YOU MUST EAT AGAIN

I woke this morning with some thoughts about eating, and contrary to what most of those who know me might think, I wasn't even hungry. For you who do not know me, I am nearly "twice the man" I was on our wedding day over forty-nine years ago. "Skip sure do like dem vittles." Unlike the many addictions from which the Lord freed me, had He freed me from eating, I would not be writing this. You see, when man fails to eat, he dies. And, when he refuses to "eat again," he remains dead!

Ironically, there is one time when man eats, that he dies. It is when he "joins Adam" in partaking of the "forbidden fruit." The Word of God says that God put Adam and Eve in the garden/orchard to "till the ground from whence he was taken" (Gen. 3:23). The Apostle Paul wrote, "...by man (Adam) came death, by Man (Jesus) came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:21-22). So when Adam partook of the "forbidden fruit," he brought the curse of death upon all of humanity. That is, physical death. Those who are "in Christ," will be resurrected.

However, the Bible indicates that unless man is "in Christ," he is dead spiritually. Adam did not die physically the day he ate, but he did die that very day: spiritually (Gen. 2:17). Some say that man is born spiritually dead due to Adam's sin, claiming that we are cursed with "original sin." However, I believe that, like Adam, we die spiritually the moment we choose to knowingly sin; our spiritual condition is not due to Adam's, but is the result of our own sin. Paul did not write that we are dead in Adam's sin, but in our own "trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1, 5), and refers to it again in Colossians 2:13, which says, "And you, being dead in your sins...." Notice Paul says they are our sins, plural, and not Adam's sin, singular. "Eating," in this context then, is symbolic of our sinning, and in so doing, dieing spiritually.

But as the title indicates, we have an opportunity to "eat again," that is, to live again spiritually. In John Chapter Three, there is the familiar passage about Nicodemus needing to be "born again" (Jn. 3:1-8). Then, in John 6:48-58, we read something which is mind-boggling; Jesus tells His disciples He is the "Bread of Life" (Jn. 6:48), and that "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you" (Jn. 6:53). We know He is speaking symbolically because He said, "This is that Bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this Bread shall live for ever" (Jn. 6:58). This is made much clearer by Paul, who spoke of the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23-27. It is obvious Paul is speaking to born again believers because he says that those who are unworthy to partake of the Bread and the Cup, are condemned if they do (1 Cor. 11:29-32).

In summary, when we "eat" in the likeness of Adam's sin, we die spiritually. When we "eat" the Bread of Life (accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior), we are born again.

"Eat" once, die twice; "eat" twice, die once!