Everything Is God's, and We Are God's

Devotional

Day 1: Coins, Faces, and the Lies We Carry

The religious leaders hand Jesus a coin stamped with Caesar’s face—a symbol of oppression masquerading as security. This small metal disc carried the weight of compromised values and forced allegiance. Jesus redirects their gaze: what bears God’s image matters more than what bears Caesar’s. The coin’s face claims ownership through fear, but God’s image in us declares a deeper belonging. Every moment we clutch what claims to protect us, we risk forgetting who truly holds us. True freedom begins when we stop bargaining with false guardians. [44:11]

“Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
(Matthew 22:19–21, ESV)

Reflection: What “coin” do you carry that makes you feel safe yet compromises your values? How might releasing it affirm your identity as God’s image-bearer?

Day 2: When Life Feels Like a Hunger Games Arena

The zero-sum game tells us to hoard, fight, and fear scarcity. Like the Pharisees, we assume love, resources, and dignity are limited—if others gain, we lose. But Jesus dismantles this lie by revealing a God who creates from nothing. Every breath, relationship, and sunrise testifies to divine abundance. The hunger games end when we stop seeing others as competitors for God’s gifts. Trust grows when we stop guarding what was never ours to keep. [42:43]

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
(2 Corinthians 9:8, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you act most possessive—time, money, relationships? How might embracing God’s “all sufficiency” change your grip?

Day 3: Atoms Don’t Have Landlords

God claims every molecule as divine property—air, water, DNA, stardust. Nothing exists outside God’s creative act. The Romans pretended to own land; we pretend to own homes, careers, even people. But stewardship replaces ownership when we recognize the Maker’s fingerprints on all things. Our bodies, our enemies, even our worst fears belong to the One who shaped void into cosmos. Life becomes lighter when we stop playing landlord to the universe. [45:18]

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
(Genesis 1:1–2, ESV)

Reflection: What do you label as “mine” that causes anxiety? How might holding it as “God’s” shift your responsibility?

Day 4: The Scammer Bears God’s Image Too

Jesus shocks listeners by insisting even enemies wear divine fingerprints. The tax collector, the scammer, the political opponent—all reflect God’s image, however dimly. Our game of “us versus them” collapses when we see sacred worth in those we’ve othered. This doesn’t excuse harm but redefines how we fight: not to destroy opponents but to restore fellow image-bearers. Love becomes possible when we stop drawing lines in God’s sand. [46:47]

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
(Genesis 1:27, ESV)

Reflection: Who feels hardest to see as God’s image-bearer? What truth about God—or yourself—might that reveal?

Day 5: Stewards, Not Soldiers

Jesus refuses the trap of sides because kingdoms rise and fall—God’s reign remains. Our calling isn’t to defend territory but to tend sacred trust. Every interaction becomes holy ground: parenting, working, even conflict. When we stop seeing people as casualties in our battles, we become gardeners in God’s vineyard. The promise stands: nothing truly God’s can be lost. Our hands open wider when we stop fighting to close them. [47:54]

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.
(1 Peter 4:10, ESV)

Reflection: What “battle” have you been fighting that God might be asking you to steward instead? How would that change your posture?

Sermon Summary

Matthew puts the trap right out in the open. The question about Caesar’s tax is meant to back Jesus into a corner. The tax itself adds insult to injury: payment for the privilege of Roman “care,” complete with violence, exploitation, and oppression. Caesar’s face on the coin makes the insult something a person can carry around, a constant reminder of powerlessness.

The trap offers Jesus two bad choices. Paying means sacrificing integrity and standing with the people. Refusing means risking safety and possibly life. The whole setup depends on a zero sum game: one person gets more only when somebody else gets less. The rule is simple. Get what is available. Protect it. Don’t give an inch. The fear of losing keeps that violent game going.

But God can create something out of nothing. God is not stuck with the choices that fear puts on the table. Jesus asks for a coin and points to its image. Caesar can have back what bears Caesar’s image. God must receive what bears God’s image. That answer springs the trap and takes the whole argument back to the beginning.

God made everything from nothing. Every molecule carries God’s fingerprint. Every atom belongs to God. Land, air, water, stuff: none of it belongs to the people holding it. The claim of ownership keeps people fighting and killing for the chance to keep what was never theirs to begin with. God’s abundance offers a different ground for life, grounded in God’s promise to care for all creation.

Stewardship does not require getting rid of everything. Stewardship starts with looking honestly at possessions and relationships. God’s ownership extends to children, parents, friends, strangers, enemies, and the people easiest to write off. God’s image makes none of them disposable. Temporary care is the calling, not possession.

Jesus refuses the demand to pick a side and frees people from the mess those sides create. The real question concerns whom God calls a person to love and what God entrusts to that person’s care. God’s kingdom has no rival camps, only God and all that God has made. God’s promise reaches every atom, every minute, every breath. Nothing belonging to God can finally be lost, because nothing can go beyond God’s reach.

Key Takeaways

1. God is not trapped by scarcity. The zero sum game makes another person’s gain look like a personal threat. God’s power to create from nothing breaks the assumption that grasping and guarding are the only ways to survive. Trust in God’s abundance challenges the fear that turns every encounter into a contest. [43:53]
2. God’s ownership changes the meaning of care. Stewardship draws a sharp line between caring for something and claiming it as a possession. God’s claim on possessions and loved ones exposes how easily protection can become control. The practice of remembering that everything belongs to God makes room for faithful care without the demand to own. [46:28]
3. God’s image reaches across enemy lines. God’s image does not disappear in the stranger, the criminal, or the person counted as an enemy. The habit of sorting people into opposing camps cannot cancel God’s claim on any of them. Christ’s freedom replaces the demand to choose a side with the harder question of whom God has entrusted to someone’s care. [47:54]
4. God’s claim outlasts every threatened loss. God’s promise rests on belonging, not on a person’s ability to hold everything together. Every atom and every breath remain within the reach of the One who made them. God’s ownership therefore becomes more than a challenge to possessiveness; God’s ownership becomes the assurance that nothing belonging to God is beyond God’s care. [48:43]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[41:01] - Caesar’s Tax and the Trap
[42:14] - The Zero Sum Game
[43:23] - God Creates Other Possibilities
[44:11] - The Coin and God’s Image
[44:59] - Everything Belongs to God
[46:09] - Care Without Ownership
[47:05] - Every Life Bears God’s Image
[47:54] - Called to Love, Not Pick Sides
[48:20] - Nothing Beyond God’s Reach

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 22:15-22
“Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.” [41:01]

Genesis 1:27
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” [44:27]

Psalm 24:1
“The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,” [44:59]

Observation questions

In Matthew 22:15–22, how is the tax question designed to trap Jesus? What could he lose with either answer? [43:25]
What does Jesus ask his questioners to notice about the coin, and how does that lead to the question of what belongs to God? [44:27]
Read Genesis 1:27 alongside Psalm 24:1. What do these passages reveal about who belongs to God and what belongs to God?
What examples of possessions and relationships illustrate the difference between ownership and temporary care? [46:28]

Interpretation questions

How does the connection between Caesar’s image on the coin and God’s image in human beings deepen the meaning of Jesus’ answer in Matthew 22:21? [44:27]
How does trusting the God who creates something from nothing challenge the belief that another person’s gain must mean someone else’s loss? [43:53]
If loved ones belong to God, what distinguishes faithful care from control? How might that distinction affect a parent’s or friend’s response to someone’s choices? [46:40]
How does recognizing God’s image in an enemy change the way a Christian can oppose harmful behavior without treating the person as disposable? [47:01]

Application questions

Where have you recently felt that someone else’s success, opportunity, or security meant less for you? What might trusting God’s care change about your response? [42:29]
Think of one possession you are especially protective of. If you viewed it as something God has entrusted to your care, how might you use, share, or care for it differently this week? [46:28]
Is there a relationship where your desire to protect someone sometimes becomes a desire to control them? What might loving that person as someone who belongs to God look like in one specific situation? [46:40]
Who is difficult for you to see as someone made in God’s image? What is one way you could honor that person’s dignity while keeping any necessary boundaries? [47:01]
Think of a disagreement in your family, church, workplace, or community where you feel pressure to choose a camp. How might asking whom God has called you to love open up a different response? [48:00]
What loss—or fear of loss—are you carrying right now? How might the assurance that nothing is beyond God’s reach help you take one faithful step without having to hold everything together? [48:43]

Sermon Clips

34s

#Love Like God

“The question is not, what side are you on? But what and who has God called me to love? What and who has God entrusted to my care? Nothing is ours. All is God's, and the only enemies we have are the enemies of our own making. In the kingdom of God, there are no sides. There is only God, and all that God has made. That's it.”

40s

#AllThingsBelongToGod

“From nothingness, from the void God made all that is, everything that exists. There is not a single molecule of creation that does not bear the fingerprint of God. Not a single atom of the universe that does not belong to God. None of it belongs to us. None of it. Not land, not air, not water, not stuff. None of it belongs to you. It is not yours.”

31s

#FaithfulStewardship

“We are merely temporary stewards and caretakers of all that is God's. What belongs to God is whatever bears God's image, and there is no part of your being, no atom of your body, no mint of your life that does not bear God's image. It's not me versus you or us versus them. It is just us. It is all of us under God's care.”

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Trinity Lutheran Green Bay ELCA This sermon · AI assistant

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