I have not yet been able to put your environmental concern into my view of the End Times.”

So said a good friend. He comes from the same biblical interpretation background I come from. I appreciate his candor. I know what he means: Since the earth will “wear out like a garment” (Heb. 1:11); since some of it will “melt” (2 Pet. 3:12); since Jesus will return for us; since our future home will be heaven; since man is most important to God, why should we care about the state of the earth? [Image source]

Raffaello, The Creation of the Animals, 1518-19, Palazzo Ponteficio--Vaticano

Part of my answer has to be this: We have been looking at the wrong end of the Bible to understand our relationship to the creation. I believe we need to look at the beginning. While how creation happened is constantly debated in Christian circles, there is seldom an argument about two early mandates found in the first two chapters of Genesis about how we use and relate to the creation: the “dominion mandate” in 1:26-31 and the “marriage mandate” in 2:21-24. Sandwiched between those two, however, is a third: the “stewardship mandate” in 2:15. We seldom question the dominion mandate or the marriage mandate. But I don’t think we do well with the stewardship mandate.

KEY SCRIPTURE:
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (Gen. 2:15 NIV)

Here we are told that man and woman were put into the Garden to cultivate it and to take care of it. The full sense of those infinitives in the Hebrew language includes being a husbandman, or steward, of it—a task that means putting a hedge around it, protecting it, serving it, preserving it, and saving it. I feel that this command is often the forgotten mandate. If we had been heeding this divine requirement as enthusiastically as we do the dominion mandate, I think things would be significantly different—at least in the Christian community today.

So why should we care about the state of the earth?

1) We should care because it is the obedient thing to do. Nowhere in Scripture do I see that the original mandates have been rescinded. Although our dominion is often abused because of the Fall, the dominion mandate remains our ideal. Although our marriages suffer because of sin, the marriage mandate remains our ideal. Although the task of stewardship is difficult in the presence of evil, the curse, and materialism, the creation care mandate remains our ideal. We indeed glorify God in our obedience to all three mandates.

2) We should care because it is the loving thing to do. In Psalm 145 we have this revealing verse: “The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made” (Psa. 145:17). That verse follows right after the one that says God opens His hand and satisfies “the desires of every living thing.” At the very least we can understand from these verses that if God is righteous and loving toward all He has made, we can attempt to be the same. As Francis Schaeffer reminded us, “If we love the Lover, we will love what the Lover has made.” Further, when we care properly for the earth, we also demonstrate love for our neighbor and for ourselves—so that all aspects of the “greatest commandment” can be carried out. [Images of Jean-Francois Millet paintings]

Certainly there are many unanswered questions about the future state of the earth, the material final state of the believer, and the nature of heaven as it comes to earth. Nonetheless, it’s clear to me that Jesus’ promise of future bliss must never be an excuse for present carelessness regarding His creation. If the atoning sacrifice of the second Adam is going to result in the reconciliation of all things ruined by the sin of the first Adam (Col. 1:15-20); if all of creation is on tiptoe groaning for the day when it will be released from its bondage to decay (Rom. 8:20-22 Phillips); if Isaiah’s Messianic peaceable kingdom on earth is yet to come, how can I be less than a loving and careful steward of God’s creation handiwork? [Image source]

So since we are no doubt closer in time to the restoration of all things than we are to the time of the curse (Acts 3:19-21), our outlook should be that of Isaac Watts, who wrote of the coming return of Earth’s true King,

Joy to the world! The Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing. . . .
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

One of the reasons that C. S. Lewis continues to be a best-selling author long after his death is that much of what he wrote gains even more significance as the decades advance.  My primary hardback copy of Mere Christianity, for instance, has been referenced so often some of its pages maintain their integrity only with the help of Scotch tape.  Recently I was again looking up what Lewis said about the importance of human freedom and the fact that sinful man often uses his freedom for selfish personal gain, and hence causes real harm to be done to others and to the earth.  Here is what Lewis said about such freedom” (from chapter 3, “The Shocking Alternative”):

Of course God knew what would happen if [his "higher creatures"] used their freedom the wrong way: apparently he thought it worth the risk. . . .  If God thinks that this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will—that is, for making a live world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of really great importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings—then we may take it it’s worth paying. [Emphasis mine]

This is important in reference to the commonly heard statement on talk radio that the earth is too big and complex for people to cause significant environmental damage to it or threaten its God-designed ecosystems.  To be blunt, that’s a foolish statement.  The reality is that God made people to be stewards of His creation.  To do that, we have been given powers and mental capacities that are virtually godlike—the point the psalmist David makes: “[The Lord] made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor” (Psa. 8:5).

National Geographic photo

If we have the creativity and power to make bombs sufficient enough to blow the living world to bits in mere hours, we need to acknowledge that through our oft ill-considered technology and extensive abuse of the material world over the centuries we also have the power to do extreme harm to the functions of God’s good earth. [The irony of the Chernobyl disaster is that while the fallout "dead zone" around it may be permanently lost to human habitation, wildlife is returning and coping well with high doses of radiation.  Our technological carelessness has created an unintentional sanctuary for them.]

Some time back I made reference to the book by John H. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One, in which he states his belief that Genesis 1 is really not about the creation of the material world, but about God’s taking the material world (which was already made) and making it to function.

Fittingly, the last function mentioned in the first chapter of Genesis is the human function—because mankind, the only creature made in God’s image, is the apex of His creation with the privilege and power to “rule” and “subdue” (1:26-31). Secular environmentalists and humanists don’t like to hear that—since they claim that such man-centeredness (anthropomorphism) is what has endangered the planet.  Yet the biblical fact remains.  Walton comments on humankind’s functions (pp 68-69):

All of the rest of creation functions in relationship to humankind, and humankind serves the rest of creation as God’s vice regent.  Among the many things that the image of God may signify and imply, one of them, and probably the main one, is that people are delegated a godlike role (function) in the world where He places them. It has already been mentioned that whereas in the rest of the ancient world creation was set up to serve the gods, a theocentric view, in Genesis, creation is not setup for the benefit of God but for the benefit of humanity—an anthropocentric view.  Thus we can say that humanity is the climax of the creation account.

Another contrast between Genesis and the rest of the ancient Near East is that in the ancient Near East people are created to serve the gods by supplying their needs.  That is, the role of people is to bring all of creation to deity—the focus is from inside creation out to the gods.  In Genesis people represent God to the rest of the creation.

We need to think long and hard about the fact that we “represent God to the rest of the creation.”  By our careless, hasty, and self-centered consumption of the fruit of the creation, we have now come to the point of destroying the fruitfulness of the creation—the “real harm” that Lewis says mankind is free enough to cause.  We, followers of Jesus included, have not been doing a very good job in our responsibility to represent God to the rest of creation.  Hence the creation suffers and “waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed” (Romans 8:19).

I used to think that all of this would happen only at the return of Christ.  But if we are children of God now, there is no reason that we cannot begin to act like children of God now in our relationship to the creation.  That’s why Francis Schaeffer believed that we need to be engaged now in helping to bring about a “substantial healing” of all the rifts created by the Fall—which, of course, will not be complete until Jesus comes.  Even if one does not accept Schaeffer’s belief, we do understand from Scripture that if we know what is right to do and don’t do it, we are acting sinfully.  Caring for creation, to the glory of our Creator, is and always has been one of our key functions.

KEY SCRIPTURE:
What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved (Romans 8:18-24 NLT).

Fall is the ideal time to teach children about nature—and about nature’s Creator. While Christian schools can be straight-forward about referencing the Creator, most secular schools cannot. Home-schoolers, parents, grandparents, and other care givers might want to use the following list of biblical truths as a guide to some good outdoor teaching this fall—maybe starting today!

What to Teach Children About Nature:

1. It was created by God. (Gen. 1-2; John 1:3; Col. 1:16-17)
2. It is owned by God. (Psa. 24:1; 1 Cor. 10:16, Psa. 104:24)
3. It is loved by God. (Psa 145:17 NIV; Psa. 36:5)
4. It is sustained by God continuously. (Gen. 8:22; Psa. 145:17;
     Psa. 104, Psa. 36:5-6; Matt. 6:26; Col. 1:17)
5. It was placed under man’s dominion.
     (Gen. 1:28; Psa. 8:6-8, Heb. 2:8, Psa. 145:13)
6. It was assigned to man for care and servant leadership.
     (Gen. 2:15)
7. It was altered by sin at the Fall. (Gen. 3:14-19)
8. It was altered again by the Flood. (Gen. 8-9)
9. It provides needs for all people throughout time.
    (Psa. 104:13-15; Matt 6:25-24; Zech. 10:1)
10. It is considered less valuable than people. (Matt. 6:26)
11. It has been redeemed by Christ. (Rom. 8:18-23;
     Col. 1:20)
12. It will be restored, reconciled to God, and unified at
     Christ’s return. (Isa. 11:6-9; Rom. 8:18-23; Col. 1:20;
     Eph. 1:9-10)
13. Its destiny will be determined by God, not man.
     (2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 21:1)

What are some implications of these biblical truths?

We do not own the earth and can never ultimately “possess” any part of it. When we buy and sell land, we are only assigning temporary care to “owners” who are expected by God to use it carefully, frugally, and justly for His glory. We should not deliberately destroy the land’s capacity to do its Creator-assigned work: to produce needed elements (fruit, oxygen, water filtration, moisture, etc.) for the health and survival of all that depend upon it. Our task is stewardship, which acknowledges that we are accountable to the Master for the creation’s health.  We are to partake of its fruit without destroying its fruitfulness.

Since it was made by God, is sustained by God, is loved by God, and will be restored by God, we must use  His good earth with reverent care and respect. We should be thankful for our parents and their parents for their care of it and be careful to hand it on to our children and their children as little damaged and diminished as we can.

People are expected to establish communities and cultures upon the earth that use the land and its produce with as little waste and destruction as possible. All creatures are made by God and should be respected as His creation. When we use the earth’s produce, we do it with gratitude and with the understanding that all His creatures, beginning with—but not limited to—mankind, have a right to occupy and make use of their allotted portion of it. As much as possible we should attempt to treat the earth now as we will be expected to treat it at its restoration in the coming Kingdom.

While “our citizenship is in heaven,” we cannot forget, as T.S. Eliot reminds us, that such citizenship “is our model and type for our citizenship below.” Children need to know that the earth we see now is not like it was at the creation (because of the Fall, the Curse, the Flood, the ravages of time, and abuse by mankind), and it is not now what it will be at the restoration (the “peaceable kingdom” of shalom). Nonetheless, we also must show them how it still demonstrates to us the power, divinity, and awesome creative nature of God. For that reason alone, we should tend faithfully to our stewardship tasks.

I like to motivate children to think of their use of the earth as a creative school project that will be graded by the divine Teacher at the end. And if children offer up their creative work as art to the Heavenly Father, they can know that regardless of how imperfect and simple it is, He will post it on His fridge!

Our chief relation to creation is our dependency on it.  We cannot survive without the fruit of the earth. While hundreds of passages in God’s special revelation (the book of God’s words) support this fact, general revelation (the book of God’s works) also reminds us of this truth daily. We are totally reliant upon the fruitfulness of the creation for our health and livelihood.

This dependence is why we need to give careful consideration to the biblical principle of sowing and reaping. This principle says, in essence, that if we sow foolish and sinful behavior, we will reap negative consequences. Sometimes the consequences are the result of God’s direct action in punishment for sin, such as the curse on creation that resulted from Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience—and for which we are still reaping negative results. Other times we reap the natural effects of ignorant or careless behavior. America’s Dust Bowl years during the Great Depression and the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl nuclear disaster are examples of this sort of reaping.

KEY SCRIPTURE:
When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chr. 7:13-14). He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens man’s heart (Ps. 104:14-15).

Often, both natural and supernatural consequences occur. A prime example is the result of Israel’s failure to give the land rest in compliance with the Sabbath laws of God. There were both natural and supernatural reasons for Sabbath-keeping. Naturally the Sabbath laws provided the rest the land needed from being pressed too hard for its produce. People and animals also required this cessation of work. [Click on the photo of the "Pennsylvania Dutch" girl and her wonderful 6-mule team in Lancaster County.  Click the return arrow to come back to the site.]

There were, however, spiritual reasons for the keeping of the Sabbath. When the people violated the Sabbath laws, God supernaturally brought judgment upon them. Read the reasons for Judah’s captivity in 2 Chronicles 36. This account is summed up in verses 20 and 21: Those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

God is concerned about the care of our spiritual nature. And it is that “inner world” that is violated when we thoughtlessly dismiss God’s command to care for the “outer world” He has given to us.

How can we celebrate the wonder of God in creation?
By recognizing that the creation is the natural and material source of life and health for all creatures, and by seeking to protect and preserve its capacity to be fruitful.

In Pollution And The Death Of Man: The Christian View Of Ecology, Francis Schaeffer reported that Charles Darwin near the end of his life found that two things had become dull to him: his joy in the arts and his joy in nature.

Darwin 3 years before his death

Schaeffer comments on the irony of this great naturalist losing his enthusiasm for the very thing he had made his life’s calling. Then he continues: “We are seeing today . . . the same loss of joy in our total culture as Darwin personally experienced: first of all in the area of the arts, then in the area of nature. The distressing thing about this is that . . . Christians often really have had no better sense about these things than unbelievers. The death of joy in nature is leading to the death of nature itself” (p.11).

Schaeffer also tells the story of visiting a Christian school in the 1960s that was located across a ravine from a “hippie community.”

Darwin 3 years after birth

Curious, Schaeffer crossed the ravine to learn more about the settlement. He discovered that the commune was clearly pagan—even conducting pagan earth rituals common to the New Age Movement today. But he was also struck with how attractive the community was and how carefully they kept the land. The difference between the grounds of the two communities was extreme. The leader of the pagan commune even commented to Schaeffer about the “ugliness” of the Christian school. Schaeffer tells of his reaction to that comment:

It was then that I realized what a horrible situation this was. When I stood on the Christian ground and looked at the Bohemian people’s place, it was beautiful. They had even gone to the trouble of running their electric cables under the level of the trees so that they couldn’t be seen. Then I stood on the pagan ground and looked at the Christian community and saw ugliness. That is horrible. Here you have a Christianity that is failing to take into account man’s responsibility and proper relationship to nature (p.42).

Schaeffer’s book, published by Tyndale in 1970, was not just another commentary on the decline of Christianity; it was a call to apply biblical principles to the world’s growing environmental problems. It was an invitation to rediscover the wonder of God in creation. It was a reminder that we are not as likely to care for one another if we have forgotten the high calling of God to appreciate and care for all that He has made.

KEY SCRIPTURE:
I will meditate on your wonderful works.They tell of the power of your awesome works—and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness (Psalm 145:5-7).

It’s not too late to find joy and renewed worship in an awareness that was expressed by George MacDonald more than a hundred years ago:

If it were not for the outside world, we should have no inside world to understand things by. Least of all could we understand God without these millions of sights and sounds and scents and motions weaving their endless harmonies. They come out from His heart to let us know a little of what is in it.
(What’s Mine’s Mine, p.29).