Lesson 8 for February 23, 2013

[Jesus] who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and UPHOLDING ALL THINGS BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3)

How does that verse refute the next human philosophies? 1. Deism. God created the universe and its laws and then got out of it. 2. Pantheism. God and the universe are one only thing. 3. Panentheism. God inhabits the universe as if it was His own body.

Although God has created laws that rule the universe, it cannot exist without Jesus sustaining power. God and the universe are different things God is the Creator and the universe is His creation. God cares about the universe and lovingly sustains it.

Knowing that Jesus sustains this huge universe is comforting but what about me? Does God sustain every person individually? By You I have been upheld from birth; you are He who took me out of my mothers womb. My praise shall be continually of You (Psalm 71:6) I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me (Psalm 3:5)

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand

(Isaiah 41:10)

God furnishes the matter and the properties with which to carry out His plans. He employs His agencies that vegetation may flourish. He sends the dew and the rain and the sunshine, that verdure may spring forth, and spread its carpet over the earth; that the shrubs and fruit trees may bud and blossom and bring forth. It is not to be supposed that a law is set in motion for the seed to work itself, that the leaf appears because it must do so of itself. God has laws that He has instituted, but they are only the servants through which He effects results. It is through the immediate agency of God that every tiny seed breaks through the earth, and springs into life. Every leaf grows, every flower blooms, by the power of God. The physical organism of man is under the supervision of God; but it is not like a clock, which is set in operation, and must go of itself. The heart beats, pulse succeeds pulse, breath succeeds breath, but the entire being is under the supervision of God. Ye are Gods husbandry, ye are Gods building (1 Corinthians 3:9). In God we live and move and have our being. Each heartbeat, each breath, is the inspiration of Him who breathed into the nostrils of Adam the breath of lifethe inspiration of the ever-present God, the great I AM
E.G.W. (Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 294)

The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:8-9)

When Jesus created everything, He also provided the food for His creatures; seeds and fruits for man and green herbs for the animals (Gn. 1:29-30) He also provided a place where man could live, work and rest (Gn. 2:8-15) Jesus still provides for the needs of each of His children, Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, SUPPLY and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness (2 Corinthians
9:10)

Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Sons name, if you know?
(Proverbs 30:4)

If Jesus controls the wind and the waters, why are there hurricanes that destroy properties and kill people and animals? Are they out of His control?

As we studied in previous lessons, the answer to that question is related to evil. Evil entered the world and it didnt only affected man; the whole creation groans
(Romans 8:22) We must accept this answer by faith, Every word of God is pure (Proverbs 30:5). God allows some consequences of evil in His infinite wisdom until He will make all things new (Revelation 21:5) Just like Job, we cannot explain nor understand evil. We just can accept the way God works and trust His care.

While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both man and beast. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the haughty people ... do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Isaiah 24:4, 5
E.G.W. (The Great Controversy, cp. 37, pg. 589)

Evil affects nature, but God still keeps sustaining it and managing it as its Master and Creator. Lets see how He used the wind He gathered the wind in His fists (Pv. 30:4),

He brought a wind to dry the waters from the Flood (Gn. 8:1)

He brought a wind that carried the plague of locusts to Egypt (Ex. 10:13)

He brought a wind that carried quails to feed the people of Israel at the desert (Nm. 11:31)

He appeared to Elijah within a gentle wind (1K. 19:12)

There are many examples in the Bible of how God can still manage nature at His will,

He stopped the sun so a day could last for almost 48 hours (Jos. 10:13)

He stopped the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan River (Ex. 14:21; Jos. 3:16; 2K. 2:8)

He filled the desert with water so the people of Israel could drink (2K. 3:17)

He moved the sun 10 degrees back (2K. 20:11)

If God sustains nature despite the evil that affects it, can He sustain us despite the sin that affects us? Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved (Psalm 55:22)

Uphold my steps in Your paths, that my footsteps may not slip (Psalm 17:5)

If I say, My foot slips, Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up

(Psalm 94:18)

Despite sin, God provided for the needs of Adam and Eve by using His own hands, Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them (Genesis 3:21)

That is why He invites us to trust Him; He will provide for the needs of each of us.

And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you
(Luke 12:29-31)