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