God's Plan for Man, I 

     To understand God’s plan for man we have to go back to the beginning of time. "In the beginning God created the havens and the earth." Genesis 1:1. From this we see God’s place in His plan.

God Owns Everything

     God own everything because God created everything. Everything in the heavens. Everything on earth. It all belongs to God.

     Is there any doubt as to why Satan has made it one of his highest priorities to attack the revelation that God created everything? If the heavens and the earth just came into existence from natural processes, they don’t belong to God. Everything material just came into being on its own. It’s all up for grabs to any person or group who can take control of it by any means they can. Once they get it they have the right to use it any way they please.

     We need to meditate deeply on this marvelous creation from the smallest microbe to the greatest galaxy. When we do, we’ll agree with David, "The heavens declare the glory of God…" Psalms 19:1, and was enlightened to write, "The earth is the LORD’S and all its fullness, the world, and those who dwell therein.…" Psalms 24:1.

     God also sustains everything. The New Testament gives us this revelation, "He, (Christ) is the image of the invisible God…by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are on earth...all things were created through Him, and for Him...and in Him all things consist (are hold together). Colossians 1:15-17. All things were created by Christ and for Christ and are held together by Christ.

God Created Man To Be Managers Of His Creation.

     After each of the first six acts of creation recorded in Genesis 1, we read that God saw that it "was good." Then God created man and we read, "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good." 1:31. The creation of man elevated God’s appraisal of His creation. Why? What made the difference?

  1. Man was different in character. God said, "Let Us make man in Our image according to Our likeness…"  Genesis 1:26    "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female."  Genesis 1:27
  2. Man’s job description: "Then God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."   Genesis 1:28.

     What separates man from the creatures of the sea, the fowls of the air, the animals of the earth and all other living things is that man was made in the likeness of God and man has been charged by God to be the managers of all creatures and all things that make up the earth.

     In effect, God has said to man, "I’ve created all things and I have made you the managers. I provide the raw materials, the resources, the scientific principles of such things as gravity, electricity, biology, mathematics, and all other living creatures. It’s your responsibility to manage all these things in a way that pleases Me."

Man’s basic problem is that he keeps forgetting that God owns everything and man is the manager. He begins to think he is the owner and he can do whatever he pleases with anything he controls.

     I remember vividly the first home that my wife and I owned. We were so proud of it and were really taking pride in it. In those days it was still popular to have an attorney to draw up what they called an abstract to verify that the deed to the property was good. The abstract was basically a list of the people who had previously "owned" the property. Mine went clear back into the 1700’s. As I read about those people who thought they owned that property the thought hit me that Jeanette and I would be added to the list of people who think they owned it. Our names are still on that list but we don’t own it. The fact is, that we never did. We were just managers of property that belonged to God..

     Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God, man has had the problem of thinking he owns what belongs to God. After God enabled Israel to possess the land He promised to them He set up some thing to remind them that He was the owner and they were the managers. See Deuteronomy 8:7-18.

     There are benefits in the life to remembering that God is the owner and we are the managers:

  1. Happiness will be in proportion to our faithfulness in being a good manager.
  2. While we’re managing what is under our control we enjoy it
  3. The better we do a being faithful managers the more God trusts us and let’s us manage more and more.

 There are also some eternal benefits. What we manage in eternity will be in proportion of how faithful we were in being good managers on earth.

What Are We To Manage

The environment, our physical and material possessions, things under our authority, our body, intelligence, abilities, talents, gifts, time wealth, family, our salvation, and the truth we know from God’s revelation.

     Why did God institute tithing? Yes, it expresses our love, gratitude and worship. It also serves as a regular reminder that everything under our control is still owned by God and we are the managers. See Deuteronomy 1`4:22,23.

Copyright © 2002 Thomas E Berry
All Scriptures quoted from NKJV unless otherwise noted

 

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