Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – The Green Gospel: Seven Reasons Why We Should Care about Creation
By Mark Russell
March 2007 Any reflection on this verse should focus on the gift God was giving. As a parent, I delight in giving my children gifts and watching their joyful responses. However, this delight increases as I see them continue to enjoy the gift over a period of time. In contrast, it would be a great irritation to see them receive a gift and put it in the trash or throw it in front of a car. So it is with the gift of creation that God has given us. A right reading of this passage shows that we should cherish this precious gift from our loving creator.
2. Creation is our responsibility. After creating humans God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28). He gave us two commands. The first is to be fruitful and multiply—create community. The second is to rule over the animals of the earth—creation care.
This statement from God to us should not be taken as an entitlement but as a privilege. These are not rights; they are responsibilities. Therein lies an enormous difference. We care not for environmentalism because of what pollsters and reporters say; rather, we care for it because of the responsibility that God has given us. Caring for creation is not being politically correct. It is being theologically correct.
|
When God gave us the task of stewarding creation, it was not |
3. We express our love to God by respecting his creation. Jesus stated quite clearly what it means to love him when he said, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:21). When God gave us the task of stewarding creation, it was not intended to be a burden, but an opportunity. It was (and is) a chance to express our love to him.
We express our love by caring for his gift of creation. God’s creative actions in Genesis 1 serve as a model for us. After looking at how we care for creation, we should be able to step back and say, “This is good.” When we care for creation in the same way that God did, we know we are obeying his teaching. As Jesus said, this is how we show our love.
4. Creation groans. A lot has changed since the original scene of God and humans conversing as friends in the idyllic setting of the Garden of Eden. Humankind sinned. We failed. As a result, Adam and Eve had to leave the garden. God said that the ground was cursed because of Adam (Genesis 3:17). Paul wrote, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:22). Creation is groaning.
Pages: ALL Prev 1 2 3 Next
|
Mark Russell is a doctoral student at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, USA. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky with his wife and their two children. |