Thursday: Provider for a Damaged Creation
“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather
Image © Providence Collection from GoodSalt.com
into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matt. 6:26).
Even after Adam and Eve sinned and could no longer enter the Garden, God provided for their immediate physical needs(Gen. 3:21). Sin brought a new need, the need for clothing. Adam and Eve tried to provide clothing for themselves, but fig leaves were quite unsatisfactory. Something better was needed, which God provided in the form of skins. (We will consider more of the meaning of the skins in another lesson). The point is that God provided for their needs, even though they had fallen into sin. This is another example of God’s grace providing for us despite our unworthiness. Read Matthew 6:25-34. What crucial message is Jesus giving us with these words? How are we to understand them in the face of the trials and tragedy that are such a part of so many lives?
These are very comforting words, and we need to cling to them with all our heart, soul, and mind, especially in times of great suffering, loss, and need. Jesus died for us, not for the lilies or the birds. We can be sure of His love for us, regardless of the circumstances. And yet, as we all know, circumstances can at times be quite appalling. We see famine, drought, floods, epidemics, and death all around, and Christians are not immune to these tragedies either.
God does not promise His people a life of luxury without pain, but He does promise to provide for our needs and to strengthen us so that we may cope with our challenges. We just can’t forget the reality of the great controversy and that we are in a fallen world.
Read Matthew 10:28. How could this verse, read in conjunction with the verses for today, help us to deal better with the harsh realities that we often face?
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"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28 NKJ).
This text has given me a lot of trouble over the years for it speaks about who we should fear the most. There are those who will say that the fear of God really means respect rather than actual fear. The problem is that the exact same Greek word, phobeo, is used of both parties in the above text and I see no compelling reason for interpreting one instance of the word differently than the other.
We could interpret the passage in a way that says that we should fear the devil but there seems to be some contextual problems that appear to be against that interpretation. Whatever we do we should consider the whole context to the end of the chapter and think about how Mat 10:32-33 and Mat 10:39 impact the meaning of the verse. Besides, God often overrides the devil on behalf of the sinner; therefore, He is the one that has absolute control where a person will be in the end while Satan is constrained and only has partial control through temptations.
Because of these things it seems to me that this text is saying that we should give the greater weight of concern to God rather than any human adversary because He values us (Mat 10:31) and is able to either save us or to consign us to the second death where humans can only kill us physically with respect to the first death.
I had the same thought! then I read different versions, the NKJV Capitalizes "Him" so we know its talking about God
Also the NLT(new living translation) says:
28 “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.*-Matthew 10:28 NLT
Tyler we could just pray the prayer of Jabez, And John said, "Oh that You would bless me, and expand my boarders, (sustain and provide me with what I am capable of managing) and that Your hand might be with me and that You would keep me from evil, so it will not hurt me. God granted my request 1Chronicles 4:10 and leave the interpretation of fear to the Holy Spirit.
God is good all the time. As a Christian we need to be co-laborers with Jesus Christ.
What a damage has been done to this beautiful earth now marred by sin and destruction I am praying for the day when God will come and put an end to this wicked world and we go home to live with Him eternally
We spoke of this in our Sabbath School Class this morning. The analogy of the whole earth being the theater, the earth’s population (the people) being the instruments in the orchestra, and Jesus being the conductor. He has created each instrument with perfection and is trying to direct all in a heavenly symphony in harmony with the universe. Satan has come along and has tweaked the instruments (some more than others) so the orchestra is slightly out of tune. We must keep our eyes on the conductor (Jesus) and follow his leading in order to get back into perfect harmony with Him. Amen to that!
If God solved the greatest problem of mankind, which is death as wages of sin, then I see no reasons for doubting His providences in our temporal needs. Even if He doesn't provide, His grace unto our salvation is sufficient for us
Thanks for the further thoughts, Tyler. I like to dig deeper! What God says to us and is to us has much more weight than any other people, circumstanses or challenges. I like Ryan and Carol's thoughts, too! I am with you, Carol. I think we should pray for anyone we hear about all day long, but we should also pray for the end and the hope that is our future. Come, Lord Jesus!
Amina. I think the mere fact that HE (God) can put an end to all the evil in this world is enough for me to FEAR HIM. We don't need to fear death, but the one who can cause the ultimate end to a Human life. I now understand that.
This is so fitting for us as Christians, we need to trust & rely on God more, instead of worry about how we are going to manage. God shows us that He is a great provider from the beginning. Help me pray that I will stay focus on Him daily. We also need to understand that God does not mean that we should not make provisions for tomorrow.
In spite of sin Jesus continues to sustain this earth by his word. I see His provision every day in my life. I need not to worry about tomorrow nor about the trials and troubles that may occur in this life. What must be our main concern is that we are found in the first ressurection.
What a wonderful creator! What an unlimited grace! The mess that was brought by sin could have been responsible for our non-existence in this world but His mercies have surpassed all that and we owe Him divine worship.
indeed we do
If we surrender our life in Jesus's hands we are not entitled to the second death which kills the soul because Jesus our savior has already defeated death on the cross and also He defeated Satan in Heaven and was hailed down here on earth. Therefore if we believe in Jesus, Satan and those who kill only the body has no power to kill our soul (the believers). Jesus is our Savior and Master. His name be Glorified.
to God be the glory for he makes all things beautiful in His own time . the whole duty of a man is to fear God and give Him glory.
If we can only submit to him and rely only on his word he is faithful to keep his word.
I fear God with respect and awe because of who and all He is. My heart fears to hurt Him by a partial surrender since He has not made one reservation for me. All to Jesus, by His grace, I surrender all...