To recap, why should Christians care about the environment?

1.   Man was created by God to exist in three relationships: man to God, man to man, and man to creation.  All three will exist eternally in the new creation.  We are responsible for our behavior toward each of these three relationships.

2. Man is God’s appointed steward over the earth.  If we are to be good and faithful servants, we cannot shirk our responsibility and pretend the state of God’s creation is not our problem.  The purpose and goal of our relationship to creation is the glory of God.

3. We are created in the image of God.  In our dominion over the earth we reflect God’s supreme dominion.  As Christians we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to rule as God rules: with true knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.

4. 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.

5. We will be held accountable to God for all our actions.  We should be motivated by a desire to be called God’s good and faithful servants.

6. The creation is intrinsically linked to the Trinity.  The Father, Son, and Spirit each have a role in the creation, sustenance, and redemption of the created world.

7. The environment was created by Christ and for Christ, is the inheritance of Christ, is held together by Christ, and is being reconciled to God through Christ.

I left out one terribly important (though not always obvious) reason because it will dominate the next series of posts at The Christian and Creation blog.

Environmental degradation affects first and most harshly the poor and marginalized, those will no voice and no power – exactly those whom Christians are called to defend and love.

 This is the truth that motivates much of the work of Restoring Eden , and is part of the reason why I respect them deeply. 

Our great commandment is to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. 

I’ve heard it asked far too many times, “Why care for the environment when the the poor need our resources and attention?” or “Why don’t you care about people?”

The question itself is wrong.  It supposes that there is an unbridgeable disconnect between the environment and the people who depend upon it.  The truth is the opposite.  No matter what we do, we will never form a disconnect between people and their environment!  Try as we have to distance ourselves from natural processes in wealthy, suburban, computerized America, we still breath air.  How much more important is that connection in rural Kazakhstan where people rely on well water, or in slums of Mexico City, or in Haiti where deforestation has killed the agricultural industry, or in the farms-turned-illegal-landfills that skirt Beijing?

Protecting the environment can be one of the greatest ways we protect those who are in need, in this generation and on until Christ returns.

The question that begins our next series is, not, as some might assume “How can we love the creation?”, but rather “How can we love our neighbors?“

~Lauren Merritt, The Christian and Creation

The environment was created by Christ and for Christ, is the inheritance of Christ, is held together by Christ, and is being reconciled to God through Christ.

Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to pay the debt for our sins, played an intimate role in the creation of the world and is responsible for its continuing existence.  I often forget that Christ has job descriptions beyond being my Savior – though what a glorious role that is!  While he saves and comforts and intercedes for us before God, he is also the power through which all of creation is held together, which in the beginning, was created by God through him.

The Gospel of John begins with this marvelous truth:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

All things were made through Christ - the Christ in whose name we pray and in whose blood we trust, also created.  Without him, Scripture says, nothing would exist.  We read this opening verse to a most beloved book of the Bible so frequently that we may have forgotten its full meaning.  I am daily thankful for my salvation because of Christ’s death on the cross, but I rarely think of the vast reaches Christ’s power over all the world.

Colossians says of Christ, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Again, it’s clear that it was through Christ that all things were created.  Everything in heaven as well as on this earth, things we can see and things we can’t, the rulers, powers and authorities in this world.  Everything.

Paul describes Christ as the firstborn over all creation.  In the ancient world the firstborn was the heir, the eventual head and ruler over the estate.  This is what Paul means to say about Christ in regards to creation.  The creation is Christ’s inheritance.  It is his to rule fully when his kingdom comes.

What was most startling to me, when I first studied this passage, is that little addendum, “and for him.”  All things were made for Christ?  A list of undesirable, unlovely things comes to mind.  Bacteria was made by him and for him.  Hurricanes were made by him and for him.  We were made by him and for him.  Animals and plants were made by him and for him.  Every aspect of the environment was made by him and for him.

As if to make us stumble even more, we learn that not only was everything created through Christ and for Christ, but that he is before all things (has supremacy over them) and holds all things together.

What a radical change that is from my usual pattern of thinking.  I walk around and assume that the ground is beneath my feet simply because it is.  I breathe the air because I can (I do that without thinking at all).  I react to things like disease as either bad luck or pure science.  I regard food as a necessity and a pleasure.  But none of these things are accidents or coincidences - they are purposeful, planned out by Christ, upheld by Christ, for Christ.

Do I ever give thought to the Creator of these things?  The very ground I walk on should remind me that I am dependent on Christ continually upholding the universe.  When, in my prayers and thoughts, do I acknowledge that my relationship with Jesus is even deeper than my salvation, but began the second I was knit together in my mother’s womb?  When I was born my tiny body entered the earth he created and gasped in the air that he holds together.  Do I think on these things?

There is still another aspect of Christ’s relationship to creation;  Paul writes in Romans, telling us that God is reconciling the whole creation back to himself through Christ’s blood. How amazing it is that God created the world and everything in it through Christ, and then reconciles it back to himself through Christ.

This knowledge, that the environment was created by Christ and for Christ, is the inheritance of Christ, is held together by Christ, and is being reconciled to God through Christ, should profoundly affect our view of environmental problems.

Robert Letham, in his book The Work of Christ, addresses the issue in his chapter on Christ’s mediatorial kingship:

“At present we are alert to the pressing issue of the environment.  If Christ is creator and sustainer of the universe, and if he is to remould it, then car exhaust emissions, ozone layer depletion, nuclear waste disposal, toxicity in the atmosphere and the widespread problem of garbage removal are matters of integral concern to the church and to theology. This world belongs to our Saviour, and we have been given custodial charge of it.  We are responsible to him for how we use it.  The problem of sin includes not only questions of personal morality but also careless use of Christ’s environment” (208).

Moreover, he writes, “no realm is out of bounds to the Christian faith.”  Politics, business, family life, etc, “are to be seen from the perspective of the creation mediatorship of Jesus Christ” (209).

We would be wise to remember this exhortation.  When we claim that Christ has no authority over an area of our lives, personally or corporately as the church, we are standing on sinking sand and disregarding the clear teaching of Scripture.  “Since he [Christ] made it, to view the universe from any other perspective will result in distortion” (209).

As it has when Christians look at the environment and claim “Not Our Problem.”

~Lauren Merritt, The Christian and Creation

The creation is intrinsically linked to the Trinity.  The Father, Son, and Spirit each have a role in the creation, sustenance, and redemption of the created world.

Christopher J. H. Wright has written two outstanding books: Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament and Knowing the Holy Spirit Through the Old Testament. I highy recommend both of them to any reader.  They have immeasurably increased my understanding of the Old Testament, the person of Jesus, and the person of the Spirit.  The first chapter of Knowing the Holy Spirit is titled “The Creating Spirit,” in which Wright details the Spirit’s powerful work in the original creation and his ever-continuing sustaining work in creation.

Wright points out that there is a negative tendency among many religions, Christianity included, to think that only that which is spiritual really matters.  This thought traces back to Plato and the Greeks who believed that the body was merely a cage for the soul, and the soul could only be pure apart from the body.  In their estimation, all physical creation was evil, at the worst, or at least insignificant.  Christians however, ought to know that the physical is being redeemed along with the spiritual, and that the two do not exist apart from one another (Rom 8:16-24).  We do not look forward to a permanent spiritual heaven apart from our bodies, but to the resurrection of our bodies and life in a new creation (1 Cor 15)!

Wright addresses the false belief among Christians:

“Against all such minimizing and trivializing viewpoints, the Bible affirms creation, affirms the whole of creation, and affirms that the whole of God, including his Spirit, is involved in it origin, sustenance and future.  Our God is the God of the whole creation.  He made it, he sustains it, he loves it.”

Wright continues that this Biblical worldview must affect our lives.  It affects in particular our view of ecology.

“If all life on earth is sustained by God, and loved by God, then there are more ways of grieving the Holy Spirit than just lack of personal sanctification,” he writes.  He suggests that maybe we have never thought of ecology as we rightly should.  “I am constantly surprised at how many Christians have no interest in ecological issues or even in Christian efforts to care for creation [...].  They know about such things as destruction of habitats, draining of wetlands, burning of forests, pollution of the atmosphere, rivers, and oceans, global warming, loss of species, etc.”  Worse, he writes, some have such distorted views of future events that they promote using up the creation as fast and recklessly as possible!

Here’s the hard Biblical truth that arrested my attention:

“And yet they say they believe the Bible, the same Bible that tells us that the earth was made by God the Father, is sustained by God the Spirit and will be the inheritance of God the Son; the same Bible that tells us that God loves all he has made, that the Spirit gives life to all and that God has reconciled to himself all things to himself by the blood of Christ on the cross.”

The Father made the creation, the Spirit gives life to the creation, the Son will inherit and rule the creation.  Many of the children of the Father, reborn by the Spirit, who call themselves followers of the Son, ignore the creation and scorn those who care. I agree with Wright, that this sad disparity grieves the Holy Spirit. 

I began this series to address the Christian ecological attitude: “It’s Not Our Problem.” Brothers and sisters, it is our problem.  If it is the concern of God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, it is ours.

We will be held accountable to God for all our actions.  We should be motivated by a desire to be called God’s good and faithful servants.

When God comes in the full power of his kingdom, he will judge every one according to his works.  Even Christians will face judgment before his throne, though our eternal fate is secure with Christ, through faith alone.  God will hold each person to accountable.  “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what He has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)   In Revelation God says, “I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.” (Rev 2:23)  “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” (Rev 22:12) 

Throughout Scripture is the idea that even believers will be held accountable for their works.  Righteousness in this life will be rewarded.  Fighting the good fight to the end will be rewarded.  Strength and perseverance will be rewarded.  Salvation is the free gift of God through faith alone in Christ alone,  yet we still find that we are being judged as His servants and given crowns according to our faithfulness and work for His glory.  We looked at the parable of the talents from Matthew 25 a few days ago.  The wise servant who invested the master’s money received a reward when the master returned, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”  However, the servant who did not act wisely with the money was reprimanded severely: his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! […] from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And [he] cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness.”  Jesus told this parable to describe the kingdom of God.  We can expect to be likewise held to account for our works, whether they have been for the glory of God or the glory of man.

Will we be considered good and faithful servants when judged for the colossal task of working and caring for the earth?

When God judges us for our dealings with creation will we say: “Look, Master, you gave us the earth and its natural resources and everything good and we in turn made the ultimate goal of our lives our own comfort and convienence, bought every new toy that hit the stores and threw them away when we were done, kept our AC at 68 degrees, shipped produce from Peru to New York in January, blew up your mountains for cheap coal,

 drove cattle in double-decker trailers 800 miles to slaughter, drained the soil to grow millions of acres of corn for government subsidies, doused the land with chemical fertilizers to make up for it, let our lust for tens of billions of pounds of beef contaminate the soil, water and air, fed our livestock antibiotics to keep them alive under unnatural conditions, let the medications seep into ground water to disturb and mutate the native wildlife,

spawned new and horrible diseases through poor crop and livestock management, brought destructive invasive species into fragile habitats, created every possible household product in a disposable form to fill landfills, dumped waste into your streams and rivers which contaminated our neighbors’ wells, drove thousands of your creatures to extinction though vanity hunting and decimating habitats   …” ? 

Will this be our answer to his call to accountability?  Many of these things I’ve listed are corporate actions which we all, in some form or another take part in.  Some things we might find unavoidable, other things we can change easily.  The test will be our striving after righteousness, justice, and the glory of God in all these matters.  For instance, we can support those who raise crops and animals responsibly.  We can use our purchasing power to move industry toward more energy efficient products.  We can recycle.  We can eat less meat and lower the demand for destructive and inhumane farming practices.  We can protect our local watersheds by responsibly caring for own lawns and gardens.  We can vote to prevent further mountain top removal.  We can choose to eat local food in the summer and avoid the foods with the highest vehicle mileage in the winter.  We can act to preserve the glory of God in creation, or we can choose not to care.  What I fear, looking down this list of destructive human activities, is that the God “who searches the minds and hearts” may find that, worst of all, we have participated in all these and not even cared.   

Should Christians really file in among the apathetic millions?  Should we be so flippant that what God made good and glorious we and the rest of humanity are daily desecrating?  Don’t we have every reason to care? 

I believe that one day God will ask “did you care about the creation I made to display my glory and to provide for your every need?” 

Do you even care?  Think seriously about your answer.

~Lauren Merritt, The Christian and Creation

first two photos courtesy U.S. Archives, CC copyright

third and fourth photos courtesy Farm Sanctuary

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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

Reason Number Three:

We are created in the image of God.  In our dominion over the earth we reflect God’s supreme dominion.  As Christians we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to rule as God rules: with true knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.

(Anthony A. Hoekema, a conservative Reformed theologian, retired professor at Calvin Theological Seminary, does a marvelous job on this topic in his book The Image of God.  All quotations are from that text)

  We are created in the image of God. 

 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our    image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion   over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  (Genesis 1:26-28)

Theologians have spent centuries of Biblical study trying to pin down the exact definition of the “image of God.”  It can be said in summary that “the image of God” has both general and narrow meanings; in the general sense, all men are created with the ability to reason and be held responsible for their actions; in the narrower sense, Christians have the ability to function in “true knowledge, righteousness, and holiness,” through the power of the Holy Spirit by faith in Christ, according to Anthony A Hoekema, author of Created in God’s Image.   Though the “image of God” likely means more than these two short descriptions, it certainly does not mean less.  In both the general and narrow sense, mankind reflects, like a miror, attributes that are true of God.  It is in that way that man is the “image of God.”

The image of God in man was shattered after the Fall, but glimpses of it remain in both senses.  Though man is still a rational being, he does not choose to love God.  Though the Christian is given a new heart which can love God, he often chooses to forsake righteousness in favor of sin.  

Just as we still, in a fractured way, reflect God’s creativity when we paint or sculpt, and God’s tender care when we nourish our children, “man’s dominion over the earth reflects the supreme dominion of God the Creator over all that he has made.”   Were the image of God still fully intact in man, every work of art would point to God, every child would be raised in a loving and God-glorifying home, and man’s dominion over creation would be as just, righteous, holy, compassionate, and perfect as God’s own rule.  Creation would flourish to the utmost and man’s benefit would be unsurpassable.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians can image God by living in true knowledge, righteousness, and holiness in relation to the creation.  However, with indwelling sin always at war with our hearts, we fall woefully short.    

Hoekema says it well:

Perversion of the image of God can be seen in the relationship between man and nature.  “Instead of ruling the earth in obedience to God, man now uses the earth and its resources for his own selfish purposes.  Having forgotten that he was given dominion over the earth in order to glorify God and benefit his fellowmen, man now exercises his dominion in sinful ways.”  He goes on to list such exploits as stripping forests irresponsibly, causing soil erosion, growing crops without proper crop rotation, and polluting rivers and lakes with waste from materials factories.  

As in all his other “cultural achievements – his literature, his art, his science, his technology – man’s goal is to magnify himself instead of praising his God.”

It might not surprise us that atheists treat creation and culture in such a way.  But to know that Christians, who should  bear the likeness of God their Father, are very little different should cause our hearts to ache for true righteousness and bring us to repentance.

Hoekema, Anthony A., The Image of God.  Grand Rapids, Michigan., Wm. B. Eedmans Publishing Company. 1986.

~Lauren, The Christian and Creation

Reason Number Two:

Man is God’s appointed steward over the earth.  If we are to be good and faithful servants, we cannot shirk our responsibility and pretend the state of God’s creation is not our problem.  The purpose and goal of our relationship to creation is the glory of God. 

As described yesterday, God has placed man in three eternal relationships: man to God, man to man, and man to creation.  Man’s relationship to creation is that of a steward.  The function of a steward, seen in the Bible and especially in Jesus’ parables, is one who is temporarily put in charge of a master’s possessions and is allowed to exercise authority over those possessions.   We must ask, what steward disregards that which he is given charge of?  Or pushes it away, saying, “I have no responsibility for this”? God did not ask if we wanted to work and tend the physical creation and we have no right to remove ourselves from the responsibility he has given.  In His sovereignty, He made the creation and commanded us to “subdue,” “work,” and “tend it” (see previous post for full references).  The good steward, as in Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25, invests his share of the master’s possessions and gives his master back even more than he was given, showing his wisdom, obedience, and respect.  In our relationship with our heavenly Master we must also show our humble worship in how we behave as stewards. 

Jesus says that the kingdom of God, that perfect coming reign of the Lord, will come at a time that no one knows and no one expects.  He tells the parable of the ten virgins or bridesmaids waiting through a long night with lamps full of burning oil for the bridegroom to arrive (Matt 25:1-13)  In the same way, believers must be awake and ready for Christ’s return, sober minded and acting in accordance with God’s will. 

Jesus then says, the coming of the kingdom of God “will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.  To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.  He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.  So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.  But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.  Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’  His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” (Matthew 25:13-21).   

God has entrusted the earth to us, to “subdue” “work” and “tend” until he returns to reign in the full power of his kingdom.  As the parable of the ten virgins communicates, it may be a long and dark wait and we are unsure of the time of his return, but we must be faithful and diligent in our good work nonetheless.  More faithful and more diligent, in fact, because he will come when we do not expect Him!  Our goal in stewardship, as the parable indicates, is to please our master by making wise decisions in His best interest, rather than our own (though as we see, acting in accordance with the Master’s will leads to blessing and favor).  In a more specifically Christian way of putting it – the purpose and goal of our role as stewards over creation is the glory of God.  When our Master returns we should not present him with a polluted and torn apart world, which would show little respect for His authority, His possessions, or His glory, but one that is well-tended, healthy, productive, and beautiful.  It should be as He created it, full of His glory, with the additional virtue of having fulfilled its purpose within the culture of man.  

As Christians, we should be the people most fervent to serve God wholeheartedly in every facet of our lives and in doing so show His glory to the nations.  Then we will hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

~ Lauren Merritt, The Christian and Creation

photographs by Ian Britton of Freefoto.com

Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.

He set them in place forever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the LORD from the earth,

you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail,

snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,

you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,

kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

(Psalm 148)

Today starts a new series, “Why Should Christians Care?”, by Lauren Merritt, from The Christian and Creation blog. 

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My conviction about my interaction with creation is recent, but it is fervent.  As I’ve studied Scripture and been absorbed in books, particularly those about what it means for man to be in God’s image, my passion for this area of Christian living has grown.  One reason for this, perhaps, is that it is heartily and unreasonably ignored.  Many Christians seem very happy to plant their feet firmly on the “Not Our Problem” side of the issue.

This stance, however, either disregards or has not considered a handful of truths that lead me to believe that not only is the environment “our problem,” but that it is more the responsibility of Christians than any other people.  I’d like to post one reason for this each day, for your consideration.

Reason Number One:

Man was created by God to exist in three relationships: man to God, man to man, and man to creation.  All three will exist eternally in the new creation.  We are responsible for our behavior toward each of these three relationships.   

At the heart of Christian theology lies the fact that man is created in three distinct relationships: man to God, man to man, and man to creation.  All of our existence takes places within these three spheres.  We spend a great amount of time discussing our relationship to God and our relationship to men (as we should!), but there is a full third category that we mindlessly neglect (as we should not!).  If God had not wanted us to have a physical creation with which to interact He could have made us non corporeal all together.  But He did not; He created man in a beautiful garden and some of His first instructions to them were to tend their land.  This is often referred to as the cultural mandate. 

Genesis 1 tells us that God gave man dominion over the natural creation.  “God blessed them and said to them, 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.”  God gave Adam and Eve their immediate surroundings, the Garden of Eden, so they would “work it and take care of it” (Gen 2:15).   We know from the rest of Scripture, that though Adam and his descendants are creation’s rulers, God is The Ruler,  The Owner, and The King of creation (see references at the bottom of the page).  What humans do with creation is in submission to God as the ultimate authority and standard of our behavior.  We are the stewards, not the owners.

A factor not often considered, including by myself until very recently, is that man’s three-fold relationship is eternal, though all three relationships will undergo changes.  In the coming new creation of God’s kingdom there will be a new creation!  We will still exist in a perpetual relationship with God, with man, and with creation – but all three will be sinless, perfect, holy, beautiful, sanctified, and renewed!  (This is no doubt in part because we will no longer be rulers over the creation).  When God’s kingdom comes in full power in the new creation it will all be perfectly subjected to Him.

We are responsible for our relationship to God here and now, though in the future we will be in perfect fellowship with Him.  We are responsible for our relationships with our fellow men, though in the future we will be sanctified in perfect fellowship with other believers.  How can we possibly continue to argue that we are not responsible for our relationship to creation, because one day it will be sanctified?  The logic and witness of Scripture points us in the opposite direction.  We are responsible for our relationship with creation here and now, though in the future we will live in it with perfect harmony.

Christians should care more about the environment than our non-believing neighbors because we are the people who know this truth!  We have the supreme motivation to do good and live righteously in caring for God’s creation as faithful stewards, we who will see all our efforts perfected in the coming kingdom of God.  Why should we go about our lives as God’s people ignoring one of our three relationships that will last for eternity?

Psalm 104:24, 30

How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures…. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.

Psalm 24:1‑2

The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

Hebrews 11:3

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Isaiah 44:24

This is what the LORD says‑your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.

I Chronicles 29:11

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you ore exalted as head over all.

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Isaiah 55:12

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Nehemiah 9:6

You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Psalm 97:1

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.

Psalm 66:4

All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name.

The thesis is based on the belief that there are two books through which God reveals himself to us:  the book of scripture (the Bible) and the book of nature.  Books are usually written in a specific language, understandable to a specific group of people, but the book of nature is written in a language that anyone can understand, regardless of the language you speak or whether you are even literate.

Back in the day (medieval times), you could only access the Bible if you were wealthy enough to own a copy (books weren’t as ubiquitous then as they are now), and if you were literate (which also wasn’t as common as it is today, especially in America).  So if scripture is the only way to know God, this would have left a large portion of the population to only rely on what someone else (who was inevitably privileged, if wealthy and literate) told them about who God is.

However, nature was (and is) accessible to everyone, no matter the language you speak or your reading abilities.  And unlike the Bible, it has always been around.

Romans 1:19-20 speak to this:

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made.  So they are without excuse.

And Psalm 104 is a beautiful picture of God as the creator and provider of all he created, and how we can see his glory through all he has made (it is too long to post, but you can read it here).

Certainly, none of this is to downplay the importance of scripture, but rather to emphasize that God’s word and God’s creation (both of which God is the author) add meaning to one another.  It’s why we like to read materials that have plenty of nice images – it engages us and gives us a more holistic idea of the subject.  We develop a deeper understanding of who God is by spending time in and meditating on both Word and Creation.

Words and language can be such a barrier sometimes – think about the miscommunication we run into on a daily basis, even technically speaking the same language.  Words are tricky since everyone has a slightly different connotation that they associate with each word, causing much to be lost in translation, so to speak.  So you end up thinking you know what the other person is saying, but later may find out that – whoops!  You actually had no idea.

So it is good that we have another source of God’s wisdom to supplement the words he has left us.  Now, going back to the four parts of lectio divina.

1. Lectio: paying attention.  Concentrating on what your senses are experiencing.  When you read, you are focusing intently on the words, and listening for what stands out to you in the text.  To translate this in to “reading” nature would be to pay attention to what you are seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and in some cases, tasting in the natural word around you, as well as paying attention to how you respond to these things.  It is active participation that involves your body and your mind.
2. Meditatio: pondering.  Spending time in silence reflecting on and internalizing what you are experiencing and what is being revealed to you through what you are experiencing.  It is also the time when you put what you are learning into the context of your life and what you know of scripture.
3. Oratio:  responding.  Taking to God in prayer what you are feeling, experiencing, and thinking, so that his presence and voice can give you clarity as to what is truth.  Accepting what God has spoken to you and letting it change you.
4. Contemplatio:  surrendering.  Giving your new knowledge and understanding back to God and recognizing that it is only in his power that you can do what he asks of you.  Surrendering to God takes the burden of making change off of your shoulders and puts it fully back into God’s control.

I think that if we begin to “read” nature in this way, God will teach and change us infinitely more than we might expect.  I can imagine that he has much to show us that he is just waiting for us to discover.  My challenge to you would be to try applying these 4 principals of lectio divina as your spend some time outside in creation – find a place where you feel peaceful and undistracted.  Give God a chance to speak to you through what he has made.