Jake shares Wednesday in Miles City.
Genesis 1:26-27
We saw last week the original purpose in the creation of man, to be a reflection of Him. To bear His image on earth.Genesis 1:28-31
God provided every tree and herb for man to have for food.And it was VERY GOOD.Very carries the idea of EXCEEDINGLYGood is defined as:BountifulPleasantBeautifulCheerfulProsperousAt easeThe BESTThe provision of God in the garden was:EXCEEDINGLY BOUNTIFULEXCEEDINGLY PLEASANTEXCEEDINGLY BEAUTIFULEXCEEDINGLY CHEERFULEXCEEDINGLY PROSPEROUSIt was at ease. Free from worry or problems. It was the absence of difficultyFreedom from pain or discomfortGenesis 3:17-19Freedom from embarrassmentGenesis 2:25, 3:7-10Genesis 2:7-15
We see the creation of man out of the dust of the ground, and the breath of life breathed into him.God planted the garden, gave man a place to reside, with all of his food being provided.Man was PUT into the provision of God.Also in the garden we see the provision of gold. And the gold was GOOD. The same word used earlier to describe something bountiful, beautiful and prosperous.God put Adam in the garden to tend and keep it.He was PUT there, he did nothing to earn it.Everything he needed was already provided, all he had to do was to tend and keep it. AND obey the command of the Lord.We don't have to earn the provision of God, it's already there. But we have to tend it, keep it, and OBEY His command.Joshua 1:7-8Psalm 1:1-3Proverbs 4:20-22Adam was in the garden with the tree of life. But also the tree he was commanded not to eat of, that would give him knowledge of good and evil. Proverbs 3:8The disobedience of the Word God gave him took him out of the provision God had put him in.Genesis 3:22-24Before he was driven out, he only had to tend and keep the garden, now that he's been driven out he has to till the ground from which he was taken.Disobedience took him away from the provision. The garden was God's original plan for man.
It was for provision, prosperity, life, right standing with God. God's intention for man has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. In Christ, we have the same provision, we only have to obey.Disobedience will take you out of the provision of God, just like it took Adam out of the garden.Genesis 2:18-24
This was the first time God said something wasn't good. He made provision.Proverbs 18:22Same word "good" as in Genesis 1:31Not only did man gain a wife, a helper, a GOOD thing, he also obtained favor from the Lord! This is what provision from God looks like. It's not earned, but it can be lost from disobedience.It's showing the character of who God is.Ephesians 3:20Examples of the Provision of God
AbrahamObedient to God, father of many nations (Genesis 15)Obedient to offer up Isaac, a ram provided in the thicket. (Genesis 22)JosephObedient to God, overseer in Potiphers house (Genesis 39:1-6)In charge of the prisoners WHILE in prison himself. (Genesis 39:7-23)Second only to Pharaoh in all Egypt. (Genesis 41:37-45)Moses and the IsraelitesThe passover, those who were obedient to God were provided for (Exodus 12)The Red Sea Crossing (Exodus 14)Bitter waters made sweet (Exodus 15:22-27)Bread from Heaven (Exodus 16)Water from the Rock (Exodus 17:1-7)All of this provision from God, even as the Israelites complained and murmured about how life was better as slaves in Egypt. The character of who God is was shown to them time and time again.
God told Moses about the Promised Land all the way back in Exodus 3:7-10
The promised land is already prepared and waiting for them.Numbers 13:1-2Which I am GIVING to you. They haven't earned it, it's the provision of God if they continue to be obedient.Numbers 13:17-31Moses never asked if they were able to overtake it. God already said He was giving it to them.They went in to spy out the land to see that what God told them about it was true.The land was exactly as God said, but the people became focused on the inhabitants instead of God.Caleb tried to get their focus off the inhabitants and back on God.They continued to focus on the inhabitants.Numbers 14:6-10The land was EXCEEDINGLY GOODThe same words used to describe creation in Genesis 1:31They have come to a land with provision just like the garden of Eden.But because of their complaining, and not heeding to the Lord saying He was GIVING them this land, they were sentenced to the wilderness for 40 years. (Numbers 14:26-38)Then they made an attempt to enter the land after the Lord told them they would die in the wilderness, and the enemy drove them back. (Numbers 14:39-45)Numbers 20:1-13Instead of obeying the Word of God, Moses did what he did in the past, and struck the rock. God still provided for them, but Moses' assignment was taken away from him and he never saw the provision God was leading them to.This happened with Samson as well. Judges 13:5He would only begin to do what God had called him to do because he would be led by sight and not faith.It cancelled his assignment and took him out of the provision of God.If Samson had been submitted to God, he would have never been betrayed by Delilah and lost his sight. The Word of God is life and health to us.In Joshua you see the Israelites cross over the Jordan into the land God promised them and they begin to obey the commands of the Lord and partake of the provision God made for them. An EXCEEDINGLY GOOD land.
We've seen the original provision for man, the provision for the people in the Old Testament.
But we are under a better covenant. Hebrews 8:6John 10:10Satan stole, killed and destroyed in the garden.But Jesus came to restore that, He came to give life, and life more abundantly.Exceedingly, abundantly above all we can think or ask! (Ephesians 3:20)Matthew 6:24-34He said you can't serve two masters, you can't be obedient to God and obedient to satan at the same time.We saw Adam in the garden with all the provisions he could ever need, but when he submitted to the devil he lost it all.We are to seek FIRST the kingdom of God, and with that, everything we ever need will be provided for us.God is providing everything the birds need. Are you more valuable than a bird? Will He not MUCH MORE do for us?You don't earn the provision of God, He's already provided it. But if you don't obey Him, you hinder the provisions in your life.He said don't swerve to the left or the right of the Word, be obedient to it and you will prosper. Because His Word, it's life. It's health. It's prosperous. 
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