Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein.
God first reveals Himself as our Creator: in Genesis 1:1 we read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Then we read in verse 26 and 27, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . . And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created He them.” In Isaiah 44:24 the Lord declares, “Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heaven alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself.” And again we read in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee . . .” There is absolutely no question that God does indeed own the whole shooting match by virtue of being God the Creator.
Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Even though He is the Creator of the universe, God has given each of us a will by which we decide whether or not we will live for Him. In fact, God gave us stewardship over the earth which belongs to Him. “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth has He given to the children of men” (Psalm 115:16, KJV). Again, in Genesis 1:28 we read that man is to, “have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (KJV). We not only have the choice to serve the Lord, we have a choice as to how we will live our lives on the earth. The decision is ours to make, and each individual must decide for himself whom or what he will serve. There are many that have already died in their sins because of the decision they made. Scripture tells us that there will only be a few who will live eternally with the Lord based upon their decision, and few are relative to the number.
In terms of gratitude, where do I stand? This is a question that each of us should be asking ourselves. The Father has revealed His love to us in so many different ways that it would be impossible to name them all individually. The biggest display of them all being, “in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, KJV). By all rights, every human being that has ever walked or ever will walk on the planet should be serving him. By all rights, every human being should be grateful, especially, those who are saved.
Galatians 4:4-6 But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because we are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father (KJV).
No one can argue that the earth indeed is the Lord’s, and all that is in it. But do we ever stop and think that he not only created the earth; he redeemed it and man as well. Man turned his God-given authority over the earth to Satan at the fall. Likewise, man was separated from God by sin. Therefore, God sent His only Begotten Son to shed His precious Blood that we might be redeemed from the curse of the Law, and be reconciled back to Him. We were not only created, we were bought with a price –the precious Blood of the Lamb! God is not only our Creator, he is our Redeemer!
