- Live by every word
Matthew 4:4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Luke 4:4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.
Jesus quotes Moses, who speaks for God. The Lord promises that people will live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Living by bread = physical, earthly life in the body. Living by God’s Word = spiritual, heavenly life in the soul. In answer to the temptation Jesus wasn’t saying bread was not important for life, but that bread (all food) alone was not everything; bread supports life but does not define life and produce real living or a full life.
Physical life, without a spiritual life beside it, is really nothing; it is living without God and that is like the walking dead. Physical life alone also ends or dies; it ends in the dark abyss of eternal death, without God. Physical life connected to spiritual life is living and it is living eternally, without death and without end. Life can only be considered life if it is eternal; living can only be considered truly living if it does not come to an end. This kind of life comes from the words of God: “He who believes in Me has eternal life, and will never die.”
Spiritual life energizes physical life, and the source of that life is the Word of God, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life,” says Jesus [John 6:63]. Real and abundant life comes to us by the hearing of the word of the Gospel. There are actually degrees of being alive: really living and enjoying life versus surviving and barely coping. Listening to the gospel every day increases life and living.