President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly stated in recent days his desire for the US to acquire Greenland. He made similar calls in 2019 during his first term. Why? The world’s largest island is strategically important with regard to military positioning and US security. However, according to Forbes, it is especially of interest these days due to its mineral resources, “many of which are highly coveted in this age of digitization and electrification of the global socioeconomic complex.”

Greenland is rich in rare earths, lithium, and cobalt used for batteries, mobile phones, and a host of other devices. Uranium, hydrocarbons, copper, and feldspar deposits on the island are vital resources as well.

My focus in this article, however, is not on geopolitics or geology. Rather, the story raises a larger question for me in light of a biblical text I have been considering in recent days. Paul testified of the Lord,

“From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36).

When we examine this short text, I believe we find a path to significance that is transforming in this life and in the life to come, whatever “island” we inhabit today.

“Every Perfect Gift Is from Above”
Let’s consider Paul’s first sentence in some detail.

“From him” points to the fact that all we have is God’s gift to us.
Scripture declares: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). This includes our very lives: “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth” (v. 18).

God created the universe ex nihilo (Genesis 1:1–3), yet it is a scientific fact that matter can be neither created nor destroyed. Accordingly, everything in the universe exists by the creative power and purpose of God.

All you and I do when we “make” something is to remake it, repositioning and repurposing it for our intended ends. This is as God intended when he commissioned us to “work” and “keep” his creation (Genesis 2:15).

Accordingly, we turn minerals and trees into cars and houses. But we did not make our lives or this day. And, as the wildfires in California and other headlines prove, none of us can guarantee ourselves another day of life on this planet.

The story is told of a debate between God and a scientist regarding who could make a better world. They agreed to begin at the beginning. So the scientist bent down and scooped up a handful of dirt. The Lord replied, “Get your own dirt.”

“Through him” points to the fact that God not only made all that exists—he is the source by which it still exists today.
As I noted recently, scientists continue to debate the means by which the galaxies of our universe, which are “rotating with such speed that . . . they should have torn themselves apart long ago,” are held together by an unknown substance they call “dark matter.” However, Scripture offers a different approach:

By [Christ] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16–17, my emphasis).

God does this for believers as the Spirit indwells us (1 Corinthians 3:16) while the Son prays for us (Romans 8:34) and the Father holds us in his hand (John 10:29). Meanwhile, his angels are “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). And God’s people encourage and minister to each other as the “body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27), using our gifts to “serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10).

Through all of this, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

“To him” can be translated from the Greek as “towards him,” pointing to the fact that all that exists will one day find its ultimate resolution and home in God.
When the game of Monopoly is over, the pieces go back into the box. As the saying goes, you have never seen a U-Haul attached to a hearse.

One day, this world will have “passed away” as “a new heaven and a new earth” replace it (Revelation 21:1). On that day, “every knee [will] bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue [will] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10–11). And on that day, John’s vision will come to pass:

Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:1, 3–5).

Why We Name the Stars and Planets
“All things” come from God, exist through God, and will go to God one day. As a result, Paul wrote, “To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36b).

o “To him”: to him alone and to no other
o “Be glory”: honor, praise, recognition, renown, prestige
o “Forever”: every moment of every day for all time
o “Amen”: this is truly so, may it always be.

This is only logical: since “all things” come from God and are currently sustained by him, he alone should get the credit for their existence. It would be odd for me to claim recognition for making the house I inhabit or the truck I drive when they were built by someone else.

And since “all things” will one day return to their Maker for his eternal praise, it would be nonsensical for me to claim my management of God’s possessions to be anything but temporary and temporal.

But I try.

My “will to power” drives me to be my own god (Genesis 3:5) and thus to claim ownership of what I only manage. I speak of “my time” as though I created it and “my life” as though I control its length and earthly end.

You are the same as me, I suspect.

We name the stars and planets as though they are our pets and thus subject to our decisions. We name islands such as Greenland and claim ownership of them, though they were here when we were born and will be here after we die (unless the Lord returns first).

Is God a Divine Egotist?
Here’s a better approach:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13–15).

A better approach is to see ourselves as managers of possessions we don’t possess for the sake of the One who does. It is to live and work for his glory rather than our own lest we commit idolatry.

This is why the Bible commands us to “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31): not because our Father is a divine egotist but because we know we are creatures who live our best lives when we are submitted to our Creator.

When we seek his glory rather than our own, we are relieved of the burden of impressing others and caring about what they think of us. We are also relieved of responsibility for our life’s purpose and eternal significance, trusting them to our Master and Lord. And we are positioned to experience the “abundant” life Christ can give only to those who “abide” in him as our Source (John 10:10; 15:5a), remembering his warning: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5b).

Do you want your life to be characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Then submit today to the Spirit who produces these as his “fruit” in our lives (Galatians 5:22–23). Do you want to know the “truth [that] will set you free” (John 8:32)? Then “abide” in Jesus’ word by thinking biblically and acting redemptively (v. 31).

The apostle Paul spoke of “the God to whom I belong and whom I worship” (Acts 27:23). The first leads inevitably to the second.

To whom do you “belong” today?

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