Every Inch Is Mine!

Creation’s onset described by Hugh Ross, an astrophysicist and founder of “Reasons to Believe,” was the exact moment when “an immensely powerful yet carefully planned and controlled release of matter, energy, space and time with very strict confines” took place.2 A dawning of something never before in existence. Those present at its launch watched and celebrated its birth with front row seats. Perhaps the angels watched the unfolding of something new filling the space with energy and matter.

From its opening moments, the universe was made to obey its Creator. With nature’s emergence, the Creator knew nature would love Him. He made it that way.

The debut of the last, but ultimate creation of the Creator, was given a different course of action. Made in His image (Genesis 1:27), humankind was given the ability of choice. “Selfishness” would enter and create division. The Creator knew many would forget and reject Him. While it would be easier to not give choice, the Creator knew if not given choice none of those made in His image would “come to know love.”3                                   .”3

An Absolute Beginning

The commencement of time and space confirmed an absolute beginning; God existed before creation and initiated all things. The Hebrew word for God used in this Scripture is Elohim. It is plural and suggests the majesty and fullness of God. It also hints at the Trinity while remaining monotheistic; one God: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit—Three in One. The earth and the heavens make up the whole universe with God as Creator of both the spiritual and physical realms.4

Genesis means beginning of something—at its origin. Genesis brings hope as God’s story begins with creation and the perfect Garden of Eden. The finishing touch of His Creation was the formation of man … a living person from the dust of the ground. God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there He placed the man He had made… The Lord placed man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over all the living things He made from the ground of the earth (Genesis 2:7-9, 15-20). Later, God made woman (Genesis 2:21-25), also in His image, just as He had made the man (Genesis 1:27).

We are only given two chapters of what life could be like with God in the perfect garden. For the very next chapter describes the story into which we’ve been born—a world full of sin.5 How long the man and woman lived in the Garden we do not know but at some point evil entered into it through the serpent. Grabbing the man and woman’s attention with his cunningness, the Fall into sin happened (Genesis 3). Yet, by the end of Genesis, God’s plan for all humanity to be free from sin had begun through the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Looking Along, As Well As, At God’s Plan

God’s Word from beginning to end, Genesis through Revelations, laid out His plan. The new covenant, or new way of the New Testament, took the place of the Old Testament way of laws given to Moses and etched in stone. This glorious new way won’t end but will remain forever. God’s plan all came together through Jesus Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven (2 Corinthians 3). Whether reading in the New Testament or beginning in Genesis, to understand all God has for us we need to look along, or through, the depths of God’s plan, not only look at God’s plan.

God made us in His image and gave us His Story so we can know the worth He has bestowed on us. Not controlled by God, we have choice just as the first humans were given from the very beginning. His Story is the narrative of real people who respond in real ways; who’ve always had choice, but have often made a wrong choice. We have a rich heritage of people, just like us, who have had to learn how to live in God’s ways.

Digging deeper into the Scriptures, we learn how people handled issues, how God worked through and with them, and at times reprimanded them through teaching moments. They learned He truly exists and who He is—Creator and Sustainer of everything visible as well as invisible, hidden and imperceptible.

“Meditation in a Tool Shed”

An excerpt from “Meditation in a Tool Shed” by C. S. Lewis illustrates what it means to look at and look along something.

I was standing today in the dark toolshed. The sun was shining outside and through the crack at the top of the door there came a sunbeam. From where I stood that beam of light, with the specks of dust floating in it, was the most striking thing in the place. Everything else was almost pitch-black. I looked at the beam, but saw nothing by it.

Then I moved, so the beam fell on my eyes. Looking along the beam, instantly the whole previous picture vanished. I saw no toolshed, and no beam. Instead I saw, framed in the irregular cranny at the top of the door, green leaves moving on the branches of a tree outside and beyond that, 90 odd million miles away, the sun.6

Looking along the sunbeam and looking at the sunbeam are two very different things. When looking at something, we observe using our fives senses from a scientific perspective. When looking along something, the experience differs as it creates a point of view discerning its qualities through our God-gifted intuition as we look within ourselves and integrate what enhances our essential nature in God and reject what does not.

We need both when looking through God’s lens. To look at something, we gain the curiosity and desire to look deeper into it. Whether it’s a sunbeam with dust particles, a Scripture, a concept such as love, friendship, salvation or life itself if we only look at it, we miss its inner intricacies. Thus, looking along something, we experience it in a deeper way. Rather than only a physical observation, we discern by looking from the inside out. Not only do we see the tangible, we see the intangible, the mysterious, hidden or intuitive nature as God speaks through it.7

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). All Scripture gives us a quick look at information but due to its intent, we are to go deeper, to look along or through it. Looking at God’s Word, we can read and memorize it but when looking along, it holds greater intimate and personal treasures for us.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). To walk in darkness is to neither know Him nor seek truth but remain ignorant of what could be. Life is not merely a biological entity but comes from our Creator and is to be sustained with His Word.

When we chose to not only look at what it means to be a follower of Christ but seek to know truth by looking along, we develop and deepen in a “dynamic continuous pattern” of purposefully walking, peripateó, in the light. It is not about following behind Him but an acceptance of His call leading to a “deliberate, whole-person response” to connect, to obey and develop a real and genuine life through a relationship with Him.8

Every Inch is Mine!

A quote I heard often when participating in a comprehensive biblical worldview study piqued my imagination. In the months of the study, it connected scientifically, historically, relationally, and spiritually to life as a God-given image-bearer. It identified the “whole domain of my individual human existence” as claimed as “Mine” by Christ who is Sovereign over all.9

When I think of this quote, I’m drawn to what Jesus said when preparing His disciples for what would take place in the following hours. “Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what  His death is Mine and disclose it to you” (John 16:15). In the following hours and days He would fulfil God’s Plan. He would also claim for the Father everything in all of Creation.

“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” This declaration by Abraham Kuyper took my mind and heart in a number of directions as everything we discussed became a part of those square inches. How do I see every inch of my whole being—not only my thoughts, feelings, will and well-being but also the domain I inhabit? All are completely claimed by Jesus Christ! I’ve had to learn to seek, recognize and then let go of those parts of me not given over to Him. With the assurance He knows and loves me, I’ve found He waits for the right time to show me what needs to still be turned over to Him. And He will do it again, if necessary.

The question then became: what am I to consider as my domain? Some have thought the domain to which this quote referred was not the natural world but institutions and other things humanity has created. In reality, a domain can be a territory, the sphere of where we interact or influence, and also a set of variables that affect our lives.

Some see domain as a specific space or sphere; but what caught my attention was the extensive rule by a single authority. This connected with me as a believer. Our Creator God is the single Authority over all Creation. As a domain, there is not an either or but all of the above are a part of it. “Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 10:14).

The Word of God makes it clear: all earth and heavens belongs to God. Knowledge of what represents the heavens has greatly expanded. For thousands of years all one could know were visible stars in the night sky. It was as if a canopy was spread out above the earth. But then with the invention and development of telescopes and more technology—the whole perspective of the heavens changed.

I took the broadest view of domain, the whole universe, when personalizing Abraham Kuyper’s 1871statement to fit where I am at this time. Since then, the known domain surrounding us has grown exponentially. Because the triune God— God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit—created the whole and complete cosmos, I stand in awe, full of worship at His power and majesty. It is beyond comprehension!

Sovereign over the universe, every inch
in the whole domain of our existence
has been claimed “Mine” by the Triune God.

Transcendence of the Trinity

When Jesus as Son said, “Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you” (John 16:15). He named the whole of the Godhead. He spoke of the triune unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each “distinct yet one in essence.”10

God’s transcendence in nature and power are essential to understanding His nature as depicted in the Bible… God exists above and beyond His creation, yet He is intimately involved with it.” He wants us to know and understand Him more deeply and what we are capable to learn of the universe. Through belief in Christ and revelation from His Spirit, we behold His transcendence—“the invisible aspect of God’s nature and power wholly independent of the material universe, beyond all physical laws and limitations.”11

Each Person of the Trinity is essential for God’s Plan. When Jesus was baptized at the beginning of His ministry, all Persons of the Trinity were present (Mark 1:10-11). When commissioning His disciples before ascending to heaven, He told them to go into all the world and baptize as He was baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

God continues to commission us today. I’ve found to be an image-bearer for God, my domain must be every area of my existence. It hasn’t been perfectly done and won’t be on this side of heaven. My concern is that every square inch of my life has been claimed by God my Father, Jesus Christ my Savior, and the Spirit who lives in me. By accepting His call, my whole-person must intentionally respond as I connect, obey and develop a relationship with Him. When purposely walking in the light He’s given me, I then can share the revelation and truth disclosed to me to others in my domain.

Something to Ponder in Prayer: What do you envision as the whole of your domain, the domain Christ claims or should be able to claim within you?

Photos
Earth from Space Photo by NASA on Unsplash
Moon over Water Photo by David Bolin on Unsplash
Butterfly on flowers Photo by David Bolin on Unsplash
Composite of galaxy from 3 different observatories, Photo by NASA Hubble Space Telescope on Unsplash
Earth taken by Artemis II Crew, Photo by NASA Hubble Space Telescope on Unsplash
Magellanic Cloud Photo by NASA Hubble Space Telescope on Unsplash

1Hebrew:Genesis 1:1. BibleHub. retrieved on 7.6.26 from https://biblehub.com/text/genesis/1-1.htm
2Ross, Hugh. “A Beginner’s and Expert’s Guide to the Big Bang: Sifting Facts from Fiction.” Reasons to Believe. Retrieved on 7.28.26 from https://reasons.org/creation/universe/a-beginners-and-experts-guide-to-the-big-bang-sifting-facts-from-fictions
3Lucado, Max. “The Choice at Creation.” Retrieved on 7.28.26 from https://maxlucado.com/the-choice-at-creation/
4Study of Genesis 1:1. BibleHub. retrieved on 7.6.26 from https://biblehub.com/study/genesis/1-1.htm
5Beers, Ronald A, Gen Ed. Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition. Carol Steam. IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2019.2
6Lewis, C. S. “Meditation in a Toolshed”. The Timeless Writings of C. S. Lewis. New York: Inspirational Press. 442-444.
7Ward, Michael. Planet Narnia. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008:16-19.
8Greek: John 8:12. BibleHub. Retrieved on 7.30.26 from https://biblehub.com/text/john/8-12.htm
9Abraham Kuyper Quote. GoodReads. Retrieved on 9.9.25 from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/99035-there-is-not-a-square-inch-in-the-whole-domain
10Study on “Godhead.” BibleHub. retrieved on 7.8.26 from https://biblehub.com/study/john/16-15.htm
11Topical: transcendence. BibleHub. retrieved on 8.2.25 from https://biblehub.com/topical/t/transcendence.htm