EAT or BE EATEN!
What
does it take to live on planet earth?
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In order to survive on earth it is
necessary that we consume food.
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It is to be noted that in order for us to
sustain life we are dependant on other life forms.
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In order for us to have life we must eat
life.
o When
we eat meat something must die.
o So
in order for us to have continuous life, other life has to die.
o By
the death of an animal we maintain our life.
when
seeking eternal life that a life was also required.
¨
The life of
¨
In order to have physical life we must
consume other life.
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In order for us to have eternal life we
must partake of the life of
¨
When we take communion we are
demonstrating our faith in the death of
Matt
26:26-28 And as they were eating,
49:
Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50:
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof,
and not die.
51:
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this
bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world.
52:
The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How
can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53:
Then
54: Whoso eateth my flesh,
and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will
raise him up at the last day.
55:
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink
indeed.
56:
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh
my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57:
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
this was not apparent to
the disciples.
Jn:
¨
We know what we need to survive here on
earth.
¨
We know that in order to survive after
physical death we must partake of
¨
So we observe that our life on earth is
sustained by other life forms.
In
the Garden of Eden Adam and
Gen 1:29: And God said, Behold, I have given you
every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every
tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for
meat.
After the flood God sanctioned the eating of
animal flesh.
Gen:9:1: And God blessed
2:
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the
earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth
upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they
delivered.
3:
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you;
even as the green herb have I given you all things.
4:
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
After
the flood the law of the jungle prevailed.
o The
survival of the strongest became the rule of the day.
o We
observe that everything was created for purpose.
o After
the flood we began to eat animal flesh but animals were never created to be
food for mankind.
o The
result of sin and the catastrophic flood made it necessary to consume animal
flesh to live.
o When
we eat meat, the animal must die, but this was not always the plan of God.
We
learned that the herbs and the fruit of trees were originally meant to be our
food.
What
is the difference?
o When
we consume plant material for food, the plants did not have to die so we could
live.
o The
plant kingdom was to produce fruit to bless mankind.
o As
we ate the fruit it did not require the death of the plant.
o When
we eat the leaves of plants they do not die.
o When
we eat the fruit of trees, trees do not die.
o It
is the glory of the plant kingdom to bear fruit for us and animals to eat.
PLANTS:
God given purpose is to glorify all animal life.
ANIMALS:
God given purpose is to eat the food produced for the animal kingdom and bless
the plant kingdom.
What
was God’s purpose for creating mankind?
¨
Man was created to bless the Father.
¨
We are created for His purposes and His
good pleasure.
¨
Everything is to be fruitful to be a
blessing.
¨
Doing
the will of the Father becomes meat for our spirit.
We
are nourished be the doing of the will of the Father.
What
does the Father desire of us? The Father wants us to be
fruitful and multiply.
Gen
1:28: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Ø
We are required to be fruitful.
Ø
What fruit could we produce that would be
acceptable to God?
Psalms
40:5-6: Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and
thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto
thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt
offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
God
is hungry for communication with us.
¨
God wants a response from His creation.
¨
God wants our love for our being.
¨
We are created for His pleasure.
Eph:1:9: Having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath
purposed in himself:
God
desires OUR worship!
When
we conform our life and conduct in accordance to His
will we live out God’s pleasure.
Jn:
How
do we worship God?
¨
We are in awe when we see the beauty of a
sun set.
¨
We are in awe when we see the beauty of a
flower.
¨
Even more profound is when we experience
love of someone else.
¨
We are in awe when we discover His grace
and forgiveness.
Jn:
Ø
When we become aware that no matter how
great our effort is we can not attain the goodness of God, and that God Himself
makes us acceptable.
Ø
No amount of effort on our part can ever
exalt us to the level of holiness that God ever lives in.
Psalms
1: O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy
glory above the heavens.
2:
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou
ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou
mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3: When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy
fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4:
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5:
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him
with glory and honour.
6:
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of
thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
7:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8:
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9:
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Why
is it that on earth today, we must eat other life to have life?
Ø
If this is a principle of all God’s
creation, then it seems to be that we can only have life if we take life.
Ø
If at anytime we fail to take life we
will fail to have life.
Ø
In order for me to live on I must take
life from something that is has life.
Ø
Was this always the way it worked, or was
it different at some point in time?
o In
the garden of Eden before the fall there were no
animals eaten. In fact man was to eat the herb of the field and the fruit of
the trees to sustain life.
o After
the destruction of the earth in the flood of
o Before
sin entered man could eat herbs and fruit and receive enough nourishment to
meet the needs of his body.
o After
the flood the plants no longer could supply all our nutritional needs and it
became necessary to eat the flesh of animals.
o The
earth and its plants lived to serve mankind.
o When
mankind ate fruit it did not cause the loss of life.
o The
herbs and plants lived to bless mankind with nourishment.
o God
was blessed by the herbs and plants providing food for man.
Ø
Everything lived in harmony with God and
His plan.
Ø
As the earth obeyed God and blessed
mankind with food so man was to be a blessing as well.
Ø
Yet after the fall into sin mankind lost
the purpose for his creation, and that was to be a blessing to God the Father.
God
seeks those that would love and worship Him.
We
bless God with our praise, worship, and thanksgiving.
That
is why
Jn:
God
called us to be fruitful and multiply; He did not say to fruitfully multiply.
Heb:
We
are created to bring praise to God for His goodness.
Jer:33:11: “The voice of
joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of
the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the
LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of
them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD”
>
When a person receives the Spirit of God and the Saviors salvation it is very
common to hear that person begin to say praise
the Lord over things that they ignored before they were saved.
Rv:
Ø
We have the choice and capacity to praise, when we do we are doing something that God did not
create.
Ø
When we offer burnt offerings to God they
are what He has created.
Ø
God seeks our worship!
Jn:
Ps:
Ps:
Ps:29:2: Give unto the LORD
the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
Ps:45:11: So shall the king
greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.
Ps:66:4: All the earth
shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.
Ps:86:9: All nations whom
thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify
thy name.
Ps:95:6: O come, let us
worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Ps:96:9: O worship the LORD
in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
Ps:99:5: Exalt ye the LORD
our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.
Ps:99:9: Exalt the LORD our
God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.
Ps:132:7: We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at
his footstool.
Ps:138:2: I will worship
toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness
and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
Ps:9:2: I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise
to thy name, O thou most High.
Ps:
Ps:33:2: Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the
psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Ps:35:18: I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I
will praise thee among much people.
Ps:50:23: Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth
his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of
God.
Ps:57:7: My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will
sing and give praise.
Ps:66:8: O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his
praise to be heard:
Ps:69:30: I will praise the name of God with a song, and will
magnify him with thanksgiving.
Ps:71:8: Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.
Ps:79:13: So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give
thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise
to all generations.
Ps:92:1: It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and
to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
Ps:104:33: I will sing unto
the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
Have
a God-day!
