By: Rebekah Hargraves
Photo Courtesy of: Noah Buscher
"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, 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. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'”
~Genesis 1:26-28
Earth Day (which just so happened to be yesterday!) – it’s one of those dates on the calendar that often becomes very controversial very quickly. There are those who will say Earth Day is important because we basically need to worship Mother Nature for all she has given to us. Others say Earth Day is a good reminder for us that we need to save the earth or else it won’t last much longer. Then you have those who will say Earth Day is an anti-God commemoration of a belief system that places the wellbeing of the earth above the wellbeing of man, and therefore Christians should have nothing to do with it.
As is often the case, there is a more balanced, Biblical perspective than any of these other viewpoints present. Let’s dive into Scripture to discover precisely what that viewpoint is!
GOD CREATED IT GOOD
The first thing for us to remember is that God was very proud of His work of creation, both the earth itself and everything upon it. At the end of every single day of creation, we read of God making the same observation: “And God saw that it was good.” There is nothing wrong with marveling over the wonders of this earth – as long as we are remembering Who it was Who thought up all those wonders in the first place!
It is not the biblical position for us to disparage the earth. It is the biblical position for us to view the earth as its Creator did – as being the good handiwork of a good God. And we worship, magnify, and glory God when we enjoy it and stand in awe of its God-fashioned wonders.
GOD SPECIFICALLY TASKED HIS IMAGE BEARERS WITH CARING FOR IT
In Genesis 1:26-28, we read this:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, 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. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
The very reason God created mankind was so that they would “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” That is our initial God-given purpose.
The biblical position is not one where we turn a blind eye to people and practices that are destroying the wellbeing of this earth. The biblical position is one where we recognize the earth for what it is – God’s good gift and our responsibility as we seek to live as His ambassadors. He has tasked us with replenishing, subduing, and taking dominion over the earth, which means that we are to take good care of it and use it well for the work of our daily lives.
GOD STATED IT WAS CREATED FOR MAN’S WELLBEING
We don’t just take care of the earth and focus on its wellbeing, however. We prioritize its wellbeing, because God created it for our wellbeing. When we take good care of the earth, we are, in the end, being intentional to take care of ourselves and future generations of God’s image bearers.
If our mission is to subdue the earth and exercise dominion over it, then essentially what we have been tasked with is taking care of it so that it can be used of God to take care of us. This is, for example, why we practice things such as crop rotation and allowing the ground to rest. When we do this, we give the earth time for the soil to be replenished with nutrients. But why is this important? It isn’t just for the sake of the earth itself, just so that we can happily say that the soil is nice and fertile. No, it’s so that that nice and fertile soil will be able to provide for us and our descendants down through time with what we need in order to survive.
This means then that the biblical position is not one where we place the “needs” of the earth above the needs of man. Just as we do not turn a blind eye to people and practices that are destroying the wellbeing of this earth, likewise we balance that in that we also do not support legislation, people, or practices who would seek to “take care” of the earth to the detriment of mankind. Because first and foremost, the earth is here to provide for mankind so that man can live and thrive and fulfill His God-given missions on the earth.
It is very much a symbiotic relationship between the earth and man. At the end of the day, however, man is God’s image bearer and therefore is above the earth in rank of importance. Having said that, though, there would be no man without the earth, so we do what we can to care well for it – that, too, is our God-given mission.
GOD REVEALS ASPECTS OF HIMSELF THROUGH IT
Part of the reason we are to care well for the earth is because it not only is used by God to provide for our physical wellbeing – it is also used by Him to tend to our spiritual wellbeing!
Paul says in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” As believers we ought to continue to purpose to care well for the earth, not just so that it can continue to meet our bodies’ needs, but also so that it can continue to point people in the direction of the existence of God.
The biblical position then is not to view the earth as something we can easily just discard, disrespect, disuse, or destroy little by little without grave consequences. The biblical position is to view the earth as an important tool for our ongoing life and wellbeing as well as an important tool to point us to its Creator.
GOD CARES ENOUGH ABOUT IT TO RECREATE IT AT THE END OF TIME
Paul writes in Romans 8:20-22, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”
God is not disinterested or unconcerned about the effects of the fall upon his creation – the earth included! He is a tender God Who is always concerned about every aspect of His creation – remember He called it good at the beginning of time and cares for it continuously, even up to today.
He cares about it enough, in fact, to promise to recreate it at the end of time. John writes in Revelation 21:1-3,
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
This earth on which we currently reside will, in fact, one day be no more. But this does not mean that our God will forever and always from that moment on be done with “earth”. Instead, He plans to create a brand new earth, an earth restored back to the way it was always meant to be – the way it was in the Garden of Eden before the fall ever came to pass.
This tells us then that God has a thing for earth, doesn’t it? He prioritizes it and views it as an important aspect of His creation. So, then, should we.
The biblical position is not one where we view the earth as disposable or as if what we do on this earth doesn’t matter because it “will all burn up in the end”. Rather, the biblical position is to declare that, yes, this current earth will one day be destroyed – but that doesn’t mean we want to be the ones responsible at any time for its destruction! The biblical position is one where we readily see and admit that God cares tenderly for His creation – including the earth. So much so that when the end of time comes and this current earth must be destroyed, God will take the time to work to create a brand new one. That’s a big deal! And if this care and concern for the earth is true of God, may it be true of us, as well, as His image bearers and ambassadors!
SO, WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN FOR US AS BELIEVERS?
With all this in mind, how then does a Christian approach and view a day like Earth Day?
Well, we take all that we have learned today and combine it together to form the foundation of our theology of the earth and our care for it. This worldview could be summed up in this way:
We were created by God to care for the earth, to replenish, subdue, and take dominion over it. Therefore, it is a sin to contribute to any behavior which would seek to, at best, be negligent towards the earth and, at worst, to actively destroy aspects of it. God cares deeply about the earth, going so far as to give us the mission as His ambassadors to do the best we can to care for it, as well. Having said that, however, mankind is the crown of God’s creation. Therefore, it is also wrong to contribute any behavior which places the supposed wellbeing of the earth above the wellbeing of mankind.
On a day like Earth Day, may we live out a balanced perspective where we seek to make it our aim to daily care well for the earth that was entrusted to us, while at the same time also making sure to care well for our fellow image bearers. This is the biblical position on Earth Day.
Reflection Questions:
1) What has been your viewpoint on Earth Day in the past?
2) How would you describe a Biblical position on Earth Day?
3) Would you say there are any changes you should make in regards to how you view or care for the earth?
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