God’s People Care for Creation
1. The Earth Suffers with Us
A few Sundays ago we learned that human disobedience and rebellion against the Creator God brought disaster into the world. Evil and sin weaved its way into every dimension of human life, and into every aspect of God’s creation. The story of the fall presents us also with the reality of a broken and cursed earth.
And this should not surprise us. We have seen last week that human beings are intimately linked with the earth. We are earth creatures. The earth provides for us. We are the kings, servants and caretakers of creation. But the fall destroyed our harmonious relationship with nature. It alienated us from nature. And so, we now experience struggle and violence in our relationship with nature.
Genesis 3:15 — “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.” Verses 17-19 — “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Decay and death entered creation. Creation itself is in need of redemption. It needs to be liberated from its bondage to decay (Rom 8:20).
Last week I closed with the statement that the earth suffers with us. The Bible teaches a strong moral link between how humans behave on earth and the state of the earth itself. Hosea 4:1-3 says — “Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are swept away.”
Deuteronomy 28 shows how the obedience or disobedience of the people will produce blessing or curse. And these will be seen in, and come through creation. Jeremiah 4:23–26 portrays God’s judgment in a terrifying way that reverses the gifts of creation. Please read these texts at home.
Human wickedness, human greed, produces ecological stress. We cannot extract ourselves from creation. We cannot separate ourselves from the environment. We were created as part of it, and we were created to care for it. Whatever we do on earth, for good or ill, will have ecological impact because of the integration of human life and all other life on earth. That is the way God arranged it. We reap the consequences of our actions. A greedy humanity will lead to a suffering earth — and a suffering earth will lead to a suffering humanity.
Today we must acknowledge that God’s creation is experiencing serious environmental crises. Generations of carelessness resulted in these. And ongoing carelessness driven by human greed is perpetuating these crises. I know, it’s all very confusing. People on all sides are distorting the facts. They misuse the data to support their own viewpoints. We should not listen to the politicians. Nor listen to the media. We should not reject a possible truth, just because the other side, the other party, or our opponents are holding that view. I am not going to argue for, or against global warming. I am not going to make a case for, or against saving the whales or forests. We may agree or disagree on the seriousness or extent of this crisis. But to deny it would be willful blindness. It is like an ostrich putting its head into the sand to ignore the realities around us. Let’s put aside political arguments, personal viewpoints, and even science. Let’s look at the realities on the ground. Let’s look at this from God’s perspective and God’s Word. What is God seeing? What matters to Him?
Rivers, lakes, the sea and air are being polluted. Rainforests are being destroyed. Species are becoming extinct. The misuse of fossil fuels causes horrendous air pollution in many places. This has terrible effects on people’s health. If we had time I could tell you what it was like to live in two of the most polluted cities in the world. I have seen rivers that are no longer rivers, but grey, black flows of some fluid that is slimy, oozing with all kinds of objects, gasses, and smells. Something is happening with our climate, with the environment, and with the earth. Global warming, climate changes, may have happened in ages past, but this time around, however, human beings, we, are causing the changes. We are involved. We are responsible, and we will give account to our God. God’s creation is stressed and spoiled by our greed and destruction.
2. God Redeems the Whole of Creation
Now, having said all that, here is a humbling and sobering word. We cannot save the world. Only God can. And God has committed himself to do this. God made a covenant with humankind and with creation that he will not destroy life and curse the earth again. We see this in Genesis 8:21; 9:8-17. —“I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. … This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
God will sustain life in his creation. But more than that, God has a vision and a mission to redeem and restore the whole of creation. Yes, the Day of the Lord will be a day of judgment as the Bible warns us in 2 Peter 3:10-12 and many other places. On that day the world and all its sins will be exposed. The final judgment will see the destruction of sin, rebellion and evil. These will be removed from the cosmos. But the universe will not be destroyed.
2 Peter 3:13 gives us a vision beyond God’s judgment—“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” God will fulfill his promise to bless the nations. He will do so within the new creation. He will redeem and restore creation to its original state of blessedness. God gives us his vision of the new creation in Isaiah 11:1-9, which described the just rule of the future messianic king. It is a vision of harmony and shalom within creation. Isaiah 35 speaks of the transformations that will happen within creation when God finally redeems his people. Isaiah 65-66 and Revelation 21-22 paint the beautiful pictures of the new heavens and new earth.
In our wildest dreams and with the best of our abilities we cannot imagine what the creation was like before the fall, and what it will be like in the new creation. The Bible gives us glimpses of what it was like and what it will be. But even those pictures blow our minds away. God’s new creation will be a joyful place, free from grief and tears, free from sickness and death. There will be no thorns and thistles. We will experience work satisfaction and life fulfillment. And it will be environmentally safe. On top of everything else, the greatest blessing, is that the living God will dwell there with us. Just imagine that, to live every day for eternity in the presence of Yahweh, the Great I Am. But how will God redeem and restore the whole of creation?
3. By Christ, For Christ, Through Christ
Colossians 1:15-23 summarizes this beautifully. Let’s look first at verses 15-17 — “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rules or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
The whole universe was created by Christ. Jesus Christ was there. He is the Word, the source of creation. But the whole universe, all things, were not only created by and through Jesus, but also for Jesus. Jesus Christ is the beneficiary, the heir of all creation, the firstborn over all creation. It all belongs to Him. He is the Ruler of creation, he was the Lord of the universe from the beginning. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Jesus, the Lord, is also the Sustainer of creation.
Then verses 18-23 — “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation — if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven … “
Paul moves from creation to the church. The church is “the people of the new creation because they are in Christ. Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the new creation just as he is the firstborn of the original creation.” Through his blood, shed on the cross, God reconciled to himself all things. Christ redeemed the whole of creation. He conquered evil and sin through his death and resurrection. New life, new creation, is now possible. In Christ, we are God’s people, and in this world, we are the anticipation, the sign, of God’s redeemed people in the new creation.
Jesus ascended to heaven, and was glorified. Now He rules as Lord over the whole of creation (Eph 1:20-23). And from heaven Jesus will come to complete God’s mission. By Christ, and through Christ, the whole of creation will be restored. There will be a new heavens and a new earth for Christ. He will rule as Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for all creation. Our mission of proclaiming the good news must include bringing that good news to the whole of creation. And we bring that good news to creation by caring for creation. The fact that Christ redeemed creation motivates us to care for creation. By caring for creation we erect signposts that point to the new creation, to the kingdom.
4. We Are Kings, Priests and Prophets
We have seen that we are kings and priests, servants of God’s creation. Jesus Christ restored us to our kingly and priestly mission on earth. Revelation 5:10 — “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” We must rule like God. In Psalm 72 God gives the king justice to defend the afflicted and the needy. Justice means to take action, to intervene, to set things right.
Proverbs 31:1-9 shows a mother’s advice to the king. Verses 8-9 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
As God’s people we have a prophetic calling in the world. We cannot respond to what is happening in the world by conforming to the world. We cannot be silent. Like the prophets and like Jesus we must bring the light of God’s Word to shine on contemporary realities and current issues. We must speak out and take action against any injustice, wrong doing, and sin. We must do so not only for people, but also for creation, because creation cannot speak up for itself, cannot fight for itself. It is our mission as prophets to speak out, and as priests, as servants, to take action to care for creation.
We must speak out against the greed that fuels global capitalism, against the idols that lead to the abuse and destruction of human lives and creation. We must bear witness in word and in deed that the earth is the Lord’s.
I cannot tell you how to take care of God’s creation. Everyone must figure out how he or she can fulfill this mission. Let God’s Word speak to you and guide you. Take seriously what we have learned. Pray about it, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you where and how you should change, what you should do. Where can we live more simply, more responsibly? Where and how can we use resources more effectively and efficiently? Where and how can we recycle more of what we use?
But what will guide us? What idols will influence our decisions and actions? Yes, I say idols, because if you listen to all the discussions and arguments going on it is very disturbing to discover that what is informing and guiding how people think and act is money, materialism, greed, selfishness, convenience, personal interests, personal likes and dislikes. Not our Lord and King, Jesus Christ. Not God’s Word. And when we do use the Word, it is to support my personal viewpoint, instead of God’s Word evaluating my viewpoint. We must check our personal viewpoints against the Bible with brutal honesty. God’s Word, God’s Kingdom and God’s glory should guide us in our mission.
Conclusion
Creation care flows from our love and obedience to God. Creation care is compassion, because it is a form of unselfish love, love for the sake of creatures who cannot thank or repay us. Creation care is justice because it is a form of defending the weak against the strong, the defenseless against the powerful, the voiceless against the greedy.
In caring for God’s creation, in working for justice and peace now, we are pointing to the existing and coming rule of Christ. We are pointing to the new creation and the fulfillment of God’s kingdom. Every action, how small or big, is a signpost of the kingdom. The land we till, the animals we raise, the vegetables we plant, the rivers we clean, the log turned into a beautiful piece of furniture, the trees and wild animals we protect and use responsibly, the trash we pick up, all these and more, are signposts that point to the redemption of all creation, human and nonhuman. It tells the good news of God’s kingdom. It gives people a foretaste of what is to come. It gives us hope. And it may bring to faith those who do not yet believe. It worships and glorifies God.