Sunday: The Earth Is the Lord’s
A scientist once challenged the need for God; he argued that he could create
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
humanity just as well as any God could. God said, “Okay, go ahead and do it.” The scientist began to gather some dirt, but God said, “Wait a minute. Make your own dirt!”
Though this story is only a fable, the point is clear: God is the only One who can create from nothing. God made all the material of the universe, including our world, our possessions, and our bodies. He is the legitimate owner of every thing.
What’s the basic message to us in these texts? More important, what does this message tell us about the way in which we should relate to the world, one another, and to God? Ps. 24:1, 2; Job 41:11; Ps. 50:10; Isa. 43:1, 2; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20.
A favorite Christian hymn begins with the words “This is my Father’s world.” It truly is our Father’s world, because He created it. There is no more legitimate claim to ownership than creatorship. God created, and therefore owns the entire universe, the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them.
Not only does the world belong to God, He claims ownership of every creature on earth, as well. No other being (at least that we know of) has the power to create life. God is the only Creator and, as such, the ultimate owner of every creature. We are all completely dependent on God for our existence. We cannot give God anything except our allegiance; everything else on earth is His already.
More so, we are God’s not only by creation but, even more important, by Redemption. Though a wonderful gift from God, human life has been greatly damaged through sin and will end in death, a prospect that denudes life of all meaning and purpose. Life, as it now exists for us, isn’t all that great. Our only hope is the wonderful promise of redemption, the only thing that can make things “right” again. Thus, we are Christ’s by Creation and by Redemption.
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Surely there is no one who can stand and say that he own's what God created in the universe, becouse even what man makes or molds is from the knowledge provided by God which shows that if a man can try to glorify himself rather than God, the lord can grab his mind away leaving him unknowledgable also unreasonable.
That is one thing that gives me strength that God is really extraordinarily powerful above every human competition.
There is no human competition for God. Only two human responses: worship and adoration at His Revelation, or willful rebellion in whatever form that may take ... You choose.
The scripture tells us that God is the only one that can boast of ownership of this world because He created it. Man, try as you may, can only duplicate. We are stewards of all that we have and possess even though we claim ownership, be it land, money, our knowledge, our bodies, etc. We are dependable upon Him for it all. We owe everything to Him even our Worship.
Oooh really we belong to Him because He created us ,and after we have lost ,He bought us again through Jesus Christ's blood,ooh what love God has for us
Nomusa and Sherry,
What about Corinthians 3:21,22,23? It says everything belongs to you. You belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Hi John, ultimately you are saying the same thing as Sherri and Nomusa. If evrything is your and you are Christ's then in short everything that's yours is Christ's. You might want to backstep to verses 9 and 16 which confirm the same effect. Be blessed!
You are right Gary, its helps to back step and step ahead of the memory verse, to better understand this weeks lesson. Yes we all work together,we all make up Gods building. And we all form His temple. Pray to God none will defile it. 1 Corinthians 3:17. As the Psalmist says "How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty." Psalms 84:1.
Once sin entered the world, we became self-conscious. Self-preservation has become 'natural'. It is a wonder to examine the intricate and complicated reaction our body executes when we face any danger. 'Natural' reflexes are geared to protect the most vulnerable parts of our body. We become aware of protecting our face from a quickly oncoming object only after the fact. We are oblivious to many other reflexes that our body executes in a trivial way, thought they keep us alive. Our lids blink about 900 times per hour to keep the moisture to the cornea and without our knowledge they twinkle before danger reaches close to our eyes. We cough to expell the particles that have accidentally made their way into our breathing pipes.
I live in a part of the world where there is a significant emphasis on self-promotion. It is almost impossible to survive without this acquired reflex. We hear about climbing the corporate ladder, success isn't for introverts etc. This lesson is a stark reminder that God is in control. He owns everything, He has made everything and sustains it all. We can depend entirely on Him to deploy self-confidence instead of going at it alone. When we know that we are hand-made by the Almighty; even before we (man) sinned, He devised a plan to fix it once and for all (redemption); even while we wait for eternal life, He has developed in us natural reflexes that maintain life; These are enough reasons to rely on the creator and present ourselves boldly to the world. To rely on inner strength alone is a recipe for disaster. After all, it is reasonable to say that SELFishness is the seed that grew sinful pride in the heart of Lucifer. Psalm 28:7 said it best: "The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him".
Louisdon what a blessing and insight into our varied relationships with Jesus Christ. Thanks.
Create from nothing ......fabricate or manufacture from something
Sure we can clame nothing but praising and prayers
In a speeding bus, everyone was now afraid but a very little boy of about five ran up and down the passage. An old man said to the little boy, SIT DOWN!!! Cant you see that something bad might happen? The little boy turned to the old man and said, "SIR. This is my father's bus and he actually is the driver. I have nothing to fear because my father knows what he is doing."
We as Christians know that our father, God who created us is driving this bus called the earth and has it under control. Psalm24:1 says, The earth belongs to God. When governments the world over are talking of global warming, terrorism, nuclears and many other things killing us all, we know the driver of the bus and have nothing to fear.
Luke12:32, Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom....... we know the driver of the bus, so we have nothing to fear
Amen! Thank you for this illustration Ngoni!
Chibwanda; A good illustration. Many are the times we tend to forget and limit the saving power of our Creator. Its high time we awake from this spiritual slumber. Fear of un known should not override the good promises we get from depending on His Word. Everything belongs to the Originator of Life. The Psalmist David gives us courage and boldness as we live in this world darkened and mared by sin. David's assurance in Psalms chapter 23 should be our theme song in this earth.
Brohren, what more do we need, every Holy writ is illuminated with words of encouragement and comfort. The devil only "CLAIMS" to be the owner when in the actual fact, he just wants to steal and destroy.
were it not that we forget all the goodies God has done unto us,the whole world could rejoicing and praising God for we,the earth and all the creatures in it belongs to him.
The devil is trying very hard to lay claim to the whole world and the being created by GOD, but he is a defeated foe,we can only trust and depend on our creator,redeemer, father and friend to be victorious.
Let us surely believe in GOD since everything is HIS
Yah that’s why the verse says for them that ‘believe in him’ shall not surely die but have an eternal life. Our faith our take
God owns us twice for first He created us then when we were lost he sent his holy begotten Son to die for us on the cross so that through is blood we can have a new life in Christ that is restoration .
But that is not all. When he says that even the animals are his own making, which means human being are special to God, but if we cannot praise him then he can even turn the stones to offer praise to him
All blames still go to satan becouse he tries to confuse mankind to have a perception that everything we possess is all ours,this makes mankind to think he has power to create.
Sunday is interesting; starting with the question to the scientist! It is a story just to let us see that God owns it all even us. I love Job 38; who can answer the questions it is amazing to behold God's handiwork for all was said into existence and we marvel when people make discoveries; all they are studying is how great are the works of the Lord almighty.
Satan knows his time is short, and he has to work hard to try and break Christians. If he can put a small amount of doubt in someone's mind, then it will not be hard to pull that person away from God. God's love for us is so great, that He knows out hearts, and how we feel about Him. We cannot let satan win. We have to work harder and trust in the Lord for strength.