Shincheonji(formerly known as Shinchonji) church

THE CORRECT UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIBLE AND OF

SHINCHEONJI (THE NEW HEAVEN & NEW EARTH)

The Living Bread from Heaven 

Main reference: Jn 6

What are the three kinds of bread in this chapter?

1. Miracle of the five barely loaves and the two fish

▪ Key points of verses 10-15: Twelve baskets were left after 5,000 men were fed with five barely loaves and two fish. Although it was mere bread and fish, Jesus multiplied their amount by giving thanks. This was a miracle.

▪ Key points of verses 22-29: The people who witnessed this looked hard for Jesus, but he told them, “You are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” He added, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.” He also said, “The work of God is to believe in the one he has sent.”

The bread that Jesus fed the 5,000 with was physical food that spoils.

2. Manna and quail: the bread that Moses gave

The Israelites came out of Egypt through Moses, and ate manna and quail in the desert (verse 31). It was, however, God who provided these, not Moses; and they were physical foods that spoil. God gave the manna to the Israelites to live off of until they entered Canaan and ate the produce there (Jo 5:10-12). Nevertheless, they still died after eating it (verse 49).

3. The living bread from heaven

Jesus said that he is the living bread who came down from heaven, and that if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever (verses 47-50). Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven (verse 51), and he will raise up whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood at the last day (verse 54).

What is the bread from heaven? What are the flesh and the blood of Jesus, and how can we eat and drink them? Is there a single believer in the world who has eaten and drank them?

Because God is the word (Jn 1:1), God’s flesh and blood are his words also. Jesus also is the word (1 Jn 1:1), making his flesh and blood his words as well. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament (Jn 19:30) and promised the New Testament (the new covenant) (Mt 26:26-29; Lk 22:16-20). Thus, believing in the New Testament that he promised is eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Jesus’ flesh and blood are not physical but spiritual food. Therefore, it does not profit the flesh; rather, it is real food that gives life to the spirit (Jn 6:63). If he was referring to his physical flesh and blood, they would have been physical food, but because he was referring to the word, it is spiritual, not physical.

Another reason Jesus is the living bread from heaven (verse 51) is that he testified what he saw and heard in heaven, as Apostle John in Revelation does.

The word (flesh and blood, bread from heaven) was first with the Father, and He gave it to Jesus (Jn 5:26). Because the word is life and the light (Jn 1:4), receiving and eating it makes one’s spirit come alive from the grave. In the case that a person is likened onto a tree, because Jesus is the word of life and also the true vine (Jn 15:1), he becomes the tree of life. His congregation members become the fruits.

The manna that Moses gave in the Old Testament, as well as the barley loaves and the fish that Jesus gave, were all physical foods that spoil. However, the revelation of Jesus, who is the living bread from heaven, was the food that endures to eternal life that does not spoil. Real food, which a believer may eat and live forever, is the word of revelation from heaven. Wherever the word is, there is God, Jesus, heaven, and even eternal life.

Since Jesus left, no one could eat his flesh nor drink his blood. However, we can eat it when he returns (Second Coming) (Mt 26:29; Lk 22:18). Furthermore, this blood that he shed for the forgiveness of sins takes effect when the new kingdom promised in Revelation is created (Rv 5:9-10). Let us eat Jesus’ flesh and blood by having his word in our hearts.

Revelation’s words of prophecy and its revealed fulfillment is the living bread from heaven today. The New John, the promised pastor, received this as seen in Revelation 10, and is giving it to us. Because this bread is the revelation of Jesus Christ (Rv 1:1), Jesus’ flesh and blood again become the living bread that endures to eternal life. Therefore, we should receive the revelation (prophecy) and its fulfillment without adding or taking away from it (refer to Rv 22:17-19); and the way to eat this bread (Jesus’ flesh and blood) is receiving it into our hearts. This is receiving eternal life.

This is the salvation that is promised in the New Testament.