Beyond all of creation, outside of time and space itself, our triune God has and will exist for all eternity. Because God just is, He is not dependent on anyone or anything. He did not create us out of need, and He rules and reigns without any need of help. He is sovereign—that is, He has ultimate power and authority. This is good news for us, because we are a needy and dependent people. And yet our good God created us to know him, worship him, and follow him in His mission to make all things new. His providence—that is, His governance and care for creation—is the loving outworking of His sovereign rule as the King.
The doctrine of God’s providence is a crucial part of biblical teaching, because it summarizes that basic truth that as the Creator, God has the power and prerogative to oversee all that He has made. And because He is good, we are His creatures can trust that His providence is not random or fickle, but intentional and sure. Here are three biblical passages that help us understand God’s providence.
The Lord holds together all of creation (Col. 1:15-17)
In the context of His letter to Colossians, Paul uses this miniature confession or hymn to center the Colossians’ hope on Christ. Their hope is not built merely on His good deeds or even His death on the cross and victorious resurrection. These are important pieces to the salvation puzzle and are mentioned right after this passage, but those truths about His earthly ministry rest on the fact that Christ is the eternal Son of God. He is image of the invisible God, meaning: when you look at the life and ministry and work of Jesus, you see God himself. He has made visible the God who Moses only saw in a bush or a cloud or in a brief glance as He passed by. He is not merely a mirror or an example, is the image. As Hebrews 1:3 says, He is the “radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature.”
Christ is God, so He is a not a creature, but rather the Creator. So, to speak of Christ as the “firstborn over creation” is to speak of His special status as the ruler over creation. For example, Exodus 4:22 calls Israel the “firstborn son” of God as a challenge to the “firstborn son” of Egypt, who was the perceived divine inheritor of the throne. This indicates a special and unique relationship Israel has with God, because Israel is not God’s literal first children or even the first group He makes a covenant with (see: Adam and Eve; Noah’s family; Abraham’s family). Similarly, in Psalm 89:27, God’s “firstborn son” would be one who is appointed by God to rule over the earth. The firstborn, biblically speaking, is not required to be the first or oldest son, but is rather the son who has special status or title as the heir to an inheritance and/or throne.
As the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son joins the Father and Spirit in providentially creating and sustaining the universe.
The Lord rules over all in righteousness (Ps. 103:15-19)
A consistent refrain in the biblical storyline is God’s faithful for His people. From the very beginning of human history with Adam and Eve and throughout subsequent generations, God makes covenants with His people. These covenants have a consistent core to them: God sets stipulations of blessing and curses. Keep the covenant, blessing will come; break the covenant, curse will come. Well, as you might imagine, sinners don’t keep covenants well. God’s people fail over and over again, but God’s keeps His covenants and makes new covenants that build on previous ones.
All of these covenants have an end goal and final fulfillment centered on a descendant or “seed” who would one day come. Portions of these covenants were fulfilled throughout biblical history and ever person under the covenant was held to keep its immediate commands. And yet God was also telling a larger story centered on His Son, the one who would come to fulfill the covenants as the Second Adam, the true Israelite, the Son of David, etc. “From eternity to eternity” God’s faithful love was not dependent on us, but wholly dependent on His goodness and grace. The Old Testament saints hoped in this coming descendant; New Testament saints and those of us who’ve come after hope in that descendant who we now know as Jesus Christ, the God-man who kept God’s covenants and redeemed us as the God who saves and the man who died and raised.
Our triune God keeps His covenant even when we don’t, and is providentially moving all of history toward its culmination in the new creation (Rev. 21-22).
The Lord provides what we need (Matt. 6:25-34)
Jesus starts at the bottom shelf of creation first. Look around at God’s creation, even those who are often viewed as passive recipients provision. The birds and flowers aren’t apex predators. They don’t have barns and storehouses to stock up their food or, to put it in modern terms, they don’t have pantries and a 401k. And yet, God takes care of them. It is worth remembering here that God cares about all of creation. Beyond political talking points and debates about what it means to take care of the planet or our communities, we must agree based on this passage that God cares for everything He has created. But He does play favorites in the case of humanity. And this is where He moves to the top shelf, turning the illustration to humanity.
Since the beginning, mankind has clearly been the pinnacle of God’s creation. We were the capstone of the creation order in Genesis 1, we are God’s image-bearers, and we are the ones with whom He makes covenants. God the Son didn’t come to the world as a tiger or eagle or brown recluse. No, He put on the very flesh of mankind. Only mankind is promised union with Christ and resurrected bodies like his.
So, Jesus says, how could you have such little faith, to think that you need possessions or even basics like food to define and sustain your life? What if, worst-case scenario, you starved to death? It wouldn’t be pleasant. It wouldn’t even be good in any way. But God knows what is best, there are no accidents, and in wealth or poverty He is working a plan for your good and His glory.
Our triune God’s providential hand provides all we need, in wealth and in poverty, in joy and in pain.
This post is written by Brandon D. Smith, and is published as a companion to Unit 3, Session 6 of The Gospel Project for Adults Vol. 1 (Fall 2021): From Creation to Chaos.