Open your Bible to the Book of Genesis, and I would like for you to follow with me as I read from Genesis chapter 22 verses 1 to 14.
This is one of the great mountain top passages of the Bible. In it, we find one of the clearest pictures of God’s special guidance and wonderful provision as well as the coming sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary. It is a central story about Abraham, who loved God and followed God’s instructions, even to the point of being prepared to sacrifice his beloved son, when he was convinced that God required this of him. Keep in mind First of all, we need to draw a line and say that God does not require the barbaric sacrifice of children. A second thing this story challenges us to remember is that God never calls us to affirm obedience over ethics. On the contrary, obedience to God must be rooted in ethical behavior. Jeremiah makes it clear that such act is not something that God has ever commanded or decreed. (Jeremiah 19:5)
We will also read another familiar passage from Philippians 4:19. "My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)
God revealed Himself as the Lord who would provide way back in the first book of the Bible, Genesis 22:1-14.The story begins with an extraordinary guidance from God to Abraham, instructing him to offer his son Isaac, as a burnt offering. Early the next morning, Abraham and Isaac travel to Moriah, the place God had specified. As they near the site, Isaac questions Abraham concerning the intended offering: “Where is the lamb?” With great faith and foresight, Abraham responds, 'God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering my son. Just as Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, the Lord immediately stopped him and showed him a ram caught in a thicket and told him to use that instead. God had placed that ram nearby in advance, knowing He was going to need a substitute for Isaac. After the sacrifice was complete, Abraham named the place Jehovah-Jireh means "The Lord will provide” which is a word with wonderful Latin roots. Pro means "before" and video means "to see". So it means to see in advance or before the need is known. God is preparing an answer before we know that it is a need. The account of Abraham on Mt. Moriah was more than a dramatic illustration of faith and obedience. It is a presentation of the Lord’s eternal grace, continual provision, and all-encompassing wisdom. In this context, God’s provision was salvation. We see this again through Christ’s crucifixion – God provided a way for us to be restored into a relationship with Him.
Abraham’s faith-filled statement that “God himself will provide the lamb” is a companion to John the Baptist’s exclamation, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).Jehovah-Jireh provided a sacrifice to save Isaac, and that action was a foreshadowing of the provision of His Son “Jesus” for the salvation of the world.
The Bible speaks of the fall of man from the glory of God through the rebellion against the authority of the word of God, man ate of the forbidden fruit, and his oneness with God was shattered. It is the desire of God to restore man into the glory of God. 2 Peter1:3 say that God has provided all that is necessary to enable us to live this divine life of glorious virtue. Life and godliness is a comprehensive and practical description of true spirituality. Life alone, in Scripture, often describes the state of grace, and sums up all the blessings of salvation. It is the purpose of God to restore man into His image and likeness. Jesus came so that that which Adam lost in the fall might be restored. Paul states, “Even as by one man sin entered the world and death by sin, and so death passed unto all men, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift of grace which is by one man Jesus Christ have abounded unto many.". Again he wrote, "If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, and behold all things have become new." God wants to make you a new person. He wants to take away all of those things that are destroying you and remake you into His glorious image. To this same end, God has sent His Holy Spirit to indwell us and to give us the power to be like Jesus.
Jesus Christ is God's only provision for our sin. Through him we can know and experience God's love and plan for our life. John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."Jesus not only died for our sin, he rose from the dead. When he did, he proved beyond doubt that he can rightfully promise eternal life -- that he is the Son of God and the only means by which we can know God. That is why Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one can come to the Father except through me. God's great salvation is free, "without money and without price." This is a most merciful provision of Divine grace, for were God to offer salvation for sale no sinner could secure it, seeing that he has nothing with which he could possibly purchase it. (Psalm 49:7) The Bible is full of inspiring assurances of how God will provide for his people. God is always fully aware of our needs and the word of God tells us that He wants us to come to Him with all of our needs. Many people seek God for mere physical needs as well, but forget to seek his provision for spiritual needs. God is faithful who made these promises; he will keep his promises. So we have to cultivate that divine nature into our human nature by developing godly habits. The first habit to develop is the habit of acknowledging God’s provision for us.
Jesus said "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”(Matthew 5:3) Jesus is not talking about those that are poor of possessions or the poor in wallet but "poor in spirit.” To be poor in spirit is to recognize our utter spiritual bankruptcy before God that you have no moral riches and are in need. It simply means realizing our spiritual deficiencies. (Psalm 51:5) Being poor in spirit are admitting that, because of our sin, we are completely destitute spiritually and can do nothing to deliver ourselves from our dire situation. This first Beatitude, then, is foundational, describing a fundamental trait which is found in every regenerated soul. - Thomas Kempis rightly said “A humble knowledge of thyself is a surer way to God than a deep search after learning.” The one who is poor in spirit is nothing in his own eyes, and feels that his proper place is in the dust before God. How to cultivate this God-honoring spirit is revealed in Matthew 11:29. Jesus said “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” He who is in possession of this poverty of spirit is pronounced "blessed." He is so because he now has a disposition the very opposite of what was his by nature, because he has in himself the first sure evidence that a Divine work of grace has been wrought in his heart, because he is an heir of the "kingdom of heaven"-the kingdom of grace here, the kingdom of glory hereafter.
The kingdom of heaven is both eternity in heaven with God after death (Romans 6:23), and the eternal quality of life with God before death (John 10; 10). God offers us salvation as a gift, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the full payment for sin’s penalty. Before we can receive this gift, we must admit our spiritual poverty then we can receive the spiritual riches God offers (Ephesians 1:3). Matthew Henry said, “This poverty of spirit is a gracious disposition of soul, by which we are emptied of self, in order to our being filled with Jesus Christ.”
Reflect on the following scripture verses: “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds"(Luke 12:24) “ “Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?” (Job 38:41- ) “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” (Psalms 34:10) “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” (Matthew 6:31-32)
