We are speaking about stewardship. But in order to be good stewards, we must first of all have a clear picture of what ownership actually is. Last week we looked at this question in part and came to the conclusion that God is the owner of everything in this world. But are we truly convinced of this? Why should He be our owner? To be good stewards, we must be able, without a second thought, to point to Whom we belong, Who our Master is, and why. If we know Who the owner is, we will more easily give up thinking like owners and will have a clearer sense of ourselves as stewards. That is why today we will look at God’s rights as owner.
God’s rights as owner are entirely legitimate, lawful, and well-founded. No one but God alone has the right over the universe, and in particular over us. Why? Because He created us, He sustains us in existence, He redeemed us through the blood of His Son, and He sanctifies us through His Holy Spirit. These are four arguments for His ownership over us.
THE CREATION
First of all, God owns not only us but the whole universe, because He created it. So begins the first chapter of the Bible (Genesis 1:1):
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
If we do not believe these first few words of the Bible, there is no point in reading any further. They tell us first that there is a God, and second that He is the creator of all things. As Creator, He has rights over everything. And as owner, God exercises absolute sovereignty (supreme authority) over all His creatures. In Romans 9:20-21 the apostle Paul appeals precisely to God’s sovereignty when he explains God’s choice.
14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? (Romans 9:14-21)
As God’s creatures, we have absolutely no right to complain about Him. We exist and live only because of His will and His grace. Therefore we can only thank Him, and never reproach Him for His choices or His actions.
GOD SUSTAINS US IN EXISTENCE
The second reason God is the rightful owner not only of us but of the whole universe is that He not only created us, but He is also the One who sustains us in existence. In Colossians 1:17 it is said of Jesus Christ that “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” We have nothing that is absolutely our own. Everything we use has come from God – the place where we live, the air we breathe, the food we eat. We live because God gives us life and holds us in existence.
And the good news is that God, who created us and who sustains us in existence, does not treat us as a despot or a tyrant, but as our Heavenly Father. This is one of the most wonderful teachings of the Bible – God treats us as a Father treats His children. In the Gospel according to Matthew 6:31-32, for example, it says:
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (Matthew 6:31-32)
THE REDEMPTION
Today we are speaking about four arguments for God’s ownership over us. The first of them is God’s “copyright.” Because He created us, we belong to Him. The second argument for God’s right of ownership over us is that He is the source of life, the One who holds us in existence. The third argument that we are God’s property is redemption.
In Old Testament times, if an Israelite became so poor that he could not pay his debts, he would sell himself into slavery. But according to the Law, any of his close relatives had the right to buy him back. To do this, he had to pay a set price to his master. This act was called “redemption.” We read about it in Leviticus 25:47-55:
47 “‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48 they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives may redeem them: 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves. 50 They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. 51 If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly. 53 They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly. 54 “‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55 for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 25:47-55)
Notice that here God says of the Israelites that they are His servants, because He freed them from their slavery and brought them out of Egypt. In a spiritual sense, through the fall of Adam we too became slaves of Satan. And we, like some of the Israelites, could not redeem ourselves. But God sent His Son for us. So Jesus Christ of Nazareth became for us our close kinsman-redeemer. Through His self-sacrifice on the cross of Golgotha He redeemed us from the slavery of Satan, death, and sin. In Titus 2:14 it says of this work of Christ:
14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:14)
So then, we no longer belong to Satan; we do not belong to sin. For Christ has redeemed us. But neither are we independent, nor are we our own. Redeemed from sin and from Satan, we become God’s possession. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 the apostle Paul says:
You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Here it says that since God has bought us for a certain price – and not a small one, for it is the price of blood, the sinless blood of the Son of God – we belong to Him; we are His.
A boy who lived by the ocean once made himself a little wooden boat. He took it down to the shore and set it out on the sea. Soon, however, the current carried it out to open water, and all the boy’s attempts to get it back failed. A few days later the boy was walking through the local market. And suddenly, in the window of one of the shops, he saw his little wooden boat. The shop owner had found it washed up on the shore, repaired it, and put it up for sale. The boy went home, with great effort gathered the necessary sum, and the next day went into town to buy his own little boat. Taking it in his hands, weeping for joy, the boy said to his little boat: “Now you are twice mine! Because first I made you, and then I bought you as well.”
For exactly the same reason we too belong to God twice over – first, because He created us, and then, because He redeemed us through the blood of His Son. We do not belong to ourselves; we are not masters of our own selves. God is our owner; He is our Master.
THE SANCTIFICATION
The fourth argument for God’s right of ownership over us is sanctification. The word “sanctification” means setting apart. Sanctification is the act of God by which He sets us apart for Himself. In Numbers 8:17 it says:
17 Every firstborn male in Israel, whether human or animal, is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself. (Numbers 8:17)
The firstborn in Israel belonged to God. By not destroying them together with the Egyptian firstborn, but granting them life instead, God set them apart for Himself.
By His sacrifice Christ not only redeemed us, but also cleansed and sanctified us. In Hebrews 10:10 it says:
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:8-10)
That we are sanctified means not only that we are cleansed from sin, but also that we belong to God. This is so because in Christ God has chosen us to be His own – a sanctified and holy people. In 1 Peter 2:9-10 the apostle says:
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
In fact, of the four arguments for God’s right of ownership over us, the first two apply to all people, while the last two apply only to Christians. The first two arguments were those of creation and of being kept in life – these apply to all people. The last two – those of redemption and sanctification – apply only to Christians, to those who have believed in Christ and received Him as their personal Savior. Either way, believers and unbelievers alike, we are all His. We are not owners, but stewards of everything that God has been pleased to give us.
The truth about stewardship is seen already on the first pages of the Bible. God created man and set him as steward over the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 2:15 we read:
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15)
Even this single verse reveals the relationship between God and man with respect to material things. God is the owner, and man is the steward.
ACKNOWLEDGING GOD’S RIGHTS AS OUR OWNER
As stewards it is important not only to know that God is our owner, but also to acknowledge and honor Him as such. As Jesus said in John 13:17: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” How, then, do we acknowledge God as sovereign owner through our actions?
SURRENDER, CONSECRATION, AND GIVING
First, by consecrating ourselves and our possessions to Him. Consecration means setting something apart and dedicating it to the fulfillment of some special purpose. To give ourselves to God means to give ourselves fully to His cause and to Him Himself. To say to Him: “God, I am Yours! I am at Your disposal. Take me as Your instrument, and use me as You see fit.”
If we believe that God is our owner, then there is nothing more practical than to honor Him by giving Him what is His. In Matthew 22:21 we read how the Pharisees and the Herodians tried to trap Jesus in His words.
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” 18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” 21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. (Matthew 22:15-22)
On the Roman coin the image and the inscription were those of the emperor. But we ourselves, as human beings, bear the image of God. So then, according to Jesus, taxes must indeed be paid; but on the other hand we must not forget that if our money bears the marks of our state, our faces bear the seal of God, and with our souls and bodies we are to serve God.
Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, gives us a wonderful example of consecration. For many years she was childless. And finally, in her grief, she made a vow to God that if He would grant her to bear a son, he would be consecrated to God. Shortly after this Hannah conceived. When she gave birth, she understood that her son was a gift from the Lord. Therefore, after she had weaned him, she gave him back to God. How? By handing him over to the high priest, to be trained as a servant of God (1 Samuel 1:24-28).
24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. 25 When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there. (1 Samuel 1:24-28)
Eli recognized that what was happening was something holy. And so he worshiped God, who had performed this miracle and had honored the faith and consecration of Hannah. Therefore God did not forsake her. Later He gave her three sons and two daughters (1 Samuel 2:18-21).
If we truly see ourselves as stewards and believe that God is our owner, then we ought to place at God’s disposal not only ourselves but everything we have. Giving the tithe, offerings, and alms is in fact a testimony that we recognize that the blessings in our life, our health, our gifts and abilities, and everything we have, comes from God and rightfully belongs to Him. Giving the tithe is a testimony that we are ready to give God everything else as well, whatever He might need for the advance of the heavenly kingdom.
THANKSGIVING
The second action by which we can acknowledge God as having rights of ownership over us is thanksgiving. We must thank God, because even though we own nothing, He gives us free access to everything He owns.
It is wrong to think that God is obligated to give us everything we need, or to take for granted that what we have is simply owed to us. In Romans 1:21 we read that people became evil and wicked because, though they knew God, they “did not give thanks to Him.” They did not acknowledge Him as their owner. They took for granted that what God had entrusted to them was their own property. As stewards we must not be ungrateful, but grateful, for everything God does for us – for creating us, for sustaining us in existence, for redeeming us from sin in His love for us, and for setting us apart for Himself, to be His special possession.
OBEDIENCE
The third action by which we can acknowledge God’s rights as owner over us is obedience. If we obey earthly authorities, how much more must we obey the One who is King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus said that it is possible for a person to call God “Lord” and still not obey Him (Matthew 7:21-23). Such behavior, however, is dishonest and unacceptable. In Luke 6:46 the Lord expresses this absurdity in these words:
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46)
It is absurd to call someone your master, and yourself his steward, and at the same time to pay no regard to His will.
GIVING HONOR
The final action by which we can acknowledge God’s rights as owner is the giving of honor. In Malachi 1:6 God says:
“If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty. (Malachi 1:6)
A little further down in the same chapter God reminds us that our service and our sacrifice before Him must be without blemish:
8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you? says the Lord Almighty. (Malachi 1:8)
It is not enough merely to know that God is the only rightful owner in the whole universe. By our actions of giving, thanksgiving, obedience, and giving honor, we must bear witness to Him that we understand our position as stewards and that we truly accept and honor Him as the Owner of our life and of everything we have.