His Ambassador Blog

Recently, I’ve had the incredible privilege of sharing the word with my youth group on Wednesday nights this summer. We only have about five weeks left before I leave for college, so I wanted to find a set of lessons I could share with them that resonated deeply with me. I ended up feeling God guiding me to share about the seven ‘I AM’ statements of Jesus that are found in the book of John. I studied the book of John last year and read these statements and they sincerely opened my eyes to the character of Jesus as well as His mission here on earth. So, the first ‘I AM’ statement that Jesus uses to describe Himself is that He is the Bread of Life!

The ‘I AM’ statements serve to integrate Jesus’ deity and His overall character. Back in the old testament, Moses asked God for His name. In Exodus 3:14 God said to Him, “…I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” To interpret this to mean that God is everything, such as ‘God is the trees’ or ‘God is the water’ would be an incorrect interpretation. It is rather that God is saying that who He was when He created the world, is who He is today and who He will be tomorrow. He is the same as He has always been and will not change. We can count on God to be everlasting, the only foundation we can be sure of. When Jesus uses the statement ‘I AM’ He declares that He is God, but He is also describing His character to us in ways that we can understand, in ways that make sense, in ways that are true.

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

John 6:35

As humans we have the innate desire for purpose, belonging, and the feeling of being complete. This is similar to our need to eat everyday. Our bodies need food for energy to perform the daily functions that are required of us. Not only does food provide energy, but nutrients that aid in keeping us healthy. Our spiritual hunger is much like our physical hunger in that we typically have to eat again to feel full and complete. We continually seek after things that we think will satisfy the longing in our hearts. Not only a longing for the purpose and belonging that we mentioned before, but also a desire for eternity. The bible describes this in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God makeshift from the beginning to the end.” We have a desire to know God and understand Him, as well as the desire to experience eternity. Many try to fight that desire, yet they spend their entire life searching for answers, even if they don’t realize it. We tend to fill that void with validation from others, relationships, partying, substances, a job, and many more vain things. The problem with doing this is that those things are temporary and fleeting. Anything we try to find fulfillment in other than God will never satisfy us or give us the belonging that we seek after.

Thankfully, there is a solution to this problem: Jesus Christ. When Jesus says that He is the bread of life, He does not mean that you can skip breakfast, lunch, and supper and not feel hungry. He does not mean that you never need to eat food again. The hunger that Jesus satisfies is the hunger of the soul and satisfies it permanently. When Jesus is using the metaphor of bread, He is describing that He is essential to maintaining spiritual life, much like bread is necessary to sustain physical life. Those who believe in Jesus and surrender their lives and will to Him, will never hunger again. Jesus fulfills:

I. Our need for belonging

“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

Under the blood of Jesus, we are adopted into the family of God. This means that we have a place in His kingdom. Jesus makes a point of not excluding anyone from the good news. He tells us to come as we are and then the justification and sanctification process begins. Jesus gives everyone the opportunity to find their place with Him, but it is up to us to accept that invitation.

II. Our need for purpose

“For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him.” Colossians 1:16

As humans, we want to have a purpose. We want to feel like we are contributing to society, to others, and to ourselves. We each have a God-given purpose which is to worship and serve Him all the days of our lives. Again, this is a choice we have to make. To choose to surrender our will and take on His. To let Jesus be our purpose. Humans spend their lives trying to find what their underlying purpose is but as believers we know that this is to live for God. We will be satisfied when we are living in this purpose rather than trying to fulfill the one we’ve created for ourselves. 

III. Our need for feeling complete

“For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power.” Colossians 2:9-10.                

In Christ, we become complete. All of the brokenness, heartache, betrayal, doesn’t define us anymore. We are no longer dead, but alive in Christ. We are made completely new. We will get to experience eternity with Jesus in Heaven one day and until then we live for Him. He gives us joy, peace, love, etc. 

In a world run by temporary pleasures that we seek after in order to satisfy our desires, we must turn to the ultimate source of fulfillment. Jesus Christ will not leave you feeling empty, lost, or confused. The Bread of Life will satisfy the hunger in your heart for more than this world. C.S. Lewis once said, “The fact that our heart yearns for something earth can’t supply is proof that heaven must be our home.” You will not find belonging here, but when you seek the cross, you will find all that you’ve been searching for and more. 

“The fact that our heart yearns for something earth can’t supply is proof that heaven must be our home.”

C.S. Lewis

If you’re struggling with finding your satisfaction in Jesus I encourage you to question what you’re allowing in your life in place of Jesus. For some it’s their appearance. For others it’s a relationship. I think I can speak on behalf of many that I have tried to find purpose and belonging in a relationship when what I really needed was to understand that Jesus has already given me belonging. But I’ve also been guilty in defining my satisfaction on my appearance and I know others who have struggled with this as well. The bible is full of promises from Jesus where He declares that we belong to Him, we are chosen by Him, and we have purpose in Him. I encourage you to do a little digging and I think you’ll be pleased with what you find.