Whose is the Earth?

“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it….” Psalm 24:1

Now I know there’s a deep and longstanding debate about how the universe came to be but I think it’s true to say that all participants in this debate acknowledge that one of the possible explanations is that all life was created by a Powerful Spiritual Source.

Of those who accept this explanation as being true or most likely, I acknowledge that there are many, many different ideas about Who or What that powerful Spiritual Source is.

Now, the questions of how and who to one side for a moment, if you accept that a Powerful Spiritual Source created life, then it must follow that we belong to it. The law in most places that I know of says that if an artist creates a piece of work, he or she has legal right over that work. He or she can keep it, sell it or give it away. Now, it must follow that the Force that created the earth has the same rights. We are not our own, we belong to the Creator. The Creator has provided us with life and with the natural resources we find upon the earth. From those natural resources, we have created many and different things. So, do we own what we have created or does the Creator, who gave us the means to create?

If you believe that the world spontaneously came into being then of course there is no Divine ownership and humans can do what they choose. Things belong to those who find them or acquire them according to the rules of society. But if you believe in a Divine Being then that is arguably not the case. If the source of all things is a Supreme Being, then arguably, that Being is the owner of all things in the universe He/She/It created. This is especially so if you believe that the universe was created with benevolent purpose. If this is the case, then the Supreme Being's purpose should be applied to all created matter, including and especially humans, in order for life on this planet to prosper.

How is it, then, that we in the Western World especially, live as though we are our own gods and as though what we own belongs to us for our enjoyment and prosperity? I speak for myself, not just at others and of course I generalise, but I'm sure that many would agree with me that materialism and consumerism are prevalent in the West and is very worrying.

In the realm of Employment Law an employee who acts as if he owns something actually belonging to his boss could be charged with stealing from his employer (I'm talking about taking what is in fact God’s and making it mine). Arguably the negative consequences of this action outweigh the short-term gain.

Looking at it another way, if we apply logic, it really makes no sense to hold onto things that have no innate life in preference to reaching out for the Divine Being. We give our possessions a life force by telling ourselves that we must have them to be happy. Now I’m not saying that owning things is, of itself, bad, but giving those things an elevated importance is. If I value my money so much that I can’t bless others with it, or feel that life has no value if I lose it, it in fact owns me and is in fact taking the place of the Divine in my life.

Assuming, which I do, that a Divine force created all life, then that Divine Being also made a number of laws or rules for how life would be. Gravity is one example and the principle of sowing and reaping is another. It doesn’t matter what you believe, your belief system cannot render you immune to the effects of gravity. In the same way it seems that no matter what your belief system, human life is subject to the sowing and reaping principle – what you put in you get out. If you “sow” goodness, this is what you reap. Assuming that another of those laws or rules is that the earth and things and even our lives are not our own but God’s, if we live in contradiction to this law, there will be consequences for us (like there are consequences of stealing from our boss).

One of the consequences as I see them, is the mess we (the human race) have made of this planet. We have used the earth’s resources as if they belonged to us rather than using them with a view to long term consumption by all the people of the world. We have exploited those resources and now we are backpeddling to try to bring the earth back into balance.

Another of the consequences is the mess people make of relationships, the worst examples being the ethnic genocide that has occurred far to often in our recent history. With “I” as God, relationships can only be disastrous.

And perhaps, more subtly, if we take the Divine Being from the proper place in our lives, we find ourselves needing to fill that space with all kinds of other things in order to be “happy”. Lo and behold, what do we reach out to but “things” and so the cycle goes on. I'm sure that you have all felt the "buzz" that comes from buying something new. And I'm also sure that you have noticed how short-lived that buzz is and how soon it is that we want to buy something else so that we can experience another buzz.

There is a most apt passage in the Bible, in Isaiah, which talks about this exact issue. “…Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, ‘Ah, I am warm; I see the fire.’ From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, ‘Save me, you are my god.’” (Isaiah 44:16,17)

How is it that we, the human race, have so lost the track that we prefer to worship inanimate objects, made by our own hands, than we do to reach out to and pursue our Creator?

Jesus Christ, one of the greatest men who has walked this earth, offers us the opportunity to know and commune with God:-

"If anyone loves me, they will obey my teaching. My father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." John 14:23

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." Isaiah 55:1-2

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord...For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be..." Psalm 139:1-4, 13-16