June 16, 2021: Manna for Food by Day, and Pillar of Fire by Night. Jesus is the Same for Us as Well.

In the Gospel of John, John the apostle, addresses the question of, "Who is Jesus"? Was He the Messiah for the Jewish nation as prophesied in the Old Testament? Jesus' identity and deity continues and intensifies in chapter 8 of John:

John 8: 12-14

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 13 The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.

Throughout the Old Testament, even in the beginning of Genesis, Jesus always was. He was with God when He created the heavens and the earth and when He created mankind.

Genesis 1: 26-27

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

John 1: 1-2 & 14 (NKJV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning...14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus is considered to be the "Bread of Life" and the "Light of the world" (John 6: 35, 51, 57), and when you consider this against the backdrop of the Israelites' forty years of desert wandering during which God sent manna to feed them and used the pillar of fire by night to give them light, Jesus was already demonstrating to the people of Israel their need of a Savior, but they were too "stiff-neck" or stubborn, to realize it.

We too, as Christians, need our Lord, Jesus to be our "Bread of Life" and "Light of the World" as we walk this dangerous and cruel world. Our current generation is becoming more and more corrupt each day and we have nowhere else to turn but to Him. We must be willing to "surrender" all to Him so that He can lead us in this crooked and shady world.

PERSONNAL COMMENT:

Let us not be too stubborn as well. Let us all come to "absolute surrender" of ourselves to our Lord and God so that He may lead us home to Him someday soon.