Wholism 102

Another awesome aspect of wholism is that Christ, the Creator-Sustainer of the universe, owns the whole kit 'n caboodle. Always did, always will. It's all His.

The significance of this cannot be overstated. That's because if we get the issue of “ownership” wrong, it makes a huge difference in the way we view everything! My friend and mentor, Albert Greene, now with the Lord, touched on the problem when he wrote, “There is a subtle derailment which often occurs in Christian thought at the point of the Fall. We tend to think that when man sinned, God simply relinquished the whole creation as a botched job and left Satan to do what he wanted with it. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Did he say, “subtle derailment?” Al was never prone to overstating. The fact is, it’s a huge derailment!

The world and all it contains is as much God’s stuff after the Fall as it was before the Fall. The Fall did not change God’s ownership status. He not only made it in the beginning and holds it together as you read this post, but He owns it all, and this has enormous ramifications for human beings. When we mow the lawn, it’s His grass we’re cutting. When we pound a nail, it’s His metal we’re pounding. When we examine a drop of water under a microscope, it’s His stuff we're looking at.

In Psalm 50:10-12 God says, “For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all it contains.” (NASB) Even after the Fall, the earth and all it contains remains His. The whole lot of it! That’s wholism 102.

This is what makes the Fall such a tragic event. It is His creation that is fallen, and it remains His in its fallen condition. It is critically important to understand that the earth and all it contains does not belong to Satan. “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it.” (Psalm 24:1) Although the devil may act like he owns the place, he simply does not. Never did, never will. None of it is his.

For more of Albert Greene, click here, and here.