World and Life articles
Caring about Creation
Many Christians are bravely upholding and advancing the truth of God’s creating power and acts in the face of huge opposition from a world saturated with years of evolutionary theory. Modern Christian writers such as Stuart Burgess are showing us the perfection of creation’s design and beauty and what it tells us of God.
But do we have such a clear Christian perspective when it comes to the value of creation itself and our relationship to it?
The issues of loss of wilderness and forest, the extinction of species through exploitation and the impact of pollution, among others, are complex and controversial. Christians will have various views on the nature, seriousness and extent of environmental problems, but we should join together in caring about the fate of creation, for the following reasons:
1. God made it and it glorifies him
The Bible starts with the assertion that God created the heavens and the earth and this truth is stressed throughout Scripture. Job has no answer when God asks him, Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? (38:4), and in three of the Psalms God declares that the earth is his and all its fulness (24:1, 50:12 and 89:11).
In Psalm 19:1 David writes: The heavens declare the glory of God, and so does the rest of creation if only our eyes are open to it. Even after so many years of the marring effects of the fall, we look on a world of astonishing beauty, diversity, abundance and order. The Creator’s own opinion of his completed handiwork was that it was very good (Genesis 1:31) and God surely cares when what he has made is thoughtlessly or needlessly destroyed. Should we not care about what he has made so well?
2. God cares for it
God is the one who sustains what he has made. God is active now in caring for his creation. Many of the Psalms declare how God provides for the whole of his creation including mankind, animal life and the earth itself. What an intimate picture of care is suggested by Psalm 147:8-9:
Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who prepares rain for the earth,
Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
He gives to the beast its food,
And to the young ravens that cry…
Verse 30 of the same Psalm refers to God renewing the earth. We can all appreciate the newness and freshness of the earth each day. Should we not care about what God cares for so faithfully and so well?
3. God has entrusted it into our hands
The earth belongs to God and he has delegated to us the responsibility of looking after it on his behalf (Psalm 115:16; Psalm 8:6). ‘Dominion’ is a great responsibility but should not be confused with a licence for exploitation. In Genesis 1:26 ‘dominion’ is closely connected with being made in God’s image. We should exercise our dominion in a God-like way, that is, with responsibility and trustworthiness. ‘Dominion’ should also be balanced against the mandate originally given to Adam to tend and keep the garden (Genesis 2:15) as well as to fill the earth and subdue it (Genesis 1:28).
John Calvin wrote: ‘The custody of the garden was given in charge to Adam, to show that we possess the things which God has committed to our hands, on the condition that being content with the frugal and moderate use of them, we should take care of what shall remain.’
Should we not be faithful stewards of all that God has entrusted to us?
4. What we do to creation has huge consequences for people
Commenting on our Lord’s hugely challenging command: You shall love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:39), Lionel Basney wrote provocatively: ‘You cannot love your neighbour by starving her children or poisoning the earth they play on.’
There is certainly a human dimension to failing to care about, or actively harming, the earth. The loss of habitat or species deprives us of potentially valuable medicines or other natural resources but also diminishes our enjoyment and appreciation of God’s wonderful creation, and therefore of God. Our consumer tastes can also have a huge impact on both land and people. For example, our demand for certain products can lead to more and more forest land being cleared for grazing or intensive agriculture, leading to loss of biodiversity and impoverished soil. One consequence of this is vast numbers of people in other parts of the world being uprooted from their degraded land and from their communities and finding themselves forced to join millions of others in overcrowded and insanitary housing on the edges of sprawling cities. Surely we should actively care about the effect of our choices and actions on our ‘neighbours’.
5. God has prepared a glorious future for creation
The fall has had a savage effect on all that God has created and despite the beauty that remains Spurgeon neatly summarises the extent of creation’s marring in his concise comment: ‘The slime of the serpent is on it all.’ Romans 8:18-23, however, sets out the glorious prospect that awaits the whole of creation:
…For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God…..because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God…
Martyn Lloyd-Jones describes how the fate of creation is inextricably linked to that of man and that deliverance for both man and creation can be traced back to the earliest gospel hope voiced in Genesis 3:15. God will finally leave Satan with no victories to cling to. Through Christ he has secured full salvation for his people. He will transform our bodies and renew and renovate the earth. It will be a perfect and fitting place for God’s redeemed people to live and in which to enjoy him and glorify him forever. Should Christians not be starting to care for creation now in preparation for the day when we will be perfectly caring for it in the glorious age to come?
What will caring about creation mean in practice?
- Every Christian should enjoy and appreciate God’s creation
Spurgeon had ‘…no sort of sympathy with those who cannot enjoy the beauties of nature’ and indeed we are without excuse as there are so many ways that we can learn more about creation and experience it for ourselves. Francis Schaeffer argued that a proper view of nature leads to a new sense of beauty, and time spent watching the birds in our gardens or walking on the hills, and so enjoying God’s goodness and glory, is surely never wasted.
- We should thank God and praise him for his creation
We have so much to thank God for; whether it is the ever-changing seasons, the food that the earth provides us with or the thrill of watching a great whale starting its dive to the depths of the sea. In Psalm 148 the great sea creatures…mountains…fruitful trees…and all cattle are called upon to praise the Lord. How much more should we who are not only able to enjoy what he has made but through grace have been brought to know Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord.
- We should act as wise and caring stewards
Our love for God, for our neighbours and for creation should mean that Christians do not use nature as fallen man uses it. It is up to each of us to take our responsibilities seriously and to be conscious of our role as stewards in all our actions and decisions. In this way, let us glorify our God.