God’s Ordained Way

“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.”

John 6:51

Let me tell you about this supernatural food and drink we get to take. It is the only food and drink that is not based on fallen creation or dependent on the efforts of fallen man. When we eat and drink this supernatural food, we are partaking of the work of redemption and not creation.

In the above verse, when the Lord Jesus said He is the living bread, the word life here is the Greek word zoe, which is the same Greek word used in the Septuagint when God breathed into Adam and Adam received life (Gen. 2:7).

While zoe refers to the life that God lives by, zoe also refers to physical life, health, vitality, and wholeness. The food that God has given us to eat is not perishable food but living bread—Jesus, who came from heaven and was given for us to have life.

There are some who think Jesus was simply talking about believing in Him. But our Lord Jesus went on to say, “For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:55–56).

Did you know two different Greek words are used here for the word eats? When Jesus said, “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51), the generic Greek word phago for eats was used. Phago can be used in a physical sense or in a spiritual sense, as in to feed on Christ.

But when Jesus said, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:56), the Greek word used for eats is trogo, which means “to gnaw or crunch,” like when eating nuts. There is no way you can spiritualize a crunching sound. Jesus was not talking about spiritually eating or feeding here. He was talking about physically eating, about chewing with a crunching sound!

To understand more what our Lord was referring to, consider what He was talking about on the night of His betrayal when He broke the bread and gave it to His disciples, saying, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And consider what He was referring to when He gave them the cup, saying, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:26–28). Yes, He was talking about His coming crucifixion, but He was also instituting the holy Communion, a physical meal.

The Communion is God’s ordained way or delivery system for us to receive the unending, holy, youthful, overcoming, and perpetually healthy life Jesus has as we “eat His flesh and drink His blood.” All that is required is that you come boldly and partake, believing that His finished work qualifies you for any healing you need!

This devotional is taken from the book The Healing Power of the Holy Communion—A 90-Day Devotional.