God's Creation

 This Wednesday is 'Earth Day'. It's a day each year on which events are held worldwide to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day is now celebrated in 193 countries. I received a paper in the mail regarding Northwest Indiana's Earth day Celebration which was held just yesterday.

You may have noticed that many of us don't celebrate in quite the same way we celebrate Easter or Christmas. But there are some who absolutely do. They have big ceremonies and even celebrate an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues. And caring about God's creation is a good thing.

My concern is when the focus becomes less on God and His power and solely on His creation. That may sound like a small matter but it brings about a host of problems. For instance, some of the Earth Day celebration highlights a distorted view of morality. Author Josh McDowell claims that, "while 52 percent of young Christian adults would say that 'not recycling is morally wrong', only 32 percent would say 'watching pornography is morally wrong'." You can only come to that conclusion if you ignore Jesus' teachings completely.

My intent is to look at this topic from a Biblical perspective; to see what the Bible says and doesn't say - not to be divisive, but to reaffirm God's Word as our Authority. And I want to start by looking at what I see as…

I. A problem

Christians should respect the beautiful home that God has provided for us - but I do see a problem with 'Earth Day'. Early on in establishing 'Earth Day', supporter Margaret Mead said, "Earth Day is the first holy day which transcends all national borders, ... and yet brings people all over the world into one resonating accord..."

It's nice that people can unify behind a nice cause - but did you catch that? - "Holy day" Does recycling or conserving water rise to the same level as the birth or resurrection of Jesus? I am glad that we have a younger generation who has a great deal of respect for nature, for God's creation - but the problem comes when one elevates…

A. Creation over the Creator

As gorgeous as the amazing views of the Grand Canyon may be, as calming the beauty of the North woods may be, as magnificent as the power of the ocean may be – those things may deserve my respect, but they do not deserve my worship. Worship should be reserved only for the Creator of nature, not nature itself.

Those who do not know the Creator can marvel at His handiwork – but it's just that, the work of an incredible, omnipotent God! They're enthralled with 'God's fingerprints' in nature but miss God who made everything in the first place. The Apostle Paul wrote Romans 1:20 (NIV)...

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

God has revealed Himself in nature, in what has been made. And the role of the beauty and power of nature is to point us to God – not to be solely a focal point in itself. And this is not a new problem. Paul continues in Romans 1:25 (NIV)...

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen.

People made idols to look like created things from nature - and gave them higher respect than the Creator. Are there nature lovers today who care more for the welfare of animals than they do people...? I'm not trying to pick a fight, and I know that many might say that I'm exaggerating the motives or beliefs behind Earth Day, that it's not really about celebrating the creation over the Creator…

There's a trend of rewriting old hymns with new lyrics that I find disturbing. For instance, for some congregations, the hymn "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" has been changed from, "Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love; Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, Opening to the sun above." - Rewritten to, "Joyful, joyful, we celebrate now, Earth and all its living grace; Fields and forests, skies and oceans, Show the beauty we embrace." It removes direct worship of God and replaces it with celebration of nature itself.

Then there's the hymn, "For the beauty of the earth, For the glory of the skies, Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise." - Rewritten to, "For the beauty of the earth, For the wonder of the skies, We will care and we will share, This our home before our eyes." - It removes "Lord of all" and His direct praise and adds our 'ethical response' instead of worship of God.

There's also, "All creatures of our God and King, Lift up your voice and with us sing, Alleluia! Alleluia!" - Rewritten to, "All living things upon the earth, Celebrate life, declare its worth, Sing together, sing as one." It removes "God and King," and "Alleluia" and the focus shifts solely to the value of life, not the praise of God.

Those are rewrites of worship songs that completely, intentionally ignore the Creator and give praise to creation alone. I am not against nature – but I am against elevating it over God. Doing that fits the very definition of idolatry to a 'T'. Appreciating and conserving nature is a fine thing, and recycling an aluminum can or planting a tree – those things are not evil – but without a firm spiritual foundation and understanding, it will become…

B. Idolatry

I'm not against the idea of "Earth Day'. But if the love of nature becomes an 'end in itself' without pointing directly to the Creator – that's a problem. 'But preacher, loving God and loving nature are not mutually exclusive - it's not an either/or thing!' I agree - it shouldn't be - and it is only a bad thing when it becomes that. But if the examples of rewritten hymns aren't enough to raise concern...

I want you to try something – when you get home – do a quick internet search on "Earth Day sermons". You'll come up with scores of messages that have been preached in Churches across our nation - and many of them will have no mention of Jesus at all. Some of them don't even mention God as Creator. I want to share just a small part of one of those 'sermons' you'd find...

"Making our homes more energy efficient, caulking doors and windows, setting the thermostat a degree or two lower in the winter and higher in the summer will reduce our carbon output. If each of us ate only 20% less meat it would be as if we all drove a Prius. Eating locally grown fruits and vegetables not only supports local farmers, it greatly reduces the energy it takes to put food on the table. Keeping the tires on our cars at peak air pressure gets us better gas mileage; turning off lights when we are not in a room saves energy and cuts our utility bills. Reuse, recycle, renew."

There's nothing inherently wrong or evil there – but that's not a sermon. That's a public service announcement. Those things are not bad things if you choose to do them – but what does any of that have to do with fulfilling our mission, given by Jesus, to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you"?

The Church is not just a social organization, but the bride of Christ established by Him for the purpose of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ! Again, I don't want to sound like I'm against anyone who chooses to live a 'greener lifestyle' - by no means. But I do have an obligation to point to Jesus in all things! It's exactly as The Apostle Paul said in Colossians 2:16-17 (NIV)...

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. (17) These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Celebrating 'Earth Day' is just fine – as long as you don't lose focus on the Creator! - As long as you don't ignore Jesus. You can get to Heaven without recycling – but you can't get to Heaven without Jesus.

But let's say we get our priorities in the right order – we make sure that we celebrate God first rather than His creation - what should our relationship with nature be? It boils down to…

II. Christian stewardship

We talk about being good stewards, good managers of our finances – of the resources with which God has blessed us. Nature, God's creation, also falls into that category. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be good managers of God's creation.

If you look at most of the nature films and documentaries out there – it would appear that many non-Christians have cornered the market on 'earth appreciation'. It sure seems like many who don't even believe in The Creator perhaps appreciate His creation even more so than we do.

We are to take care of God's creation. We should hold a deep respect for what God has given us – but there's a big difference in how we might view that responsibility from a Biblical standpoint. In recognizing The Creator, we also recognize His commands – and part of being managers of the earth, Biblically speaking, is to…

A. "Fill the earth and subdue it"

And notice it says 'subdue' – not trash or pillage the natural world for our own personal greed; no one is for filthy air or water. But the Bible points out a very different purpose of nature than many today promote. Nature is a resource for man's purposes. It's not to be abused, but it was created for mankind. Nature's first purpose is to bring glory to God and secondly, according to the Bible, it is to be used as a resource to provide for mankind. Let's look back to the book of Genesis, specifically…

Genesis 1:26-28 (NIV)

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

(28) 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."

Again, nothing in scripture is promoting abuse, cruelty or a disregard for nature. We are called to manage and care for God's creation. But God's view on managing nature is very different than what some modern individuals believe.

According to scripture – God has given mankind authority over nature. Many who celebrate 'Earth Day' almost see mankind as a blight on nature. There's a movement that's coming into vogue again that promotes not having kids to save the planet - 'more humans consume more resources and hurt nature'. If you choose not to have kids, that's your choice, but it's not an 'eco sin' to enjoy the blessing of children - even lots of them! Human life is sacred and children are a blessing from God - that's Biblical!

And I know this sounds like it could be a political discussion – but it's really not. It's a matter of understanding our Biblical relationship to creation as opposed to what those who reject God deem it to be. The earth is to be taken care of and managed well because it is God's creation – but human life is more important to God than any mountain, tree, 'protected animal' or sea. It's a matter of understanding that it shouldn't be a situation of man versus nature – but understanding and accepting…

B. God's design

Mankind is just as much a part of creation, as natural as any other created thing we find in nature. But the difference is that mankind does have a special role over creation. It's not about arrogance or exploitation - but God has placed mankind in this special role in nature. It is God's design. Let's look at the Genesis account one more time, from Genesis 9:1-3 (NIV)...

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. (2) The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. (3) Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything."

Wisely managing and using the resources that God has given us is part of Christian stewardship. We are to be good caretakers of this planet until Jesus' return – but what those who do not acknowledge God don't understand is that even creation awaits…

III. Jesus' return

Sin affected more than just mankind's spiritual and physical condition here on the planet. Because of man's sin – we now live in a fallen world that has been dominated by sin. We live in a world that operates under a very different state of natural laws from what it once did. We live in a world plagued by natural disasters, hurricanes, droughts, famine, earthquakes – things that did not exist in God's perfect creation in the Garden of Eden.

Romans 8:19-21 (NIV)

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. (20) For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope (21) that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

The natural order of things changed because of God's choice. Mankind was given a perfect planet in the beginning by our Creator. But even in its fallen state – there are still parts of nature that will take your breath away. - But not because of nature alone – but because of the power and majesty of the awesome Creator. And at a time when God chooses – things will all be made right again.

Revelation 22:3-5 (NIV)

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. (4) They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. (5) There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

God will restore everything to the way He intended. Creation will again be made perfect. That of course doesn't mean we have no responsibility here and we can just trash the planet, but our stewardship of creation should be as an act of worship of The Creator. Creation eagerly awaits Jesus' return. And so should we.

So What?

The purpose of nature is to direct our attention to God – to focus us on Him. Should Christians recycle? Sure. Should Christians conserve water and energy? Not a bad idea. So plant a tree – I've planted over 50 trees in the past – it's a smart idea. 'Reuse, recycle, renew' – all good things – but those things aren't the hope of mankind. We can do a lot of good things in this life – but let's not neglect the best.

As a follower of Jesus, it is our responsibility to be good stewards of this creation. But don't ever forget the Creator behind this creation. Do your part in keeping your small piece of God's world clean - but don't forget to show your neighbor the love of Jesus - because Jesus is the hope of mankind! Jesus is the One way to the Father!