All Things Are Yours

by Gene Taylor

"Therefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." (I Cor. 3:21-23). Do you ever sit and think about all the wonderful blessings you have as a Christian? Do you stop to remember all the blessings and other good things God has sent your way?

Most of us spend too many waking hours thinking about the problems we have, bills we must pay and day to day frustrations. We focus on what we lack instead of what we have. We not only dwell on our own imperfections but also on the imperfections of others.

It may be that much of the preaching we hear, mine included, is responsible for such negative thinking. It is natural for a preacher to direct his comments against those things which need to be improved. If we are not careful, though, our total emphasis can become negative. Such is regrettable. We should be thinking of the good that is about us—the encouraging achievements of the past, the great blessing of the present and the great potential of the future. It is a marvelous thing to be a Christian! The above text jumps out at us with this fact. It is an optimistic passage that when read should send you on your way with a song in your heart and a prayer of thanksgiving on your lips. Consider what it teaches about the blessings of a Christian.

Paul, Apollos, Cephas

Why would Paul say that he and these two other men were theirs? The Corinthians had begun to call themselves after the man who had baptized them (1:11-12). To wear a man's name meant to belong to that man. But they did not belong to their teachers. They belonged to Christ. Their teachers, preachers and leaders belonged to them.

We do not belong to preachers and elders. They belong to us. Their place is to serve and they have been provided for our spiritual good. They are ours!

World, Life, Death

The world is ours. Sometimes it seems the world is passing us by without paying the slightest bit of attention. Consider the teaching of Matthew 5:5, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

Who possesses the good life? The worldly revelers? Christians are the only ones who know what life is about (Eccl. 12:13; 2:1-11). Our present life, and its fullness, is a gift from God (John 10:10).

In one way, death belongs to all because "it is appointed for men to die once" (Heb. 9:27). But it belongs to the Christian in the sense that he does not have to fear it (I Cor. 15:55; Psa. 23:4). To the Christian, death is not a loss but a gain (Phil. 1:21-23). It is a way in which the faithful are blessed (Rev. 14:13).

Things Present, Things to Come

As to things present, consider Luke 6:38, "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." God's child is always in His tender care (Matt. 6:25-34).

In the matter of things to come, we have a splendid future if we center our lives on Christ. The future blessings which will be given to faithful Christians are incredible (Rom. 8:18-19; I Pet. 1:3-9).

You Are Christ's, And Christ Is God's

The future belongs to us only because we belong to Christ. It is because we have embraced those truths which He came to teach that we can have such confidence in our future. Without Christ, and we have nothing to anticipate but despair.

The future belongs to Christ and His disciples because He is God's. When we belong to Him, our future is as secure as His (Rom. 8:17).