"Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)
Some people like/need preaching and teaching which say something new about Bible passages. I have heard many times over the years about the need for a "fresh word." Our text today is as "fresh" to me as it was the first day I read it, even though that was about 55 years ago. The Words of God are described as, "....Living and active." Such words do not grow stale; only dead and inactive does that.
How can you improve on the great revelation of our text? What more can one say? The ancient Hebrews had a, "....Rock [Who] followed them.... And we are told, "that Rock was Christ," and they regularly, "drank of that spiritual Rock." Many mistakenly believe that Christ came into being 2000 years ago. But Christ did not "come into being." He was always Being, "Before Abraham was, I Am." What a great gift of life in Jesus Christ. "The Scriptures tell us, 'The first man, Adam, became a living person.' But the last Adam--- that is, Christ--is a life-giving Spirit." Our great Life-Giver appeared to Joshua on the plains of Jericho and was the fourth man in the fiery furnace, of Whom the king said, "....and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!"
Christ is still the same, "I am the Bread of Life," and Water of Life He was to the Hebrews in the wilderness, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." This same Rock "follows" you and me today. Wherever we go, whatever we do, no matter how great the joy and celebration, or the pain and heartache. Jesus Christ, our Rock, "follows" us. Even better, dwells in us------------------------- I love the smell of fresh bread.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You for Your Rock of Living Water and, "I am the Bread of Life," Jesus. Amen.
Explanation of the Name, Antipas: www.originofantipas.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
