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Focus: God intends to dispense Himself into us by the way of eating, a matter of life which we should experience day by day! 

I. At the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis 2, we have the first commandment God gave to mankind.

A. Consider, hypothetically, if you were in God’s position. You have just created man and are going to give him the first commandment ever. What would you have said? 

B. Read Genesis 2:16-17: Jehovah God commanded man saying, Of every tree of the garden you may eat freely, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. 

C. What topic was God’s commandment in these verses concerned with? Why did God choose to focus His very first commandment on this subject?

 II. We can also see the matter of eating at the end of the Bible in Revelation 2:7, 17; 3:20. Identify what is being eaten by those who overcome according to these verses.

A. Revelation 2:7 – He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.

1. On the one hand, eating the tree of life is a reward for the future. But we can also eat the tree of life today. In fact, Christ today is the tree of life. Can you use John 6:35 and 15:5 to prove this?

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst.

John 15:5  I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Revelation 2:7 shows us that whenever we truly enjoy Christ as our food supply, as the tree of life, whatever situation we are in, even if it is full of sufferings and challenges, becomes Paradise to us!

B. Revelation 2:17 – He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and to him I will give a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it.

1. Also read Exodus 16:4: Then Jehovah said to Moses, I will now rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My law.
2. Where did the manna come from? According to this verse, how often would the people need to gather it?
3. Jesus shows us in John 6:31-33 that He is the real manna. What is Jesus doing as the real manna today according to these verses?

John 6:31-33 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, “He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.” Jesus therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread out of heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.

Manna is a type of Christ as the heavenly food that enables God’s people to go His way. 

C. Revelation 3:20 – Behold, I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.

1. To dine is to eat not merely one kind of food but the riches of a feast. According to this verse, what must we do in order to enjoy this rich feast?
2. 1 Corinthians 5:8 says, “so then, let us keep the feast.” The feast here refers to our enjoyment of Christ with all of His unsearchable riches! We must keep the feast, that is, maintain our enjoyment of the Lord at all times and in all circumstances. 
3. Furthermore, usually a feast is not partaken of by a lone individual but by a larger group of people. We should not only partake of Christ individually but should enjoy him with many other brothers and sisters in Christ!