I Am

There are a lot of different opinions, ideas, and views about who Jesus is. When you hear all of those, you kind of want to know: will the real Jesus stand out? Well, in the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us exactly who He is in His own words with seven "I am" statements. So, we're starting a new series today called "I Am," considering those statements together.

Open with us to John chapter 1 and follow along. If you're able, would you stand with me and take out your Bibles? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will gladly bring you one. We are going to be in a different book of the Bible this morning, in John chapter 6, in a few moments. But first, would you open to the Gospel of John chapter 1? The Gospels are near the middle of your Bible. Turn to the middle of your Bible and turn right, and you will find Matthew, Mark, Luke, and then John.

We will begin reading in John chapter 1, verse 1. Some very famous words of Scripture: the Apostle writes, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

Father, as we stand here this morning under the light of Your revelation, we pray, God, that we would comprehend the greatness of who You are as we see You revealed in the Gospel of John. I pray that today, and over the next six weeks in this series this summer, You would speak to us. Maybe for some, these passages are familiar, but Lord, I pray that even if they are familiar to us, we would understand in a greater way who You are and what You've done. God, speak to us, we pray, in such a way that it would transform not just our minds but our hearts, and as a result, it would transform the way that we live.

A daily basis, and that transformation would be evident not only to us but to those who know us. So, God, work in us by Your Spirit and by the working of Your Word today. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen." You can be seated.

Today, we are going to begin a new series that will take us through the end of the summer. We are calling this series "I Am," and it will become more clear as we go through the text today and over the next six weeks why we are calling it "I Am." We will be in the Gospel of John. It has been a while since we have been in the Gospels, but I have been wanting to get back to them for some time.

We began a journey in the New Testament back at the end of 2008, going through the New Testament with the book of Acts as our guide. The New Testament book of Acts, the fifth book of the New Testament, is a history book of the early church. During the history that the book of Acts records, many of the New Testament letters were written. We have been going through each one of those letters chronologically as we have gone through the Scriptures. After finishing the book of Acts, we continued on that chronological journey, and we should be finished with that around the end of next year.

It has been my hope in all of this to get back to one of the Gospels because they are so important to the New Testament. There is no New Testament without the Gospels. However, knowing that, I didn't want to completely step away from that journey through the New Testament. I haven't been in this text for a while, so I wanted to come back, and we are just going to hit on some very important things from the Gospel of John.

If you have never read through the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—I want to highly encourage you to put them on your summer reading list and to go through them. Even if you are not yet a follower of Jesus or do not consider yourself a believer or a Christian, it would be really valuable for you to at least read through what the Gospels have to say about Jesus. There are a lot of opinions about Jesus that have no basis in the Bible whatsoever, and I think you might be surprised if you have never read through them.

If you have read through them, then you will know that Matthew, Mark, and Luke differ considerably from the book of John. The Gospel of John is very different from the other three Gospels, and it kind of begs the question: Why is John so different?

The Gospel of John is different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. When you start to look at the history of these texts—when they were written, how they were written, and why they were written—it becomes clear that John stands apart. John was the last living apostle at the end of the first century, and the Gospel of John is the last New Testament book that was written. Historians and scholars tell us this.

As John surveyed the Gospels, he no doubt read Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which had been in circulation for about three decades before he wrote his Gospel. As he reflected on these texts, he was inspired to write because he had something to say. Isn't that always the case? Writers are inspired to express what they want to convey. John wanted to show another dimension of the Gospel, another facet of Jesus.

As you study through this, it becomes clear that John aimed to present Jesus in a different light. He offers another perspective on the life and ministry of Christ in the Gospel of John. This perspective is not altered or significantly different; it simply provides a different vantage point. The Gospel of John has a clear aim and purpose: to reveal the true nature of Jesus. That is what John seeks to accomplish in the 21 chapters of his Gospel.

To understand this better, it is helpful to consider the historical context. Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written before the Gospel of John, believed to have been composed in the mid-50s AD and up until about the mid-60s AD. Luke was most certainly written before 66 AD because it serves as a prequel to the Book of Acts, which was written before the death of the Apostle Paul. Since Paul died in 66 AD, it is a logical deduction that Luke was written before that time. It is also believed that Matthew and Mark were written before the Gospel of Luke.

In contrast, the authorship of the Gospel of John suggests that John likely did not die until after 98 AD. He lived through the end of the first century and almost into the second century. While we do not know the exact date of his death, it is believed that the Gospel of John was written in the last decade of the first century.

Between 90 and 100 AD, the Gospel of John was written during a time when the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were already in circulation. These texts were being compiled into codexes, or bound books made of parchment, and were circulating within the church. John was in a location where he would have encountered these Gospels, as Ephesus was home to one of the largest and most influential churches of that time. He died in that great city and had witnessed many significant events.

What is intriguing about the Gospel of John is that John was an early eyewitness of the life and ministry of Jesus. He was present during key moments, as described in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He saw Jesus on the cross and encountered the risen Jesus. He shared meals with Jesus both before and after the crucifixion. Given his close proximity to these events, John had the opportunity to correct any factual errors in the accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but he chose not to do so. This omission is important because it suggests that there were no factual errors in those Gospels. John does not say, "Mark kind of got this wrong; let me fix it." Instead, he emphasizes that those Gospels were established truths.

John's intention was not to write merely his own version of the details already covered by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Instead, he sought to highlight the true nature of Jesus. As one reads through the 21 chapters of John, it becomes clear that he was anticipating one of the earliest heresies—unorthodox teachings that were beginning to infiltrate the church. This early heresy, known as Gnosticism, took root in the second century AD, particularly in Asia Minor, where Ephesus was the chief city. John was likely witnessing the early growth of this heresy.

The Gnostics denied the Incarnation and the deity of Jesus. In the opening verses of John, specifically John 1:1-5, we read, "In the beginning was the Word," and in verse 14, "the Word became flesh." In this prologue, John addresses these issues directly, laying the foundation for understanding the true nature of Christ.

Hammering home the deity and the incarnation of Jesus, Gnostics did not believe in the deity or incarnation of Jesus. They even denied the physical death of Jesus on the cross and the physical resurrection of Jesus. However, John emphasizes that point in the last chapters of his book. He was an eyewitness of Jesus on the cross and saw that Jesus physically died. He also witnessed Jesus physically rise from the dead. When Jesus said to Thomas, "Take your hand and put it into the wounds on my hands or in my side," John was there. He saw these things with his own eyes.

John seeks to address this growing unorthodox teaching, aiming to exalt the true nature of Jesus. There were all kinds of differing opinions about who Jesus was, and in the second century AD, the Gnostics twisted the understanding of His identity. This is John's clear purpose, which he articulates in John chapter 20.

In John chapter 20, the second to the last chapter of the book, he provides a very clear statement of purpose in verses 30 and 31. John 20:30 states, "And truly Jesus did other signs in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book." Many of those signs are recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and people could refer to those Gospels. However, John notes that there were many other signs and miracles that Jesus performed that are not written in the New Testament.

He continues, "But these are written for this purpose: that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."

Point number one in your outline is that John's purpose is to reveal the true nature of Jesus. He aims to reveal this true nature, while Matthew, Mark, and Luke set out to record the life and especially the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. They provide a brief biographical synopsis of the things that Jesus did and said, leading up to the crucifixion and the resurrection, which is the culmination of each of those Gospels.

The Synoptic Gospels present a unified view of Jesus, but when John writes, he seems to recognize that the truth about Jesus had already been established. The works and words of Jesus in the previous Gospels serve as a foundation for his writing. Therefore, John writes with the aim that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

This concept that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, is not new with the Apostle John in 95 AD. He is not introducing a new idea to the church that was not already seen in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In fact, in the very first Gospel, the Gospel of Matthew, we see this truth revealed by God the Father to Peter. Peter announces it in Matthew chapter 16, and the context is intriguing.

Jesus is with His disciples in a place dominated by various forms of heathen pagan worship, called Caesarea Philippi. He asks His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" They respond with a variety of opinions: some say that He is the Christ, others say He is a prophet, and some have different ideas. Even during Jesus's ministry, there were many opinions about who He was. So, He asks His disciples directly, "Who do you say that I am?"

In Matthew chapter 16, Peter speaks up and declares, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus responds to him, saying, "Simon, son of Jonah, that is the right answer. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." Then Jesus continues in Matthew chapter 16, verse 18, stating, "And I say to you that you are Peter (Petrus in Greek, meaning little stone), but on this great rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it."

Some people have interpreted this to mean that Peter is the foundation upon which the church is built, but that is not what Jesus was saying. The statement that Peter made, inspired by God the Father—"You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God"—is the bedrock foundation of the church. This is exactly what God the Father speaks of Jesus, the Son, in Matthew chapter 3.

When Jesus went to John the Baptist to be baptized, He came up out of the water, and a voice from heaven, God the Father, proclaimed, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Within just days of Peter making that statement in Matthew chapter 16, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God," we are given another story of Jesus on what's called the Mount of Transfiguration. It's in Matthew chapter 17, and Jesus is transfigured in His glory before Peter, James, and John. The author of this Gospel, the Gospel of John, describes this event where Jesus is transfigured, and there are Moses and Elijah speaking with Him. Peter and the disciples are taken aback by this, and they hear a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him."

The concept of Jesus being the Son of God and being the Christ are established truths by the time that John writes this. It is not like he is bringing new doctrine, but he is saying, "I want to make this case very strong that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God." These things are written so that you would believe, that you would trust that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Well, the question then is, what does it mean that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? When John says that He is the Christ, what does he mean by that? It means that Jesus is the one who fulfills all the prophecies of the Old Testament spoken about the one who is referred to as the Hebrew Messiah. The Greek word "Christ," or "Christos," is really the same in relation to the Hebrew word "Messiah."

In the Old Testament, when the prophets would speak about the coming of the Messiah, John is saying that Jesus is the anticipated one that all the people—men, women, and children in Israel—were looking forward to. The prophets had spoken of this for centuries. When the prophets would say a king would come and rule in righteousness, they were looking forward to the Messiah, to the Christ. When John says Jesus is the Christ, he is saying He is the one they were looking for.

When the prophets would say that He is the Prince of Peace, they were talking about the Messiah, and John says, "This is Him." When the prophets would speak about the one who would be the long-awaited King of Kings and Lord of Lords, when they would talk about the one who was the righteous and just judge who would bring salvation to the ends of the earth, that is the Messiah. When John says Jesus is the Christ, he is saying He is the fulfillment of all of that.

But not only does he say He is the Christ; he also says He is the Son of God. For some people, this kind of trips them up because they wonder what exactly does that mean—that He is the Son of God? When we think of a son, we think of someone who descended from a father, and so we can...

We often mix up our understanding of what the title "Son of God" means. To explain what it signifies, we need to approach it from a different angle and clarify what it does not mean. When Jesus is called the Son of God, it does not imply that Jesus, in His nature, is the procreation or descendant of God the Father. Although He is referred to as the only begotten Son of God four times in the Gospel of John—more than in any other place in the New Testament—this does not mean that God the Father created Him.

The Gnostic view of Jesus was that He was some emanation from the power of God. They believed that God's power and greatness emanate outward, becoming lesser and lesser. In this view, Jesus was one of the great emanations of God, alongside others. However, John asserts that this is not who Jesus is. When we read that He is the only begotten Son, those words literally mean that He is the single of its kind; He is the one and only. He is the only one who holds this unique nature.

Point number two on your outline is that Jesus is fully God and, at the same time, fully man. This concept has been referred to by theologians for centuries as the hypostatic union. Don't worry; that won't be on the final exam, but it is an important term. Critics of Christianity, often referred to as higher critics—many of whom were German theologians in the 18th and 19th centuries—argued that the idea of Jesus being fully God and fully man did not emerge until the third or fourth century AD. However, when we read the Gospels, we find that this truth was established by the end of the first century. Jesus is the only one who occupies this unique position; He is the one and only, the single of its kind, to be fully God and fully man.

John states that these things in the Gospel of John are written so that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies, and that He is the Son of God. He is God in human flesh. God the Father fashioned a body for Him, as stated in Hebrews.

The body you have prepared for me is significant, especially when we consider the Word of God. In John chapter 1, verses 1 through 4, we learn about the Word of God, who is eternal and the Creator. When He became flesh, as stated in John chapter 1, verse 14, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld the glory of God in human flesh, and we call Him the Son of God; that is His title.

When Jesus walked, talked, and worked, it was God in human flesh. Some writers describe this as God robed in humanity. John mentions many names for Jesus, stating that these are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. What are these? They are the words and the works of Jesus.

In John chapter 20, verse 30, we read, "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you would have life in His name."

Point number three is that Jesus' nature is revealed through His words and by His actions. John seeks to reveal the true nature of Jesus during a time when there were many wrong and false opinions about Him. He aims to set forth the true nature of Jesus, which is revealed through His words and actions. This is why the Gospel of John is constructed the way it is; it is different from the other Gospels.

In fact, some who have taken the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—have tried to harmonize them. You can find books on Amazon called "The Harmony of the Gospels." When you harmonize the Gospels, you discover that the Gospel of John contains more than 90% original material not found in the Synoptics.

This includes many unique stories, such as private conversations that Jesus had with one of His early disciples, Philip, or the conversation He had with Nicodemus in John 3. There is also the account of the woman at the well in John 4, the man who was healed at the Pool of Bethesda in John 5, the man who was healed from blindness in John 9, and the man raised from the dead named Lazarus in John 11. These narratives are new to the Gospels, and through them, John is showing forth the true nature of Jesus.

Jesus gives us his words and his works, and the Gospel of John is centered around seven signs that Jesus performed—miracles that he did before his resurrection—and seven sayings of Jesus where he tells us who he is in his own words. Among all the opinions about who Jesus is, both 2,000 years ago and today, there are many different views. It’s as if you can hear a voice saying, "Will the real Jesus stand up?" In the Gospel of John, Jesus stands up and says, "This is who I am."

This gospel is built around seven miracles that he performed before his resurrection and seven statements that he made about himself. In this series, we will be looking at the seven statements of Jesus. We will not focus on the signs that he performed; you can go back through the Gospels and read them. Let me quickly list them for you, so if you've read through the Gospel, it will jog your memory. If not, it will be something new for you.

The seven signs that Jesus performs in the Gospel of John are as follows: He turns water into wine in John 2, heals an official's son in the city of Capernaum in John 4, heals a lame man at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem in John 5, feeds 5,000 people following him in John 6, walks on water in John 6, heals a man born blind in John 9, and raises Lazarus from the dead in John 11. The Gospel is built around these seven signs, and John says these are written so that you would believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God. In John's view, these were sufficient points to prove the authenticity of the true nature of Jesus.

However, it is not just the words or the works of Jesus that matter; it is also the words of Jesus. This gospel reveals seven statements, and the purpose of our study here this summer in the Gospel of John is to see what Jesus says about himself. As I mentioned, there are many opinions about who Jesus is. If you were to conduct a man-on-the-street interview or ask your friends and neighbors who they think Jesus is or was, you would get a variety of ideas and views. Some people, then and now, would say Jesus was a good teacher. Others might say he was a prophet. Some would say Jesus was a healer or a worker of good works. There have even been some who say Jesus was the greatest socialist of all time, like Mikhail.

Gorbachev, there are others who would say Jesus is a myth, though historians balk at that. There are people in our day who claim Jesus is a myth, which is right up there with the idea that the Earth is flat. Those are some of the things that people say.

I find this one interesting: Napoleon Bonaparte, not Napoleon Dynamite, said, "I know men, and I tell you that Jesus was no mere man. Between him and every other person in this world, there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires, but what foundation did we rest our creations upon? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love, and at this hour, millions of men would die for him."

H.G. Wells said, "I am a historian; I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history." Those are powerful words.

There are many different opinions about Jesus. He is a prophet, a teacher, a myth, a no mere man, and the most dominant person in all of history. But the question is, what did Jesus say about himself? Who did he say, "I am"?

The first "I am" in the Gospel of John is found in John chapter 6. If you would turn there, in the time we have remaining, we are going to consider this "I am" statement and what it means for us.

I spent a lot of time this last week in John chapter 6, reading it and thinking about it. It's a long chapter, and quite frankly, I could spend four or five messages talking about it. So, it's very hard for me to focus on the details of what we're getting into in 15 minutes and 30 seconds, but that's what I've got.

Let me briefly summarize, and I say briefly; you know that doesn't mean briefly. In John chapter 6, it opens with Jesus being followed into the wilderness of Galilee, around the Sea of Galilee in the northern part of the nation of Israel, by a multitude of people. They are coming to him because they are looking for healing, restoration, and demons to be cast out of people.

To hear Him speak with authority, as they gather in the Judean wilderness, which is a hot, arid place, can you relate? At the end of the day, Jesus looks at His disciples and the multitude of people that are there, and He says, "We can feed these people." The disciples respond, "Well, that's not going to happen. We don't have enough money; we don't have enough of anything to feed them."

Jesus tells His disciples to make all the people sit down where they were. He takes a small amount of food, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to His disciples, saying, "Go feed them." They feed the multitude, and at the end of this, the twelve disciples take up twelve baskets of leftovers. It's like a good Thanksgiving dinner! They take up twelve baskets of leftovers.

Now, here's the amazing thing: John chapter 6, verses 13, 14, and 15 indicate that these disciples, who took up the twelve baskets of fragments leftover, when they saw what they had taken up and the multitudes, were the ones who really saw the miracle. They spoke among themselves and said, "We need to take Him by force and make Him King."

In response to this, Jesus did what He often did; He left and went up into the hills by Himself to pray. He sent His disciples across the Sea of Galilee, probably back to the town that most of them lived in, Capernaum, on the coast there in Galilee. While He was up in the hills by Himself, the multitudes were still there.

The next section in the Gospel of John tells us there was a great storm on the Sea of Galilee. Several of His disciples had been seafaring fishermen on that sea their entire lives, yet they were fearful to the point of death. In the midst of their chaos and fear, Jesus comes to them, as John chapter 6 tells us, walking on the water. He rescues them, the storm is gone, and they end up where they were going in Capernaum.

The next morning, John chapter 6 tells us that all the multitude of people wake up and start looking for Jesus. They know that His disciples had gotten into a boat and that He went up into the mountain, but they can't find Him anywhere. So, they start looking for Him, come to Capernaum, and find Him.

That's where we pick up the story in John chapter 6. Look at verse 26. Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled." He identifies their true motive: they are following Him because they got a free meal.

It's true today, just like it was then: if you feed them, they will come. Jesus says the only reason you are walking long distances to try and find me is because this man gave us something to eat, and we were filled. That was good. He says you are following not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

Then He says, "Do not labor for the food which perishes." You are working so hard to come and follow after me just to get a temporal blessing. We all know that a great meal, even if it's the greatest meal, is a very temporal blessing. It does not satisfy for long. A couple of nights ago, my mom sent me a text message saying, "Come on over to the house; we're having smoked ribs." She got this new smoker and was all excited about it. She made this huge rack of ribs, and I went over there. At the end of that meal, I ate a little more than I probably should have, and I felt like, "Oh my gosh, that was amazing!" But you know what? The next morning, I woke up hungry, thinking I need some more ribs.

So, it's temporary. Yet, we work so hard and strive so hard for that next fix, whatever it may be, but it will go away. Jesus says, "Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you." Why? Because God the Father has set His seal on Him.

Well then, they said to Him, "What shall we do that we may work the works of God?" He says, "Do not labor for perishing food, but work for that which does not perish, which goes on into eternal life." They asked, "What work, what labor should we do to do that?"

Then Jesus said to them in verse 29, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." Therefore, they said to Him, "Well, okay, you're asking a lot of us, Jesus. What sign will you perform then that we may see it and believe you?" This is a typical Jewish response in the first century. They wanted to know, "Okay, you want us to trust in you, believe in you. What sign, what good work will you do to prove that you're trustworthy? What work will you do? Our fathers ate manna in the desert."

As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven, referring to the second book of the Bible. If you've read through the book of Exodus, you know this story. Moses was sent by God to redeem the children of Israel out of Egypt. After they came up out of Egypt, they reached a point in their journey where they had no food. They cried out against Moses, and Moses cried out to God. In Exodus chapter 16, God performed a miracle and provided them with miraculous bread that continued for forty years, demonstrating God's provision as they wandered in the wilderness.

They referred to this when they said to Him, "Hey, listen, our fathers ate of that manna in the desert. As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven." Jesus responded in verse 32, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

The early Gnostic influence suggested that Jesus is not incarnate, that He is not God come down from heaven, and that He is not deity. John here clarifies that these are the words of Jesus; this is what Jesus said about Himself. The bread of God is not a thing but a person who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

Then they said, "Lord, give us this bread always. We want this; this sounds good." Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet you do not believe."

Point number four on your outline: Jesus is the bread that gives life to the world. He uses this phrase, these two words, that might not mean much to you, but they meant a lot to the early hearers, all of whom were Jewish. When Jesus said in John chapter 6, "I am the bread of life," those words were familiar to them. In the book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible, chapter 3, Moses is called by God to go down to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel. He had all kinds of reasons why that was not a good idea, and he argued with God. I'm sure none of you could relate to that in the least, but he...

Moses argues with God, questioning why now is a good idea. One of his arguments is, "God, who shall I tell them sent me when I go down there?" God provides him with an answer during what is known as the burning bush story in Exodus chapter 3. In Exodus 3, verse 14, God says to Moses, "I am Who I am." He continues, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I am has sent me to you.'"

It becomes clear when you read through the "I am" statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John that those who heard Him say these things repeatedly understood exactly who He was equating Himself to be. He is God come down. He announces, "Here I am, the bread of life."

Two quick points on what this means for us: First, Jesus came down from heaven to give life to a dead and dying world. When we see the Incarnation—God becoming a man—we need to understand why He did that. He comes down to give life to a dead and dying world. You can see the death of a broken, fallen world all around us all the time. Look as far back as you want in history; you can see it. This world is broken, and God did not intend for it to remain broken. So, God became a man to deal with the brokenness—the bread come down from heaven to give life to a dead and dying world.

Secondly, Jesus is what we truly need, and He satisfies our deepest hunger. When we read that He said of Himself, "I am the bread of life come down to give life to the world," He is declaring that He is the one who satisfies the deepest need and hunger that you have in this life. We live in a world filled with many hungers and needs, so numerous that they are hard to meet. Even if you think you have met a need or a hunger that someone has, they will have that hunger and need again. Yet, there are people all around us at any given time.

People often try to satisfy some hunger or need at a deep level. All the things they manifest as hungers are just indications of a deeper need that cannot be met or filled by money, power, sex, or new experiences. This need remains unfulfilled. We have known this for a long time. The great 20th-century philosopher Mick Jagger put it into words: "I can't get no satisfaction." This sentiment has remained on the top 500 ever since it was released because we can all relate to that feeling of not being satisfied.

However, Jesus is the one who satisfies our souls. He is the soul satisfaction, and you can write that either as "soul" or "Sol." It is true either way. He comes to us as our soul satisfaction. How does He do that? He says, "Come to me and never hunger; believe in me and never thirst. Come partake of me."

This concept was challenging for the people who heard Him say it in John chapter 6. If you read from verse 36 to verse 66, you will find that many disciples and followers of Jesus struggled with His words. When He talked about being the bread of life and needing to partake of Him, they could not grasp the metaphor. They thought so logically that they could only imagine cannibalism. They were confused, thinking, "You're calling us to eat you?"

Jesus was trying to explain that He was describing it metaphorically. He meant that we need to come to Him and partake of Him by trusting in Him. If we do that, we will find satisfaction that cannot be found in the diminishing and temporal things of this world. Many of you have been trying to find satisfaction in various things, only to discover that they do not bring true fulfillment. It is amazing how many people we consider blessed or wealthy in our culture end up saying that all their blessings do not bring satisfaction, whether they win thirty gold medals in swimming or attain a billion-dollar net worth.

Many of these people say it doesn't satisfy. Why is it that so many of these individuals, who have reached the status of three commas—the net worth of a billion dollars—are so bent on trying to find the next entrepreneurial endeavor? They seek to do something more because it didn't satisfy. Yet we think, "Oh, if I just got that, I'd be satisfied." No, you would not, because your soul is not satisfied until it finds its rest in God, in Christ. He is the bread of life.

There are many opinions about Jesus: good teacher, prophet, healer, myth. But what did He say about Himself? He said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who trusts and believes in me shall never thirst." That, my friends, is why it's called the gospel—good news.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father, we thank You for this gospel; it is good news. Jesus, we thank You that by the Spirit, You inspired John to write not to correct the errors in the other Gospels, but to say there is something you need to know. This is the last word on Jesus: that Jesus came to satisfy, to deal with the deepest need and hunger that we all have. As Blaise Pascal said, there is a God-shaped hole at the center of every human, and Jesus, You're the only one who fits that.

We try to put all kinds of different things in there, and we find that none of them satisfy. It may be that you're here today because you've tried all kinds of things, and they have left you unsatisfied. They may have even left you feeling guilty and shameful. Today, Jesus wants you to know that He came to satisfy that deepest need and hunger that you have. It's a hunger of the soul.

The prophet Isaiah spoke about this in Isaiah 55, saying, "Everyone who thirsts, come to me, that your soul would be satisfied." And it's only satisfied in God. So, as we prepare to close, I want to give you an opportunity to come to Jesus.

To partake of Him by putting your trust in Him and to experience that soul satisfaction—if that's you this morning, if you've been seeking satisfaction in all the things of the world and you have not found it, but you want to receive that from Christ today, I want to give you a chance to receive that.

If that's you, would you just lift up your hand high so I can see it? Is there anyone here this morning? I see you over here on my right. God bless you. Is there anything else? If that's me, I've been striving to find that and I haven't found it, put your hand up high. Praise the Lord for those of you that have raised your hand.

I want to lead you in a very simple prayer of faith coming to Jesus. Would you just pray this with me out loud where you are?

Dear Jesus, I recognize my need for You. Nothing satisfies. I need Your grace, I need Your forgiveness, and I need You to come into my life. Would You come into my life, fill me with Your presence, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow You by faith, Jesus?