God Owns It All

Scripture: Psalms 50:10-12

“10. For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. 11. I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. 12. “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.”

Tags: Stewardship, Creator, Sovereignty, God’s Sovereign Will, God’s Ownership.

Summary: How much happier God’s people would be if they would embrace this truth: God owns it all; He has all of the rights to what He owns. Anything and everything you and I have belongs to Him.

In our culture we are tempted to as 1 Timothy 6:17 – This Bible verse is an instructions to the Rich.

“17. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”

Let me tell you the story a very wealthy man called John Wendel

John Wendel and his sisters were some of the most miserly people of all time. Although they had received a huge inheritance from their parents, they spent very little of it and did all they could to keep their wealth for themselves. John was able to influence five of his six sisters never to marry, and they lived in the same house in New York City for 50 years. When the last sister died in 1931, her estate was valued at more than $100 million. Her only dress was one that she had made herself, and she had worn it for 25 years. The Wendel’s had such a compulsion to hold on to their possessions that they lived like paupers.

The Wendel’s failed to realize the truth that I would have each of us to see today.

We do not own anything: He, God, owns it all. How much happier God’s people would be if they would embrace this truth: God owns it all; He has all of the rights to what He owns. Anything and everything you and I have belongs to Him.

I. God’s Ownership is Universal

1. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that Gods ownership is universal. He owns 100% of everything.
2. 1 Chronicles 29:11 “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord,

And You are exalted as head over all.”

1. Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.”
2. All living creatures belong to God.

• Psalm 50:10-11 “For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.”

1. All the world’s wealth belongs to God

• Haggai 2:8 “‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts.”
• Deuteronomy 9:18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day”

1. All of Heaven’s host belongs to God

• Deuteronomy 10:14 “Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.”

1. All Nations belong to God

• Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.”

1. All the souls of men belong to God

• Ezekiel 18:4 “Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.”

1. God owns everything. There is nothing that God does not own. The song says “He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the wealth in every mine, He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills, the sun and stars that shine…”
2. Job 41:11 “Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.”II. God’s Ownership is AbsoluteA. God’s ownership is absolute because He is the Creator of everything

   God created everything and therefore owns everything.

• Psalm 24:1-2 “1. The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. 2. For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters.”
• John 1:1-3 “1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. He was in the beginning with God. 3. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”B. God’s ownership is absolute because not only is He the Creator but also He is the Sustainer of everything.

• Colossians 1:16-17 “16. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
• Job 34:14-15 “14. If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, 15. All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.”
• There is a Protein molecule called laminin. Laminin is one of the multiplied thousands of protein molecules found in the body. It is a unique molecule called a cell-adhesion molecule. It has the assignment of holding everything together in the human body so it doesn’t fall apart.

It seems that cells organize in the body into specific structures and that organization determines what protein they are and what they do.

There are upwards of 60 thousand of these in the body. The structure of the cell tells the cell what its job is in the body.

– a cell adhesion molecule – it holds everything together.

What is amazing is that this cell is in the shape of a cross. The stuff that holds our body together is in the shape of a cross.

• It’s the cross that holds our lives together. It’s the cross that holds marriages together. It’s the cross that holds families together. It’s the cross that holds our church together. It’s the cross that will hold your world together. It’s the cross.C. God’s ownership is Absolute because He alone is Sovereign.

• The sovereignty of God is the absolute authority, rule, and government of God in the whole of that reality that exists distinct from Himself
• Deuteronomy 4:35-39 “35. To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. 36. Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. 37. And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, 38. driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39. Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.”
• Isaiah 44:24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: ‘I am the LORD, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself”

Story of King Louis XIV of France

• In 1715 King Louis XIV of France died after a reign of 72 years. He had called himself “the Great,” and was the monarch who made the famous statement, “I am the state!” His court was the most magnificent in Europe, and his funeral was equally spectacular. As his body lay in state in a golden coffin, orders were given that the cathedral should be very dimly lit with only a special candle set above his coffin, to dramatize his greatness. At the memorial, thousands waited in hushed silence. Then Bishop Massilon began to speak; slowly reaching down, he snuffed out the candle and said, “Only God is great.”D. God’s ownership is absolute because of the price He paid.

• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “19. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
• Acts 20:28 “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
• The Lord Who created us has bought us with the greatest of all prices in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as our sin bearer; therefore, we and all that we have belong to Him forever.

He has absolute divine ownership of and authority over our lives.

By both creation and redemption, God has divine ownership over every one who is saved.

III. God’s ownership is Absolute and we are merely managers of His property.

A. We are the purchased property of Jesus Christ, bought altogether for His ends.

We are bought to be His eternal possession.

In New Testament times when a man bought a slave that slave belonged to him.

We are redeemed for the Redeemer.

We belong to Christ, and we are obligated to devote ourselves unreservedly to Him.

B. John Wesley put it this way, “When the Possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being, and placed you in this world, he placed you here not as a proprietor, but a steward.”

Because God owns everything we need to relinquish our claims to everything to Him realizing that we are His stewards.

C. I cannot stress this enough. A steward is someone who has been entrusted with the resources of another…

A steward stands in stark contrast to the consumer or user…

The basis of stewardship is the recognition that God owns everything and we own nothing.” (Purses with Holes)

D. 1 Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

E. Let me comment on one of the name of our God called Adonai, “Many of us struggle with this issue of ownership, don’t we?

From the very first time we understand what mine means, we want to cling to and claim ownership.

Take for example two children who are playing together with a toy someone has given to one of them.

The children did nothing to deserve the toy.

They did not pay for it.

Yet as soon as one of the children attempts to play alone with the toy, what happens?

The “owner” of the toy snatches it back with a screeching protest, “Mine!” “Mine” “Mine”

Somehow, all of us have the mistaken notion that we are owners. We claim that we own a house or a piece of land.

We also are aware that ownership brings with it frustrations.

Ownership rarely proves to be all we expect it to be.

We buy a home only to find that we desire a bigger home or another home in a different location.

We also discover that ownership is fraught with the constant demand of repair and maintenance.

The roof leaks, we fixed that and the week before the plumbing backs up.

We can be so frustrated with ownership that we are tempted to say that we were much happier when we owned nothing.

I’ve got news for you. You can get out of the business of ownership. Truth is, you’re not an owner; you’re simply a steward.

The Lord is owner of all that exists. I have a practical suggestion that will help you acknowledge this.

Sit down during your devotional time, take out a piece of paper and make up a deed signing everything over to God, the rightful owner.

Say Lord, this has never been mine. Somehow I just took over what is yours by creation.

I am excited to acknowledge that I am a steward and that you are owner of all the possessions represented on this deed.

After you have done that, you will begin to experience a great freedom when you finally understood that the Lord was the owner of everything.

When you signed everything over to the Lord, the Lord’s will steps in and what use to frustrate you before will begin to work very fine, the car you are driving back and forth will not breakdown on you anymore, your roof will not leak, your washing machine will not break down.

Even if your washing machine or anything breakdown, all you have to do is, kneel down and tell the Lord and He will direct you on what to do.

The understanding that the Lord and Master owns everything helps us to keep life in perspective.

Brethren, this really is good news. It is a joy to be a steward for the sovereign God of the universe, who has revealed Himself to be holy and righteous.

We can rest in the assurance that He is trustworthy and able to provide for our every need.

Like Abraham, we will discover that He who has brought us from Ur of the Chaldeans can fulfill His promises in our life.

In these days of unprecedented anxiety and fear, we need to discover that God is Adonai.” (The Names of God)

F. I have held many things in my hand, and have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands that I still possess. – Martin Luther

G. God demands absolute obedience from us as His people because we live in the midst of His creation.

We are responsible as stewards of God’s order.

We cannot claim independent sovereignty or independent ownership. All that we are belongs to Him.

H. Have we recognized His lordship, His ownership, His rightful claim to every corner and crevice of our lives.

Conclusion:

One day all creation will acknowledge His ownership. God Words says one day that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Kurios, Adonai, Divine Owner), to the glory of God the Father.

Have you recognized His divine ownership in your life?

Let’s Pray:

1. Father, I thank you for been my Father
2. Father, you are the owner of everything in heaven, in the earth and everywhere, everything belongs to you, therefore today I surrender myself fully to your ownership.
3. Father, because you own me, please take full control of my life both physically and spiritually.
4. Father, please destroy whatever may want me to struggle with your ownership over my life in Jesus name.