Understanding the Spirit led life pt II

Welcome to the NECF Podcast, where we share our weekly sermons and faithfully interpret

the Bible to encourage and direct you on your spiritual path.

We are devoted pastors and special guests devout to the depths of the Bible, exploring

its profound lessons and useful applications for your daily life.

Join us as we explore the timeless truth that have the power to change people's hearts and

minds, promoting a closer relationship with God and a firm belief in His promises.

Romans 8 verse 14 says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

Romans 8:14

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 says, I say then, work in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill

Galatians 5:16

the lust of the flesh.

Work in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

And for those who are joining us newly in this church, or those who have traveled and are

forgotten what we've been doing and you are back, we welcome you home in Jesus' name.

And for those who are joining us for the very first time, we welcome you once more in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

So our theme for the year, who can remind us, what is the theme for the year?

The leading of what?

Of the Spirit.

Which Spirit?

The Holy Spirit. That is the Spirit of God.

So our focus and our consideration for this year has been the leading of the Spirit.

We are the sons of God, and we are men that God has led by His Spirit.

And the first instance of this leading is in salvation.

We come to know Jesus.

That is the first leading we have as believers.

That is the first leading we have as Christians.

Which means that every man and every woman, every man and every woman,

every man and every woman who believes in Jesus Christ has been led by the Spirit.

Hallelujah.

It therefore means that you have the capacity to continuously walk in the leading of the Spirit.

So when we say walk or the leading of the Spirit,

we're not saying that this leading is for some specific individuals alone.

But it's that which happened in every believer's life.

So long as you are born of the Spirit and the Spirit lives in you,

you are off to always be led by the Spirit that lives in you.

So the last time I taught here in my teaching,

I started a new series on understanding the Spirit led life.

And the goal is for us to understand what encompasses this leading.

The life of a man that is led by the Spirit.

The life of a man that is led by the Spirit.

Hallelujah.

And in that we had a sub topic.

We started by looking at a sub topic, the love of God.

We said that the man that has been led by the Spirit or the life that is led by Spirit of God

is expressed in love.

Because what constitutes the life of the Spirit that lives in you,

because the Bible says that God has shed his love,

have brought our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

So when we receive the message of salvation and the Spirit of God begins to live in our hearts,

we have the capacity to express love.

And first and foremost, we began looking at the love for God.

Hallelujah.

We saw that Jesus in his teaching stated that the first and the greatest commandment

is what?

Is to love God.

And his teaching, we established that to love God is the most primary, primary, the most important.

Matthew 22 verse 34 to 38, where Jesus was teaching.

Matthew 22:34–38

But the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees.

You know, the Pharisees are a group of scholars.

The Sadducees are also another sect, having some variations in their

beliefs and their school of thoughts.

Amen.

So when the Pharisees saw that Jesus has silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

They gung up together, right?

The next verse, 35, quickly, please.

Now one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him and saying,

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?

Because these men were expert of the law and they were taught the law.

They were expert of the law and they were looking for something that they would see and do.

And then they will feel good about themselves.

Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,

and with all your mind.

This is what the first and the great commandment.

This is the first and the great commandment.

So what does it mean to love God?

What does it mean to love God?

You know, we saw also in the last teaching, it's on our, you know, pages where we upload

our messages, just a recap so that we understand where we're going to.

So we also saw that loving God is not just in words.

He says you must love the Lord your God with all of your heart,

all of your mind, with all of your soul, with everything that is in you.

And for us, when you ask any average believer, you say, yes, I love, I love God.

Everybody, you know, in the church, we love God.

But what does it mean to love God?

First John chapter three, verse 18.

Give me this text in the amplified.

First John 3, 18.

It says little children, that is believers, dear ones, let us not love merely in theory.

All right.

Because some of us, or most of times, we express our love in words, in theory.

Let us not love merely in theory with words or tongues, giving lip service to come to compassion.

But in action and in truth, what does it mean to love God in action and in truth?

It means that in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love

are more than just words.

Hallelujah.

So whatever we say as we express our love in those songs we sing, in our conversation,

as we express that we love God, let this expression of the things we say, the things we sing,

be seen in our actions.

That is what it means to love God with all of our hearts.

Because it's possible for us to say one thing and we do another.

We noted that there is a possibility of professing the love for God with our mouths

while our actions show otherwise.

Isaiah 19, verse 13.

Isaiah 19:13

Instances in scriptures where men profess their love for God with their lips, where the Bible

says their heart is very far and far away from God.

Isaiah chapter 29, verse 13.

Isaiah 29:13

Therefore the Lord said, inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths, right,

they draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far

from me and their fear towards me is taught by the commandments of men.

Is taught by the commandments of men.

They come to me with words in their mouths and they say, I am the Lord.

They are taught by the commandments of men. They come to me with words in their mouths.

They orchestrated their own way of worship which is taught by men and their heart is far away from me.

So their conduct is a reflection of what is in their hearts, not necessarily what they profess with their lips.

And there is that possibility in you as a Christian that your actions and the things you say does not match,

especially when it comes to expressing love towards God.

Ezekiel 33, verse 31.

Ezekiel 33:31

So they come to you as people, that is the prophets speaking here.

So they come to you as people, as people do.

They sit before you as my people and they hear your words.

You see, they hear the words.

What happened?

They listen but they do not do them for their mouth, for with their mouth they show much love.

They listen but they do not do the things they listen for their mouth, for with their mouth they show much love.

But their hearts pursue their own gain.

So there is a disengagement between what is professed with the lips and what action.

Because your action is a product of the abundance of what resides in your hearts.

Hallelujah.

So we see love demonstrated in action.

Even God himself, he didn't just say I love you, right?

But he demonstrated his love towards us with an action.

And what is the action that demonstrated his love towards us?

Is that he gave, he moved.

We see God becoming man as a demonstration of his profession of love to you and I.

So also our own love towards God cannot be limited by only the professions of our lips.

But our actions, what we do must reflect the condition of our hearts.

Because the love for God is not on the lips but it's from our hearts.

Isaiah 1 verse 11.

Isaiah 1:11

It's an lamentation here, it says to what purpose is a multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord.

I have had enough of burnt offerings because this man, they love doing a lot of things.

Of course we say that actions, right, must match with words.

Isn't it?

Genuine actions must match with words.

Must match with words or words must match with genuine action.

But there is another aspect where our actions, activities, who seems to be deviating from the condition of our hearts.

Look at an example, it says to what purpose is a multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord.

I have had enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fowl of faith cattle.

I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs, O God.

Let me just interrupt quickly to 15.

When you come to appear before me, who has required this from your hand to trample my courts?

Bring no more futile sacrifices.

Incense and abomination is an abomination to me.

The new moons, the sabbaths and the callings of assemblies, I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meetings.

You call your act of worship iniquity.

You call your act of worship iniquity.

Say your moons and your appointed feet, my souls hates.

They are a trouble to me.

I am weary of bearing them.

When you spread out your hands and I hide, I will hide my eyes from you.

Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear.

Your hands are what?

Full of blood.

So these men are in a religious wrath, mixing religion with a lot of atrocities.

Their heart's condition is not surrender to God.

Hallelujah.

So we concluded by saying that our love for God is expressed in what?

Is expressed in obedience.

Our love for God is expressed in our obedience to His word.

What His word says, we live by it.

We do what His word says.

Our lives, that is the land that is led by the Spirit.

The Spirit is not leading you into doing your own things.

Hallelujah.

The Spirit of God is leading you to do the things that are of God, especially as revealed in the written word.

The most accurate means of direction for the believer is not dreams and visions,

but it's actually instructions embedded in the written word.

So if you are a believer and you are living a life led by the Spirit,

what we should see emanating from your life is unconditional obedience to the words of God.

That is how love towards God is expressed.

And we emphasize that the written word is inspired by the Spirit of God.

The written word cannot be disassociated from the Spirit of God,

and the Spirit of God cannot lead you into doing anything that is against the written word,

because the written word is an inspiration of the Spirit of God for our direction, for our leading.

So obeying the written word is actually walking in the Spirit.

So when we say, this year we seek to understand the leading of the Spirit,

we cannot remove the word from the leading of the Spirit.

And if you want to have direction for your life,

direction that the Spirit of God will lead to you, you cannot have direction without the help of the written word.

When you pray and fast for direction and you close your Bible,

put it under your box, I can assure you that there will be no leading.

Because all the leading that you can ever have has been given to you,

and it's in the book that you have before you, the Word.

So rightful and careful explanation of scriptures will lead you in the direction of the Spirit of God.

The way we measure and test every leading is by his written word.

So you and I have the obligation to give ourselves to the Word,

thereby leading our lives according to the Spirit of God.

Now for the sake of those joining us newly, let's lay a foundation on one of the most profound realities of a Christian life.

I'm going to do this. We've done this several times.

We keep doing this and we will continue to do this.

And this reality of the Christian life is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Amen?

We need to lay this foundation again for the sake of those maybe joining us in this church newly.

And for some of us have been around for quite a while, it's a refresher course for many who have been with us.

Amen. Paul will say that for me to repeat this over to you is not what?

It's all burdensome. But it's for what? It's for your own safety.

Hallelujah. So we cannot move an inch without going back to the basics

to understand the foundational things that are needed for us to move forward.

So whenever we come to talk about the Spirit of God, the leading of the Spirit,

first of all understand what it means for the believer, the man that is born again,

to have the indwelling of the Spirit in him.

So this is foundational. And as brothers and sisters, let's be patient with those who are just joining us.

And let's start from the basic. So when we're starting from basic, from the beginning, where are we going to?

Genesis, okay. Salvation, Genesis, of course. Genesis is the book of salvation.

Obviously. Amen. So we're beginning from where? We're beginning from Genesis.

And what we're going to do is we're going to look through scriptures and understand the idea of salvation,

what happened at salvation, and how the believer is able to be what the temple of the Spirit,

how the believer has the Spirit in him. Then we'll begin to see how the believer ought to work

according to the Spirit that is in him, especially in love. Hallelujah.

So now, when God created Adam, did God give the Spirit to dwell in him? Amen.

We start from there. Amen. When God created Adam, was Adam given the Spirit to dwell in him?

That's the question we're going to answer. Now, the common knowledge we have is that God created Adam,

and when God created Adam, what did he do? He breathed his Spirit into him.

And when Adam sinned, what happened to the Spirit that God put in him? The Spirit what?

The Spirit was taken away from him. Therefore, he lost the Spirit of God as a result of disobedience.

Is this true? It is important for us to go to the beginning of all things to understand man,

how God created man. Now, Genesis 1.26, let's go to Genesis 1.26.

And God said, let us make man in our image, on the line image. Our image is very, very crucial.

We must be very intentional about some statements in scriptures. God said, let us make man in what?

In our image. Cycle our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea

and over the fowls of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth,

over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image.

In the image of God created he him male and female created he them.

So let's examine this text. From the first verse 26, we see let us make man, which is an intent, right?

When I said let us make man, there is a statement that has been made. OK?

And this statement will follow by an action. So the phrase let us make speaks of an intention,

of an intention God is stating his plan, his plan for man, for the creation of man.

In verse 26, the creation of humanity. Therefore, in God's plan, God wants to make humanity in his image.

God intends that man will do what? Will be created in his image. God is spirit.

So for man to be in the image of God, he must carry the spirit of God in him, isn't it?

And that image will be what will make him have dominion.

So the dominion that man will exert upon the things that God has created is a product of the spirit of God in him.

Because without a spirit, it is impossible for man to have dominion.

So he asks a question. When God created Adam, was he in the image of God?

What we are invariably asking is this. Was Adam given the Holy Spirit to dwell in him at his creation?

If yes, does that mean that when he sinned, the spirit was taken away from him?

So we see in Genesis 2 verse 7, where the man was created, we saw the statement, the intent of God in chapter 1 verse 26, 27.

Genesis 2:7

And in Genesis chapter 2 verse 7, we saw where the actual creation was done.

Genesis 2:7

And the Lord God formed man of dust of the ground and breath into his nostril, what? The breath of life.

Now let's look at the effect of this breath of life. And the man became what? He became a living soul.

The dust and the breath of life came into the man and the man became what? The man became a living soul.

So when God made the first man, he only became a what? A living soul.

Alright? And the Bible in that verse did not say that he became the image of God.

Okay? That means Genesis 1, 26 to 28 that we read earlier on has not been revealed yet in the first man.

This brings us to the conclusion or rather will give us a hint that man that was created by God doesn't mean that he is already in the image of God.

Alright? So we can now ask a follow up question. How does man actually come into the image of God?

How does a man come into the image of God? If we are saying that God created man and he breathed into him life and he became living,

he became a man from the dust, the man became a living soul. And we are saying that that breath is actually wind, right?

Oxygen, he began living as a human being. Then how does a man become or how does a man come into that image of God?

What condition will a man fulfill, will that man fulfill to come into the image of God?

Now let's look at Genesis 5 briefly then we'll come back to answer this question too. Genesis 5 verse 3.

Genesis 5:3

Genesis 5 verse 3, we see another word where image was used.

Genesis 5:3

And Adam lived 130 years and he gave birth to a son in his own what? In his own likeness.

He gave birth to a son not in the likeness of God. Alright?

In chapter 5 here, the son that Adam gave birth to was in his own likeness after his own image.

And he named him what? He named him Seth. So Adam bore a son in his own likeness and his image not the image of God.

Why? Why is this man that Adam born was not in the image of God?

We can make reference to what happened in chapter 3. Alright? The falling has already happened, right?

And then he gave birth in his own image, isn't it? So up until now we can see that no image of God is seen yet.

Nowhere is mentioned that the man anyway so far so good is in the image of God.

And let's go back to Genesis 2 verse 8 and 9. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.

Genesis 2:8

And there he put the man that he has created whom he had formed.

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to sight and good for food.

The tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

So now notice in this verse as we always tell you, every tree here does not mean that there are plenty trees.

Alright? We've taught several times that this every tree is referring to what?

Referring to those two trees. Alright? So you don't have to imagine different variation of fruits but remain in the context of the explanation here.

Jump to verse 16 to 17. Genesis 2 verse 16 to 17.

Genesis 2:16–17

And the Lord God commanded the man, now you see he gave a word, alright?

He gave a word saying of every tree, referring to those two trees, every tree, right? Of every tree of the garden thou mayst freely eat

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

So if there are only two trees as we've established, please be patient. Alright? Let not your mind go over.

I know of course we have basics on the school knowledge, alright? But remain in the context of what I'm saying.

Don't be put off even if what I'm saying to you is new.

So God gave an instruction not to eat of, alright? Not to eat of one and to eat of another.

So I want us to know two important things from this verse. Number one, the tree of life, okay?

What does it lead to? The Bible says it leads to life.

And then there's another tree of the knowledge of good and evil which leads to what? Which leads to death.

Now these two concepts are very important as we go on to understand this passage.

It is important for us to note here that Moses' communication here is of God's plan.

Moses is communicating God's plan and in his attempt to communicate the plan of God concerning man,

he involved the usage of what? Of figure of speech to communicate God's promise of life to humanity.

And he also communicated the consequence of not choosing life, which is what?

Which we see clearly in this passage is death.

So since Moses is deploying the use of allegory, which is a figure of speech, to explain God's plan,

we must ask what did Moses mean by it? What we are saying is that Moses was using an allegory to explain God's plan for humanity.

Moses was using an example, right, of something natural, okay, to communicate the plan and the purpose of God to man.

And he uses trees, he uses fruits, he uses what? Eat, not eat, and many other things we can see, physical things around the story.

Now what does it mean to eat according to the story or according to the method or the allegory that Moses used in his teaching?

What does it mean to eat? Now let's come as a tradition to the New Testament to see how this concept is also explained,

especially by Jesus Christ. Jesus used this same concept in Matthew chapter, in John chapter 6 actually.

John 6 · chapter mention

But let's look at Matthew 15 first, Matthew 15 verse 16 to 20.

Matthew 15:16–20

Then we look at John chapter 6, Matthew 15 verse 16 to 20.

John 6 · chapter mention Matthew 15:16–20

So Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do ye not yet understand that whatsoever entered in and the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast out into the drought?

Do you not yet understand that whatsoever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?

Do you not yet understand that whatsoever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from where?

It comes from the heart. And they defile a man.

For out of the heart of a man proceeds what? Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

These are the things which defiles a man. But to eat with unwashed hands and does not what?

It does not defile a man because there is a custom that the Pharisees, the Jewish people, they have that when you eat without your hands washed, it means that you are sinful.

And Jesus is saying, Don't you know that, see, what makes a man sinful is not what comes into his mouth and goes to his stomach and is dedicated.

But what makes a man sinful is a heart condition.

So sin emanates from the heart. Right?

So this concept that Jesus explains that whatever a man eats enters his belly and goes into the toilet later on, you know, nullify the idea that it is what a man takes in him that makes him sinful.

Jesus also explained for that eating does not defile a man. However, what defiles a man from this text is that which proceeds from his mouth, which is directly coming from where? Coming from his heart.

So this explanation takes down the idea, right?

The idea that Adam ate an apple.

Even though the Bible did not say it's an apple. Adam ate a fruit and he sinned against God.

Remember, we said earlier on that Moses was communicating what?

He was communicating a spiritual activity. He was communicating a spiritual reality, but he uses physical things in order to communicate a spiritual reality.

So Moses will be presenting God's plan in his writings because Moses, right, was not a gardener.

He was a nutritionist, right? He was a prophet of God.

And what a prophet does is that he speaks for the plan and the purpose of God.

And in his use of the story, he was trying to communicate the plan of God to humanity.

Right from Genesis 1.

Now, let's see John chapter 6 verse 32 to 33, continuing in Jesus's way of teaching, trying to understand what does the word eat mean?

John 6:32–33

What does it mean to eat and what does it mean not to eat?

Then Jesus said unto them, John chapter 6 verse 32 to 33, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father gave you the true bread from heaven.

John 6:32–33

For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.

In this verse, we can see Jesus explaining that this true bread is where?

Where is the true bread coming from? It's coming from heaven.

Now, true bread does not mean that it is a false bread.

True bread, the opposite of this true bread does not mean that it is a bread that is false.

He said that what Moses gave you is physical, but this is the explanation of what Moses was trying to communicate.

And we see in this verse also, verse 32 especially, he says for the bread of God is he, the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.

So the bread is a he and this bread, what does it do? It gives life.

So this hunger is not a physical hunger, right?

It's communicating something spiritual because the bread is a he.

It's a person. It's a person.

It means the perfect bread means, you know, the true bread means one which is perfect, one which is perfected, one which is perfect, which is a real deal.

So the bread given by Moses is a type and a shadow of the true bread.

Types and shadows is a pointer to what God will do or is a pointer to what God has done in our own context.

So Moses ministered or Moses' ministry of teaching was in types and shadows.

All right. What do you mean by types and shadows?

Hebrews 8 verse 5.

Hebrews 8:5

What Moses did in the wilderness with the people of God,

the physical things he did, the ordinances established by Moses were a pointer to another one which is real,

was a mode of teaching, was a mode of explanation that Moses employed.

Because remember, Moses wrote the Genesis, the first four books, right?

The first, is it four or five?

The first five books of the Bible.

So let's look at Hebrews 5 verse 8.

Hebrews 5:8

They say, who served from verse 6, let's see, verse 6, but now had obtained a more excellent ministry.

Talking about Christ, how much more also he is the mediator of a better covenant.

This better covenant is referring to something that is perfect, which was established upon what better promises.

I think next we're going to look at what promises are.

We're going to look at the concept of promise. When the Bible says promise, what does it mean? Promise.

Because many times we think that, oh, we have many promises in the Bible.

Let me give us a clue. We have only one promise. God made only one promise to man. Amen.

And we'll see what a promise is in scriptures. Verse 6, right?

Verse 5, verse 5, who served unto the example and shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was at mornish of God when he was about to make the tabernacle.

For see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the path and should thee in the mount.

Which means that what Moses established, the ordinances, the programs, all the arrangements of Moses was of the real that he saw on the mountain.

God showed him the reality. So he was able to establish something athlete to point people to what is real.

Hebrews chapter 10 verse 1, for the law, when we talk about the law, what are we referring to?

Hebrews 10:1

We're referring to the writings of Moses, especially. All right?

For the law having a shadow of what? Of good things to come and not the very image of the things.

So the law carry what? It carries stripes and shadows. It explains the reality of these things.

And not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the commerce there unto perfect.

Which means that all the activities and the sacrifices, the killing of ghouls and rams and the sacrifices, the blood, you know, things we see, blood this, blood that, they couldn't make a man perfect.

They couldn't make a man accepted in the sight of God. But that which God will do by himself in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah.

So let's continue back to John 6 verse 35.

John 6:35

John 6 verse 35, and Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He didn't hide it. He says, I am the bread of life that cometh to, he that cometh to me shall never hunger. Amen.

John 6:35

Have you all come to Christ? Who is hungry now? I am hungry. I'm not eating food this morning. Amen.

Which means that Jesus is not talking about physical hunger. Right? If you come to him, he said you will never hunger.

So if you read this, right, without trying to understand the mood of communication, you will think in Jesus and if you come to me, you will never lack food to eat. You will lack food.

Some of you, you don't have food in your house and you are Christians. Let's be real, right?

So that's not what it's meaning here. Alright? So, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Are you thirsty for water? Do you get thirsty? Of course.

Remember the woman, the Samaritan woman, right, by the well side? Jesus said I will give you water, right?

And you will never thirst again. So he's not talking about something physical. He's using a physical thing to communicate a spiritual reality.

Are we together? He that believeth on me shall never thirst, but I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not.

Alright? So Jesus here explains here that he is, am I going back? Yes. That he is a true bread and anyone that eats out of this true bread will never hunger.

Here we see Jesus introduce a word believe in that verse. Eat of we see line by line here.

He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

So if you come, coming is believing and you will never thirst and you will never hunger. Alright?

The person who believes in him shall never hunger. So if you believe in Jesus, you get hungry, of course we get hungry.

So we therefore means that he is not explaining something natural. Chapter 6 verse 40, jump to verse 40.

And this is the will of him that sends me, that every one who seeth the Son and believeth on him may have what everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day.

He must, he used the word rather, he used the word believe again to explain that anyone that believes will receive everlasting life.

Verse 47 to 48. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am what? The bread of life.

Verse 50. This is a bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. You believe you have everlasting life.

You eat and you will not die. So the hunger there is not a physical hunger. Alright? And the bread there is not referring to physical bread.

The man who eats of this bread will have everlasting life. Verse 51. I am the living bread which cometh down from heaven.

If any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.

So the story is getting interesting. So Jesus is saying that he will eat his flesh. This bread is referring to his flesh. Right?

Jesus says that he is the living bread and anyone who eats of the bread will have everlasting life.

Verse 52. The Jews therefore strove among themselves saying, how can this fellow give us his flesh to eat? How can this man give us his body to eat? Are we carnivores?

Of course, the audience does not understand the communication, right? They got him wrong. They thought Jesus was talking about his physical body.

Let's move to verse 53 to 58. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

Whosoever eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life. So you mean if you eat Jesus, you drink his blood, you have eternal life.

For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him.

As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. You eat him, you live by him.

This is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth of this, of this bread shall live forever.

So the provision of manna in the wilderness coming down on earth is types and shadows, is a typology, is an allegory of God through Moses teaching to the people of God concerning Jesus Christ.

So verse 56 speaks of identification. The man that eats is identified in Christ.

The Father explains in verse 58 that the man that eats of the living bread, which is Jesus, will do what? Will live forever.

This is eternal life, which is found actually in Christ.

61 to 64, when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples were normal and he said unto them, Do this offend you? What if he shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?

There is a spirit that worketh, that quickeneth, the flesh profited nothing. The word that speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.

But there are some of you that believe it not. So many of them did not believe what Jesus was saying.

So Jesus will explain that eating his flesh and drinking his blood is what? Is equal to what? Believing.

So eating Jesus' blood, flesh and drinking his blood is equivalent to what? Believing. Alright?

What he meant by eating his body, his flesh, it means believing in him. That is what it means.

Jesus will explain this believing in his works, believing in who he is and what he has come to do.

So since the scripture teaches it as to believe, we can also, you know, look at the Moses' way of teaching as well because I will say it's in the same era.

Moses also in his writing in Genesis, he will use the word eat to refer to what? To refer to believe.

So what was Adam to believe? He was to believe in God's plan for man. He was to believe in God's promise. In God's promise of life.

So Adam believing in that will come into God's image. So God's image. Man come into God's image by believing.

Man will come into God's image of God by what? By believing. God's image is based on God's life.

But sadly we saw in the story of Adam, he didn't believe. He rejected God's promise.

And he was found in death and opposite nature to the image that God has wanted him to be.

He rejected life. He demonstrated unbelief. That means that God's image, as I said Aaron, can only be come into by faith.

All right? To come into the image of God is by faith. To come into the image of God is by faith.

So if Adam will be found in the image of God, he must believe. He must exercise faith. He must exercise faith in what God has said.

In what God has said. In the offer of life that God has given.

We'll see Paul explains Moses to us in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4.

2 Corinthians 4:4

Moses is in explanation of Moses. Paul in explaining Moses writing in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 4.

2 Corinthians 4:4

It says, In whom the God of this world hath blinded their minds. They blinded the minds of them which believe not.

So if you are in unbelief, there is a coverage on your face.

Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God? Who is the image of God?

The image of God is Christ. Are we together? It's not Adam. It's who? It's Christ.

Who is the image of God? To shine on them. To shine on them.

The image of God is Christ. Paul calls Christ. The image of God. Colossians chapter 1 verse 14 to 15.

Colossians 1:14–15

Colossians 1 verse 14 to 15. It says, In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Verse 15.

Colossians 1:14–15

Who is what? Is the image of the invisible God. Who is the image of the invisible God? Christ.

The firstborn of every creature. I don't want to explain deeply here.

The firstborn of every creature. Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

So if you want to see the invisible God, what do you look at? You look at Jesus.

You look at who Jesus is and you are able to understand the invisible God.

Hebrews 1 verse 2 and 3. It says Jesus is the express image of his person.

Hebrews 1:2

Hebrews 1 verse 2 and 3. Let's read from verse 1.

Hebrews 1:2

God who at sundry times and in divers manner speak in time past unto the fathers by who? By the prophets.

The modes of God's communication to the men of the past were through prophets.

God, yes verse 2. Verse 2. Had in these last days spoken unto us by his son.

Whom he had appointed her of all things by whom also he made the words. Verse 3.

Who been the what? The brightness of his glory and the express image of his presence.

So if you want to know God, the only formula by which you know God is not in Scientology.

Are we together? If you want to see the image of God, you focus on who? You focus on Christ.

Anything outside Christ, any knowledge outside Christ can never arrive at the perfect knowledge of God.

You cannot arrive at the knowledge of God by understanding your personality. Are we together?

By understanding your temperament. We've tried that before. We never arrive at Christ. It's a wrong formula.

Are we together? You can never arrive by knowing God by psychology.

You arrive as a false image of yourself if you are a believer.

So the ways by which we can see God, he has given us the express image of his person.

And upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself pushed out sins and sat on the right hand of the majesty on high.

So we see here that Jesus is what? Is the express image of who? Of God.

Hence when God said let us make man in our image and likeness in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 to 28.

Genesis 1:26–28

God was stating his intention for man. And what is the intention?

That man that God will create will believe in his message and will come into this image, will come into Christ.

God was stating his intention of man to be found in Christ and if you are a believer it means that you are where you are in Christ.

You are in the image of God. His son. The very image of God.

God's plan for man is to be in his image, to be in Christ. That is God wanted man to have everlasting life.

So what was presented to Adam for him is to believe the gospel, right?

This was tapify or was given in tithes and shadows as a tree of life in Genesis chapter 2.

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

And we see Adam on the other hand shot unbelief towards a message and then he was found in death.

Therefore the tree of life was a figurative expression or it is an explanation of God's plan of life in Christ for man.

Of which Adam rejected as an act of his will.

So Adam exercised his will against the plan and the purpose of God.

That is why even up until today for you to come into the image of God you must as a matter of exercise your will in believing the gospel.

In believing the gospel. So becoming the image of God is not automatic.

It's not automatic. Adam disbelieved God.

So Adam's sin was a sin of unbelief, of disbelief which we can see is in disobedience, right?

In what God told him is not a behavioral misconduct.

He is not in eating and not eating.

He rejected life. The tree of life.

To eat of a tree of life is to...

To not eat of a tree of life is to reject what God has said.

Is to reject God's offering of life.

Alright? Is to reject God's offer of life.

Hence Genesis 1, 26, 28 didn't come to pass in the life of this Adam that was created in Genesis 2.

So we can ask the question did God ever fulfill that promise of man to be created in the image of God?

Did God ever fulfill this promise of man being found in the image of God?

Yes. How?

Huh? How?

After Adam's sin, God became a man, Jesus Christ, right?

Paul calls him the last Adam, the second Adam. Let's look at John chapter 1 verse 14.

John 1:14

John chapter 1 verse 14 in the KJV.

John 1:14

He says, And the world was made flesh and dwelt among us and with beheld is glory.

The glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

1 Corinthians 15 verse 45 to 47.

1 Corinthians 15:45–47

And so it is written, the first Adam was made a living soul.

Where did we see that living soul? In Genesis chapter what? Huh?

Chapter what? It's true, right?

There was a breath of life into the man and he became a living soul.

So we see here expressly Paul was explaining Moses.

The first man Adam was made a living soul.

The last Adam, referring to who?

Christ was what? Was a quickening spirit.

How be it that was not first which is spiritual?

How be it that was not a?

How do I read this all King James? Give me new King James.

Verse 40, this is in New King James.

However, correct. However, the spiritual is not first.

Which means that the first Adam was not what? Spiritual. Amen?

But natural. Is it clear? Is it clear?

The first Adam was what? Was not spiritual. He was natural.

Afterwards, the spiritual. What is that after all?

Afterwards, he's referring to after all, the second Adam, referring to Christ.

Let's look at verse 47. The Father explained this.

The first man was of the earth, made of dust, right?

The second man is the Lord from where? From heaven.

Hallelujah. So Paul here says that the last Adam,

he is a quickening spirit. He is a Lord from heaven.

That means he has been the last Adam. He will begin a new kind of humanity from that last Adam,

comes forward a new kind of humanity that is by the spirit.

One which anyone who believes will take on the image of God.

So the image of the Son of God.

So Paul put it like this in Romans 5 verse 9. Look at Romans 5 verse 19.

Romans 5:9 Romans 5:19

As we run up, Romans 5 verse 19. He says,

Romans 5:19

For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners.

Tango didn't say all.

By one man's disobedience, how many were made sinners? Many.

I say again, not all, but many.

Why would I say not all?

Adam gave back to two. One is Wu, Cain, and one is Wu, Abel.

Cain was what? Found in what? In unbelief, right?

What about Abel? Abel believed.

So was Abel in the likeness of the sin of Adam,

in the context of the disobedience of Adam, was Abel a sinner?

In the similitude of Adam's sin, was Abel a sinner?

In the nature of Adam's sin, found as disobedience, which means that he's conditioner, right?

He's a product of will, he's a product of choice.

Are we together?

So, for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners.

So by one, by the obedience of one, shall all, shall what?

Also many, because not all.

So it relegates all this concept that Jesus died and he has paid it for all, so everybody is now safe. No.

He says many didn't say all, which means that it's conditional to all to believe in.

So many will become what? Will be made righteous.

So the obedience of Christ makes many righteous by faith.

When we believe we come into God's image and likeness, we become like Christ in character and in nature.

Because he lives in us. First, Genesis 1, 26 to 28 is fulfilled where?

It's fulfilled in Christ. Hallelujah.

Genesis 1, 26 to 28 is fulfilling who? It's fulfilling Christ.

The last Adam, the one that gives us his nature by faith and from where we walk in dominion.

So the believer today walks in dominion as a result of his belief, his faith in Jesus Christ.

The male and the female in Genesis now will be male and female in Christ.

Humanity in Christ, the last Adam.

The new creation today and forever.

Founded in God's glorious image and likeness.

Let me conclude.

The first and the important commandment of God.

The first and the most important commandment we saw earlier in Matthew 22 verse 27.

Matthew 22:27

Matthew 27, part seven again.

Jesus said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.

So loving God is not just in words, but in actions.

First John 3 verse 18.

1 John 3:18

My little children, let us love not in words or in tongue, but what?

But in deeds and what? And in truth.

Now these actions of expressing love towards God.

First, because see, the reason why we are focusing on God is because you cannot love men without loving God.

Are we together?

And for you to even love God, we will see that he first loved us. We're going to go into that first.

God first of all, he loved us.

Right? Then we love him by what? By obeying.

When we obey, we now begin to love others. That is the sequence.

Are we together? So these actions must be founded on faith.

It is a response to love God is a response to the leading of the Holy Spirit in you.

If you don't have the Spirit of God in you, you don't have the ability to love God.

You don't have the ability to love men unconditionally as Christ have loved you.

So these actions must be founded on faith.

It is a response. Loving God is a response of what? Of the leading of the Spirit in the believer.

And we who believe have the ability in us.

All this explanation is for me to arrive at this last sentence.

We who believe have the ability to do what? To love God because his Spirit does what?

Has been given to us. How was the Spirit given to us? Because we believe.

Are we together? Let's open our mouth and give thanks to God.

Say Father, thank you Lord for the gift of your Spirit and for giving us the ability to express love.

First of all to you. Because a life in the Spirit is a life inspired and live in obedience to your Spirit.

And we've seen that sin is no longer a problem. It's no longer a barrier.

Christ has become the eternal sacrifice. Therefore we have the capacity to love you.

Say Father, I walk in this truth.

Thank you for listening to our sermon today. We hope you were blessed by this teaching.

If you want to learn more about our church, please visit our website or follow us on social media.

We would love to connect with you and hear your feedback.

Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast channel and share it with your friends and family.

You never know who might need a word of encouragement.