EPISODE 562 – STEWARDS OF GOD’S RESOURCES 6

STEWARDS OF GOD’S RESOURCES 6

“Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” 

1 Corinthians 4:2 (KJV)

God’s concept of stewardship as revealed in the scriptures is not centered on your possession and hoarding of things.

God’s Kingdom concept of stewardship is how you take care of things and also utilize these things for the purpose of His glory.

God has made us stewards of all things. He wants His people to look after His resources.

There are some believers in Christ who assume that being a steward is a degradation of identity. They prefer to be referred to as sons of God, than stewards of God’s resources.

Every believer in Christ is adopted into sonship. We share in God’s inheritance; however, we must understand as believers in Christ that, we are also appointed by God to be His stewards.

As sons of God everything that belongs to our Heavenly Father is ours as well. And the Father has also appointed us to be His stewards. As stewards of God, we are custodians who manage God’s possessions.

Jesus demonstrated how we must function both as sons of God and also as stewards of God.

He said, “All things that the Father has are mine…” (John 16:15)

See this also as Jesus prays to the Father:

“All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine; and in them I have been glorified.” (John 17:10).

In the verse 10 of John 17, you can see both sonship and stewardship:

First, Jesus acknowledges that as fully man, everything He has belongs to God. (We carefully looked into this in the previous episodes). In this sense, Jesus is declaring Himself as a steward.
Then secondly, He pointed out His divine right; all that God has also belongs to Him.

In as much as Jesus is God manifested in the flesh, He also submitted Himself to function as a steward of God’s resources.

To be a faithful steward is not only about having confidence in God’s ability but also submitting yourself as a steward to God because He owns all things.

Take a look at these two expressions to have a better understanding.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” (John 10:14)

Jesus called the people He was raising, “MY SHEEP”. That is ownership.

Jesus in His final weeks with His disciples made an account of them to the Father:

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.” John 17:6-10 (ESV)

From these verses, you can now tell that the same flock which Jesus declared as His, belongs to God instead.

Jesus as the embodiment of the God-head owns all things. Yet as a Steward, He has to care for God’s possession unto His glory.

As sons of God through Christ, we must emulate His concept of stewardship.

No matter the revelation of your identity in Christ, you must submit yourself to God as a faithful steward.

You have to see yourself as one God has entrusted with all of His resources. He has also entrusted some specific resources for you to manage.

God has put you in charge of His resources not for self-pleasure, but to manage for His glory.

You have to get down from your high horse and serve as a faithful steward.

Just as Jesus had accounted for His stewardship, you are also going to account for your stewardship.

Will you be called a good and faithful steward?

Selah.