Jesus Is My Provider!

What come to your mind when you here the statement, "God provides"? Maybe it might be when God provided a car for you when you needed it, or possibly when he provided meals for you when you went through through that season of no job and very little income, or how about when you needed a kidney transplant an d someone from your church who was a perfect match offered one of his kidneys. We can all probably smile and look back in our lives to see how God has provided for us in many ways, thankful that we have a God who always provides for His people.

Although I want to remind you of the best way God has provided for us. He provided salvation through the blood of His beloved Son Jesus! Let me break it down.

First I want refresh you all of the picture of how God provided for us through the death of Jesus, His Son, at Calvary by looking at Genesis 22 of where God commands Abraham to offer his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering on one of the mountains in the land of Moriah. So Abraham does as he is commanded. In verse Isaac asked his father, Abraham, where the lamb for the burnt offering is, and Abraham replies to his son, by saying "God will provide for Himself , the lamb for a burnt offering my son." (vs. 8). Quite amazingly, Abraham trusts that God will provide a lamb for the burnt offering. Then going onward to verse 10 after Abraham has bound his son on the altar, he raises his hand, with the knife in it, to kill his son......stop. Right here we see Abraham being exactly obedient to God, following through with what God has commanded him to do. Now just add a sidenote, The whole chapter of Genesis 22 displays the parallel of Abraham's obedience to God and Jesus' obedience to God. Quite awesome right? Let's move on though, picking up at verse 11. In verse 11 an angel of the Lord stops Abraham from killing his only son, and says this, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." After this Abraham looks up to see a ram caught in a thicket. So he goes to offering it as a burnt offering instead of his only son. He calls the place "The Lord will provide". So what we see in Genesis 22 is Abraham's obedience and God's provision. That is pretty much the theme of the whole chapter.

So how does this parallel with Jesus sacraficial death at Calvary? Well first of all we see Jesus' perfect obedience to the Father. He was obedient to point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8). Jeus perfectly kept God's law, which we have failed to keep. He was obedient to the Father throughout His whole time on then earth, never once did but He rebel against the Father. If He did, then his sacrifice for us on the cross would've been insufficient and pointless. This is why Jesus is know as "the Lamb without blemish or spot" (1 Pet 1:19). This parallels with Abraham in Gen 22 in where he was obedient to God every step of the way, even to the point of where he was about to kill Isaac, his only son whom he loved. Then noticed the more bigger picture of how, a different paralell in both scenes. God provides. In Genesis 22, God provides a ram that Abraham offers as a burnt offering. Then in the gospel we see how Jesus is not only the one who is offering the sacrifice, but is Himself the sacrifice. Remeber the O.T. system the Jews had of offering sacrifices yearly for the forgiveness of sins? There would be a high priest who would perform the offering in the most holy place for his sins and the sins of the people. Yet at the cross Jesus offers Himself as the final sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. "He entered once and for all into the holy places , not by the means of the blood of goats and calves but by the means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." (Heb 9:12). Here God provides the perfect sacrifice once and for all for the forgiveness of sins, and it is by the blood of Jesus, His beloved son.

So the title is: Jesus is my Provider. How? Well we as sinner cannot in and of ourselves provide the forgiveness of sins, just like the the O.T. sacrificial system couldn't (sufficiently) provide forgiveness of sins. We as sinners cannot provide the rescue from the punishment we deserved, which is hell and God's wrath. For we have sinned against an infinitely holy and righteous God, and have broken His law. All the good things we do cannot make up for the sin we have commited against God. All of our rigtheous deeds are just filthy rags in God's eyes (Is 64:6). So since He is perfectly just, He would have to give us what we desrve, which is hell for an eternity. Yet since God is also a loving and mercriful God, He sent Jesus His son to die in our place, taking the wrath that was reserved for us. Justice is satisfied, and we are forgiven of our sins. S

Thus Jesus is my Provider, and your Provider through His death on the cross, and His ressurection 3 days later.

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus provides rescue from hell and the wrath of God

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus provides freedom from the bondage of sin

Through His death and ressurection, Jesus provides healing from the disease of sin

And it goes on and on.

May we reflect upon this, and be thankful to God that through the blood of Christ that was shed for our sake, Jesus has become our Provider in these things. To Him be the glory, honor, and praise forevermore. Amen.

So may we reflect on this glorious truth, and be ever thankful of to God for providing these things for us through Jesus Christ. He is our provider