Who Owns What?

John 1:1-4 (KJV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

In the beginning, there was nothing except the triune God. There was no heaven and there were no lights in the sky because there were no stars yet created. God created the heavens and earth from nothing. God said in His word that He created all things with His word. That is easy enough to understand, but lets look at this just a little deeper.

Science has discovered that all things are made of smaller things. You are created and made of smaller things such as cells. Therefore God had to create the very cells that make up your body. But nothing existed before God created, so it stands to reason that He had to create the very molecules that make up your cells. But they too did not yet exist, so He had to create the electrons of which your molecules are made. But wait, as they say on the TV infomercials, there is more. Atoms are made of neutrons and electrons, so that means He had to create them as well. But science has discovered that there are even smaller particles than these, so God had to have created them as well.

So we can see from this that God does things in a very orderly manner. But on to the point. It will be easier to understand if we take a little look into mans history, by looking at the great artists of time. When Michelangelo created a great work of art, it was considered to be his. He put his mark on it with his signature. It was his by right of creation. He created it therefore it is his. So if you create anything however great or small, beautiful or ugly, it belongs to you by right of creation. If you build a table it belongs to you, not Joe Blow down the street. But what if I created it for someone else? No matter. The Sistine Chapel was created for the church but it is still the artist’s work. It was his when he created it, and it will remain his work of art throughout history. The physical ceiling on which it was painted belongs to the church, but the “work of art” is still his. When he painted something on a canvas, he put his mark on it by his signature. He could sell the canvas, on which his creation was made, but it will always bear his name, and it will always be his work of art.

Now then, if God created the entire universe and everything used in the makeup of it, then it belongs to Him by right of creation. The universe and everything in it will always bear His name and His mark. So if everything created belongs to God, then by this understanding you and I already belong to God. There is no way that we can “be our own man.” Since we created nothing, we own nothing. We belong to God either as sinners or as His sons by Christ Jesus. In the end, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord!

Romans 14:11 (KJV)
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Philippians 2:10 (KJV)
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So what does it mean to be Lord? From the beginning of time and through the Middle Ages, all the land and everything on the land belonged to the lords of the kingdom; everyone was considered to be the subject of that lord. The lords considered themselves to be the owners of everything including the people on their land. The people were considered as no more than chattel, or possessions to be used in any way the lord desired, even unto death.

But God has given us one thing. That is free will. It is created by God for us. God has always had free will. So in effect, He has given to us a very real part of Himself. But why did God give us free will? God gave us free will so that we can choose to believe Him or disbelieve Him. He has given us that choice. And what does that mean? It means that we have the opportunity to AGREE with God or to DISAGREE with Him.

God has given us His heart in His word. We can read it and get a very real understanding of how God thinks. Therefore, we can get to know Him in very real and close relationship. He has given us His laws in order that we can better understand who and what He is. But there is one thing in the entire universe that God does not own and He wants it to make His creation perfect. That is our free will agreement with Him.

Will you agree with Him today? Will you give Him your free will?