DB Clips: What Does It Mean That God is All We Need?
Today we want to answer the question, what does it mean that God is all we need?
We see versions of this throughout the Bible, 2 Peter 1:3 says “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness”
CS Lewis once said, “He who has God and everything else has no more that he who has God only”
Let’s take a moment and examine who God is to us, and how this promise plays out practically in our lives. In this we will see three ways that we interact with God and three things that God gives us in our life that fulfills this promise.
In 1 John 3:1 it says, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are”.
The first way we interact with God is as our father. Ephesians says we are adopted in His family. Think about ancient times, who could wake up the king in the middle of the night to ask for a glass of water? A servant, or citizen wouldn’t even consider something so brash. But a child of the king simply goes in. They don’t see him by his position, but by his relationship to them.
In the same way we are called sons and daughter of the Living God. Matthew 7:9 says, “Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?” In the same way Matthew 6:25-26 says, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
In my own personal life, I’ve seen God come through in times where in our own resources we couldn’t do what we needed. In every time of need or struggle in our life, God has been there for us.
The second way we interact with God is as God. The creator of all things. When you look at life, society, and the world, it can be a dark and chaotic thing. Our earthly father’s may love us, but they are limited in the same way we are. Yet, God as our father is not limited. This gives us a hope that the evil in this world can be overcome.
I feel like there is a beautiful illustration of this when the disciples were rowing across the lake. At least a few were skilled sailors and had legitimate concern that they were not going to make it. As Jesus comes walking across the lake to them, the waves they feared would drown them were literally under Jesus’ feet. At his command the very wind stopped blowing.
We serve a God who is not limited by creation because He spoke it into existence. Gravity, physics, the vast stretches of space are not a mystery to Him, He was the one who made it.
The final way we interact with Him is as our Savior. I save this for last, not because it’s the least important, but because it’s the most. When sin came into the world we were ripped apart and separated from God. In ourselves we can never close the gap between us. In the Old Testament the use of animal sacrifices was a symbol of salvation, but they weren’t enough to restore us to God.
Hebrews 10:1 says, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.”
For God to be just, there had to be payment for our sins. When we could not pay the price, God did the only thing and all powerful, yet loving Father could do. He paid the price for us. He made the ultimate sacrifice for us, and when we see He took care of our biggest need we can be confident that He will take care of our earthly needs.
God provides for our earthly needs, our internal need for hope in a dark world, and most importantly for our very salvation. We have been restored to Him through His sacrifice, and Jesus, who gave His life to save us, can and will also be there for every other need we might have.
If you’d like to learn more about this topic, go to our website at dbcc.com, click on Grow, then sermons. Look for the teaching series on Colossians and click on the sermon titled Life Change.