bread Supply from this Gentleman!

Jesus says: No! I’m not going to give you another Bread like I gave you in the wilderness; neither am I giving you what your fathers ate in the wilderness – “I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE!

… It’s not even about the Bread, it’s about Me!

And now He’s telling us the Part of Himself – which is the BREAD. And He says that is His BODY.

… His BODY is the Bread!

So, what are we supposed to do with His Body?

He says He gives LIFE to the whole world.

If He gives His LIFE, what MUST BE DONE with what He has given?

And He says: “We must EAT the Bread of Life!”

That statement became a stumbling block to many of Jesus’ Followers because they really couldn’t figure out what Jesus meant by “EAT MY BODY.”

Some took it literally!

But you and I know that’s not a literal statement!

Because in life, we use thoughts like somebody speaks to you and say: “This is Food for Thought.”

It doesn’t mean that the thought is Food.

It simply means, this is something I need to spend time to think about and assimilate inside me.

So we say: It is Food for Thought!

The Metaphor Jesus Christ is saying: “My Flesh is Bread”; doesn’t mean “COME AND BITE ME.”

That is not what He says!

There are verses in the Bible that talks about the Word of Christ as Food.

1 Peter 2:2 says: “As newborn babes, desire the Pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby,”

The Word of God is called MILK.

Psalms 119:103 says: “How sweet are Your Words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 15:16: “Your Words were found, and I ate them, And Your Word was to me the Joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your Name, O Lord God of Hosts.”

So HOW DO WE EAT THE FLESH OF JESUS?

… THREE (3) WAYS, and then we close:

1. To FULLY ACCEPT what Jesus says about Himself.

If we are going to eat His Flesh, we have to ACCEPT FULLY what He says about Himself.

He says: “I AM!”

In whatsoever He says ‘I AM’ we have to ACCEPT IT.

We have to ACCEPT He is the Bread of Life; He’s our Satisfier, He is all that we Need.

We must FULLY ACCEPT what Christ says about Himself.

… That’s the first (1st step to eating His Flesh).

2. Secondly, we must FULLY RECEIVE the Fullness of Christ into our being.

Not just Fully Accepting, but FULLY RECEIVING the Fullness of Christ into His BEING.

He did not give PART of Himself, He gave ALL OF HIMSELF.

In John 1:16; it says: “And of His Fullness we have all received, and Grace for Grace.”

We cannot receive Grace for Grace if we are just receiving Part and not the WHOLE THING.

I. He FULLY offered Himself for our Salvation; and that is BREAD we must EAT and SWALLOW.

II. He fully offered Himself for our DELIVERANCE from the Power of Sin. And this is Bread we must EAT and SWALLOW.

III. He fully offered Himself to TRIUMPH over all Principality. And this is Bread we must EAT and SWALLOW.

IV. He fully offered Himself to make us ACCEPTED of the Father; and that is the Bread we must EAT and SWALLOW.

V. He fully offered Himself to Purchase our HEALING; this is Bread we must EAT and SWALLOW.

VI. He fully offered Himself to POVERTY, that we might be MADE RICH. And this is the Bread we must EAT and SWALLOW.

EVERYTHING He is, we must ACCEPT it and FULLY assimilate it;

He is our Hero, He is our Leader, He is our Provider. He has Triumphed over Principality and Power;

… And Nothing shall by any means hurt you!

To EAT what Christ offers, we must:

• ACCEPT what He says about Himself;
• RECEIVE His FULLNESS into our being.

1. And finally, we must ALLOW Christ to MANIFEST HIMSELF through us.

His Love, His Beauty, His Glory, His Truth, His Power, His Authority – ALL must be seen in our LIVES.

So, each time we Partake in the Holy Communion we remind ourselves of Who the BREAD OF LIFE is.

May be you have forgotten who the Bread of life is; at the Holy Communion we remember Who the Bread of Life is:

I. He is the DIVINE BREAD that came from Heaven;

II. He is the Divine Bread that SATISFIES every Needs of ours;

III. He is the Divine Bread that reaches out to EVERYONE – EVERYWHERE. And does not limit HOW FAR He can take us;

IV. And He is the Divine Bread that is ETERNAL – This Bread NEVER EVER ENDS.

… And we receive ALL OF THAT into our lives.

Each time you Partake of the Holy Communion, think of the Bread of Life: as you put that Bread into your mouth, think of the Bread of Life that was given to you to Satisfy you.

I don’t know what Needs you are hungry for, what Needs you are thirsty for.

I don’t know what you are desiring God to do for you; but the Bread of Life FULLY SATISFIES.

CLOSING PRAYER.

May every Needs of your life be SATISFIED: May every HUNGER be satisfied; may every THIRST be satisfied.

May He be your Bread of Life; May He be give you Water, may He give you Life, may He give you Strength, may He give you Hope, may He give you Healing, may He give you Prosperity, may He give you Abundance, may He give you Peace of Mind;

May He Deliver you from Oppression, may He trample Satan under your feet. May He cause Principalities and
Powers to bow before you.

May He cause you to wax Strong and be Mighty; may He cause you to bring Giants down.

May He give you Victory in every areas of your LIFE!

Whatever your hunger is, whatever your thirst is, whatever your desire is; Jesus FULLY SATISFIES; and may He satisfy our NEED!

In 1 Corinthians 10:16, it says: “The cup of Blessings which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ? The Bread which we break, is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ?”

As we Break the Bread and Partake of it; May He – the Body of Christ be FULLY RECEIVED by us!

As we eat that Bread, may we Spiritually receive Him in all His FULLNESS, into our Lives.

In Jesus’ Name we Pray – AMEN!

Thank you so much for staying all through to read.

To read other Messages on the Coverage of DMC MediaCrew so far this Year and beyond; kindly visit our Website: http://discoverymediacrew.com.

Follow us on Twitter: @discoverymediac

Send a Friend Request on Facebook to DMC MediaCrew.

Like our FB Page: Discovery Media

Join us on WhatsApp:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/LYia4HScOnh2N30YU9E8AZ

Join us on Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/NzzPckuGazKYFxZZFkt9fg

Follow Us on Instagram: Discoverymediacrew

Watch and Follow Us on YouTube: Discovery Media Crew

For Enquiries, email Us on: info@discoverymediacrew.com

And I can assure you that you will be glad you did as it will avail you first hand access to comprehensive reports on the various Messages of Pastor E.A Adeboye and other Men of God!

It is outrightly wrong and a sin we frowned at it for anyone to consciously remove the original source of the work that does not emanate for him or her!

Discovery Media Crew … Reaching out to the World through the Power of the Gospel!!!

COMPILATIONS BY:

MOSES DURODOLA, TITILAYOMI AJAYI AND TOPE BABALOLA

© DISCOVERY MEDIA CREW (DMC) ‘2020