Newsletter
No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
Every Loaf Of Bread
A close insightful inspection of every loaf of bread reveals a distinct and undeniable mark of a cross (DA 660.3). Why is this mark present? What is the origin of this indelible mark? Is it present on every item commonly consumed as food? Is it like an imprimatur? How do you identify marked foods? (Am I referring here to “hot cross buns”? Certainly not.) There is no doubt that this mark is the signature of grace.
Nothing Left Undone
God did it all! Nothing that could contribute to man’s existence and happiness was wanting in the Eden paradise. Man’s only contribution was loyalty to his Creator. If anyone could have thought of something more to make them happy, it was already there.
Sudden Famine
Disloyalty spoiled it all. Man went outside of God’s designated provision for nourishment. Once Adam ate the forbidden fruit he was no longer entitled to a breath of God’s air, a ray of God’s sunshine, or a particle of the food grown in God’s garden (FW 21.2). What do you do when you have no food, or worse yet, no air?
Emergency Food Drop
The dire situation called for an emergency food drop. And that is exactly what God did. At the point Adam sinned, Jesus Christ committed to be the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8). Jesus vowed to fund our meals—to pay for our lunch! “I will pay the debt. Let the sinner be spared; I will suffer in his stead.” (AA 458.2). Thus, is the mark of the cross on every loaf of bread. Jesus has stamped your food “paid”! “To the death of Christ we owe even this earthly life. The bread we eat is the purchase of His broken body. The water we drink is bought by His spilled blood. Never one, saint or sinner, eats his daily food, but he is nourished by the body and the blood of Christ. The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf. It is reflected in every water spring.” {DA 660.3}
Free Lunch Anyone?
He takes us out to lunch, if you please. And what does He buy for us to eat? “Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” “and you will eat the plants of the field.” (Genesis 1:29;3:18 NIV). “Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator. These foods, prepared in as simple and natural a manner as possible, are the most healthful and nourishing. They impart a strength, a power of endurance, and a vigor of intellect, that are not afforded by a more complex and stimulating diet.” (CD 81.2). Can you conceive of a more healthful meal plan?
Menu Please?
Did Jesus buy anyone a ham sandwich for lunch? Is there a cross stamped on every pork product? Let’s ask Him, “And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.” (Leviticus 11:7-8). Sorry, there is no divine “imprimatur” on pork. There are many things people presumptuously eat from God’s generous creation that Jesus never paid for as food with His blood! How ungrateful not to only eat that which God in His great mercy made available for us to eat, but to venture in consuming those things that God never intended as food, and which in His great wisdom, He has saved us from eating. It’s a bit like sending your son out with a truck load of food to feed the hungry people of some far-off place, only to have them decide, not only to eat the truck load of food, but your son also.
Eating For Strength
We were at a smorgasbord, or buffet—an all you can eat for one low price place. “I always like to get a good deal at these places,” a friend sheepishly confided. How do you know when you have had enough to eat? When are you “full”? When have you tipped the scales toward gluttony? They say that if you give a man enough rope, he will hang himself. God is not intending to overfeed us or that we indulge in gluttony and become mentally obtunded. What’s so bad about being obtunded? Obtunded people lose both their desire and capacity for knowing God, whom to know is life eternal. “And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.” Proverbs 23:2. When God bought you your meals, He never intended for you to eat an unhealthful quantity.
Consumer Or Producer
How do you know when you have exhausted your blood-purchased meal? And if you are eating more than your share, what are you? A consumer or a producer? “Many there are against whose names will be found written in the books of heaven, not producers, but consumers. By many who bear Christ's name, His glory is obscured, His beauty veiled, His honor withheld.” {COL 303.3} The universe is better off when producers are around because they add to the value and stability of the universe. Consumers take from the resources of the universe just to live for themselves. How much would a producer eat? Well, let me ask you a question, “For what is the food energy going to be used?”, hard physical labor, or mental pursuits? “My brother, your brain is benumbed. A man who disposes of the quantity of food that you do, should be a laboring man.” {CD 103.2} God gives the proper allowance to the proper task; do we? Solomon says, “Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!” (Ecclesiastes 10:17). “For strength, and not for drunkenness”; we are to eat to live, not just live to eat.
Devils Devices
How does the devil persuade people to over-indulge? Answer: Super flavors! A “wow” in every bite! He overwhelms the appetite control center with massive sensory excitement. How do most people decide how much to eat? Well, if it tastes good, they eat more, right? That’s what keeps fast food joints (and the doctors) in business.
Where’s The Beef?
“All things in nature testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make His children happy. His prohibitions and injunctions are not intended merely to display His authority, but in all that He does He has the well-being of His children in view. He does not require them to give up anything that it would be for their best interest to retain.” {PP 599.4} Jesus purchased the best food in the world for us. I am so thankful, how about you?
Menu Planning
How does God decide what kind of food you should eat and how much of it? “It is unnatural to have a craving for flesh meats. It was not thus in the beginning. The appetite for meat has been made and educated by man. Our Creator has furnished us, in vegetables, grains, and fruits, all the elements of nutrition necessary to health and strength. Flesh meats composed no part of the food of Adam and Eve before their fall. If fruits, vegetables, and grains are not sufficient to meet the wants of man, then the Creator made a mistake in providing for Adam.” {Te 160.1} Do you feel lacking in health and strength? Try returning to the original diet; it may make all the difference in the world!
Training Essential
In some sense many of us could be likened to untrained animals, such as deer or rabbits, which invade and eat people’s well-kept gardens. People stray from that which is provided as their optimal diet to plunder, steal, and eat that which is actually harmful to their health and not purchased for them as food. A real down-side to overeating or eating outside of your purchased menu is that, not only are you stealing, but you are causing your own health to deteriorate and could be putting limits on your own potential eternal life.
Clean Up
God graced man in Eden with every provision needful to his existence. Man was free to eat, drink, breathe and experience all the gifts of the garden, as he remained loyal to his Creator. When man chose to be disloyal, he forfeited any right to God’s gifts of food, air, sunshine, etc. Jesus stepped in and vowed to give man a second chance and to give access again to food. Thus, He stamps with His cross all our provisions. If that stamp were not present we would have no right to food, water, air, sunshine, etc. Not everything man eats today did Jesus purchase for him to eat with His atoning sacrifice, nor in the quantities man assumes are appropriate. Jesus buys for us to eat only that which will be for our highest spiritual and physical good. When we go outside His designated menu we damage our health and are no longer covered by His precious blood. If His cross is not stamped on something as food, it is not His will for you to eat it.
Checking Out
What is the fall-out if a person ventures upon forbidden dietary ground and puts into their body something God has not shared with them as food? “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7. All must bear the consequences now in ill health and in the hereafter in the judgment. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31. Maybe you realize that your eating habits don’t really honor God or His blood bought provision for you. Maybe you realize that you have been presumptuously sinning in your dietary choices. God is merciful. He will accept your confession and repentance. He can empower you to live a better life. Go to Him today, tell Him wherein you have been untrue to His sacrifice for you and resolve to return to Him in obedience and faith. And may God give you abundant health and peace!