What belongs to God? - Belonging - TouchPoints

Deuteronomy 10:14-16“Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God. Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today. Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn.”

All Creation belongs to God. Moses declared this truth when he reminded Israel that God had chosen them as the immediate object of his love so that he might someday bless the whole world with salvation (see Genesis 12:1-3). Moses called on Israel to respond to this truth by fearing the Lord.

Psalm 24:1The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.

The whole earth belongs to God, and we should be good stewards of all he has entrusted to our care. This psalm invites us to join one another in welcoming and affirming God’s lordship over our world and over our lives.

Acts 17:22-24Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. He is the God who made the world and everything in it.”

God can claim ownership of the universe because he made it. Paul wisely pointed out that the men of Athens already knew they might have neglected a divine being that deserved their worship; he declared the same basic point in Romans 1:19-20. Atheism becomes most tempting when we realize that if there is a creator God, he can hold us accountable to his expectations for us. The fear of being held accountable is a major reason humans resist recognizing that we all belong to God.