Spiritual Food

Matthew 4:4

“But he answered and said, it is written, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

C S Lewis said “You don’t have a soul, you are a soul.” In other words man is not merely a physical being, he is a spiritual being. Satans attempt to attack Jesus in his hunger only proves this point more and more. He tried to use the physical weakness to defile the purity of spirit in Christ. There is no doubt to Jesus’ hunger and he definitely had the power to turn the stones into bread, but that would only cause him to use his power to please himself rather than to glorify God. The flesh is always wanting to exalt itself over the spirit even in ways that seems beneficial, but that is the way the devil works. He causes us to focus more on physical things than spiritual things.

Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy the words that Moses shared to the Israelites, as they too were being tempted in the wilderness, that “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) He has just proven this by fasting for forty days. It does not mean that eating is not necessary, for we all know that it is, but it is not near as important as the word of God. The body as we know it is perishing. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says “The outward man is perishing.” In other words the body is dying a little everyday until it eventually dies. “But the inward man (spiritual) is renewed day by day.” The spirit is eternal and Gods word is the eternal nourishment for the soul. The Bible tells us a few things about the word of God and it’s importance to the spiritual man.

First, Jesus said “It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)

Jesus tells us that his words are spiritual and they are what gives Eternal life. In the beginning God said let their by light. With light comes life, and these two where formed by God’s spoken word. When some of the disciples left him because they found his words hard to believe, Jesus looked at Peter and the other disciples and said will you go with them? Peter responded by saying “To whom can we go…you have the words to eternal life.” (John 6:68)

Secondly, we are to look at the scripture as a source of Spiritual Food. Peter said “As newborn babes let us desire the sincere milk of the word.” (1 Peter 2:1)

What milk is to the body, the Bible is to the soul. Milk strengthens bones and muscle and offers the nutrients to help build a healthy body. So also is the word of God to the soul. It is that daily manna from Heaven that must be feasted upon everyday.

Lastly, Job said “ Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” Job said that God’s words were More Precious to him than food. He had great insight to the words that Christ would respond to the devil with nearly 1500 years later. Before there was ever a written word, there was the spoken word of God that brought life and hope unto Job. Those words were so nourishing, sustaining, and refreshing everyday to Job that he would say that he considered them more dear to him than any physical nourishment.

So just as Israel gathered manna everyday in the wilderness, let us take our daily portion of God’s word that the spiritual man may be healthy, well balanced, and fortified against the temptations of the devil.

Pastor Robby