"All Things are of God"

I have tried to find a different meaning for 'all', and I can not find one; in fact, as I looked up this word in my Webster's, it really does mean 'in all totality'. As I was driving down from MacArthur on Friday, I noticed how many businesses on the way home said "Under New Management"; I literally lost count. And yesterday, while driving to church, just in our little town of Shasta Lake, there were quite a few. It is sad to see this happening here in the North State, but our State as a whole is in some serious trouble. The saddest things however, is that many of these stores which are under new management will not stay open for long; in fact, the chances that they will be successful are not really that good. The main reason that this is so, is because the business is the same business, and if the founder of that business had lost hope, that pretty much dooms the new owners. The only reason I really have brought that up, is because I was thinking about 'being under new management' as a 'new creation in Christ'; yet, while thinking on that subject, it dawned on me that not everything would be new; which would mean that not 'All things were new'. This is the Great News of the Gospel: we are changed into a Child of God; and now, as a Child of God, we have New things to offer those around us. Not only are we under new management, but the contents are not the same as well; because the merchandise we have to offer now is eternal life! That is what Paul is saying here in verse 18, "And All things are of God, who hath reconciled us unto Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation." Not only are we new creatures in Christ, but we also have new contents to share with others; these are 'The Things of God' that are within us, which actually are the things that make us want to reach the lost. Now, having said that, do I do what I want to do? Not as much as I should, that is for sure (to say the least). But, within me is the 'Word of Reconciliation'; it has been there since the day I first believed. For many, this is simply the testimony of God's grace and mercy upon their lives; for others, it may be the actual ministry of preaching the Gospel; but whatever it is in you, you must perform it. It must be expressed in one way or another, because it is in us all that are His Children to express what He has done; otherwise, all we are offering a dying world around us, is the same old dead merchandise... "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the Word of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:19)