After a short break for Thanksgiving, we’re back! Here is another reason why Christians should care, and be thankful for, creation.
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Reason Number Four:
God’s glory is manifest in creation. Therefore the health of creation is of great concern to the Christian. The creation is not God himself (Christians are not pantheist, or panenthesit), but a magnificent, intricate work of art crafted by the Spirit of God.
From a drop of rain, to the paths of the stars, from the untamed spirit of a wild ox, to the route of flight of a hunting hawk – all creation reveals the glory, sovereignty, wisdom, and power of God.
38:4“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
7when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8“Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
9when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
11and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
12“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
13that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14It is changed like clay under the seal,
and its features stand out like a garment.
15From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
16“Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.
19“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
20that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21You know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!
22“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
24What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
25“Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt,
26to bring rain on a land where no man is,
on the desert in which there is no man,
27to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground sprout with grass?
28“Has the rain a father,
or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
30The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.
31“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loose the cords of Orion?
32Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?
34“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
that a flood of waters may cover you?
35Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36Who has put wisdom in the inward parts
or given understanding to the mind?
37Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods stick fast together?
39“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in their thicket?
41Who provides for the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God for help,
and wander about for lack of food?
39:1“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe the calving of the does?
2Can you number the months that they fulfill,
and do you know the time when they give birth,
3when they crouch, bring forth their offspring,
and are delivered of their young?
4Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;
they go out and do not return to them.
5“Who has let the wild donkey go free?
Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
6to whom I have given the arid plain for his home
and the salt land for his dwelling place?
7He scorns the tumult of the city;
he hears not the shouts of the driver.
8He ranges the mountains as his pasture,
and he searches after every green thing.
9“Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
Will he spend the night at your manger?
10Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes,
or will he harrow the valleys after you?
11Will you depend on him because his strength is great,
and will you leave to him your labor?
12Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
Here we see God extolling his own power and wisdom by pointing to his creation. This is God revealing his character. God showing Job how very small and finite he is. Part of the message is that Job should have known all of this already by looking around him at the created world. It is all there to see. God’s signature is emblazoned across the heavens, etched into the mountain sides, and proclaimed from the rivers and sea.
A drop of acid rain. A sky so polluted the stars are hidden. A wild species driven to extinction. A hawk shot down for its decorative feathers. These show the ‘glory’ of man: Man’s shortsightedness. Man’s foolishness. Man’s trust in himself. Man’s irreverence for the Creator. When man’s dominion is destructive we reveal our depravity – that the image of God in man is fractured and darkened, all but destroyed.
When I see a forest stripped bare I don’t see God – I see man. When I see rivers running brown instead of blue – I see man. When I see reports of the last lions dying out on the African savanna – I see man. When I see landfills like mountains covering islands – I see man. When I see garbage in rivers, creeks, and ponds – I see man. When I see soda can rings around pelicans’ necks – I see man. When I see soil eroded and nations starving – I see man. When I see rainforests burning – I see man. When I see coal ash heaps showering nearby towns with sooty snow – I see man.
Christian – let’s reject the destruction and perversion of the glory of God in the natural creation.
~Lauren, The Christian and Creation
