How To Understand the Divine Cosmic Command For Environmentalism

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As my understanding of the biblical message has been transformed, I came to realize the importance of the duty humankind was given in "having dominion over the earth" (Genesis 1:26). It is my belief that a person should not read that verse without the next one in which God commanded humankind to be fruitful and multiply and to "replenish the earth".

Once I began transitioning away from thinking that God was planning to destroy this world at any moment, and came to the knowledge that what he called "very good" He took care to preserve and restore, I also understood that our duty is the same- call it Christian environmentalism.

I am aware that there is widespread misinterpretation and disagreement, especially about the cause and impact of global warming, even among those who are Christian. This lens will not debate that fact. However, when we survey miles of beaches and roadways densely littered with trash and hazardous waste, when we see smog-filled skies over grassy plains and lowland valleys, and when we see trees and rust-covered vehicles because of acid rain, and as we are aware of dwindling natural resources I believe a Christian is called to respond and act as an image and dominion bearer of God for the world He created.

Don't that I am advocating either a replacement religion, or suggesting that it should be the governements role to create measures to carew for the environment.

In this lens, I will discuss some of what I believe is important, and offer some links to other websites on Christian Environmentalism. Your comments are welcome.

The first book of the Bible tells us that at the end of creating all He had made God surveyed His Creation and declared it all ""very good". And although sin marred the environment as well as relationships between humankind, God always preserved the world and a remnant of humans to carry on. A promise was recorded in Genesis 8:21, "Never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done" (NIV).

As I read Joel B. Green, I realized what he says is correct. "Sin even of this magnitude cannot irreparably mar the divine purpose in creation, however. Even the words of God spoken to a rebellious humanity on the plains of Shinar, construction zone for the infamous Tower of Babel, are nothing less than a reiteration of [God's] words in creation."

Professor Green then writes that this forms "the basic contours of the ongoing saga: God acts and speaks; humanity refuses its vocation, responds in disobedience, and experiences the consequences of its sin; God extends the offer of relationship again in forgiveness and reconciliation".

By looking at my other lens you will get a grasp for what I think the overall biblical message is in fact. But here I am concentrating on what one Christian duty in this world is as we claim to be His followers: caring for the environment.

In all our "progress" one way we have demonstrated our sin collectively is through polluting the environment and harming the ecology. And another way is by being a Christian and turning our back on the problem because we think God has no interest in this world. But all throughout the Bible, there runs a consistent theme that God has plans for the earth and us in it.

Looking at the beginning, we are told His creation is very good (Genesis 1:31), and at the end we note a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1). Now I know that some of us have been taught that means God is going to wipe out everything and start all over. However, let us take a close look at this passage. I have already pointed out that there is a strong metaphor employed... the "new" city of God, the New Jerusalem is NOT in fact a city in the brick and mortar sense at all. It is called "a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2), which is the symbolic and metaphoric representation of the Church universal. It is used in the New Testament only in the Four Gospel narratives and in Revelation.

In fact, I think many Christians are so focused on "getting to Heaven" that they think God does not care about the earth. I came across a very good article, "The Four Most Important Biblical Passages for A Christian Environmentalism" in the Trinity Journal, Fall 1998, written by Michael A. Bullmore. I have excerpted a portion from it below...

"Ps 104:24. 'How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.'"

"The contribution of Psalm 104 might be summarized as follows:

• 1. God created the earth and all things in it, and he continues to sustain the earth and all things in it by the loving exercise of his sovereign power.
• 2. The earth and all things in it belong to God by virtue of his creative work, and all things find their reason for being fundamentally in relation to him.
• 3. The earth and all things in it were created perfectly each creature in itself and the entire creation in its interrelatedness.
• 4. Even after the entrance of sin into the created order this perfection still shines through so as to be perceivable by man. Thus, creation continually bears witness to the perfections of God and promotes in man praise toward God."

"Clearly, the heavens and earth exist as a result of the exercise of God's sovereign creativity. The unique emphasis of this psalm, however, is on God's sustenance of his creation. 'He makes springs pour water.... He waters the mountains.... He makes grass grow.... The trees of the Lord are well watered' (vv. 10, 13, 14, 16)."

So, Christians should believe that God created the world, that it was good with an ecology that provided for humankind as we worked for its conservation and preservation, that He is preserving and sustaining it now, and, in the future, God's plans are to fully renew and restore the world to the pristine way it was in the beginning. It might be considered a biblical mandate toward Christian environmentalsim.

"Savedbygrace" plus some of the links below, then keep reading this lens.

This Pastor of the immense and still growing Mars Hill Church in Grandville, Michigan, invites you to explore, discuss, and debate. "God has spoken, and the rest is commentary, right?"

"To look at God's restoration plans in greater depth, we need to go back to how God creates the world and what he thinks about it. The Bible starts with God making the ground and the seas, and calling them "good."... Over and over this word "good" is used to describe how God perceives what he has made. It is all "good". (p. 156)

"Not only are we connected with creation, but creation is going to move forward. It can't help it it is loaded with energy.... And so these people are placed in the midst of this dynamic, changing, alive, vibrant environment and charged with the divine responsibility of doing something with it. Creating, arranging, ordering, caring for - doing something with it." (p. 158)

"God has given us power and potential and ability. God has given this power so we will use it well. (p. 159)

"In Revelation 21 and 22 we are told of a city. A city is more than a garden. If a garden is developed and managed and cared for, it is eventually going to turn into a city. If there was no sin or death, creation would still move forward because God doen't just want to reclaim things; God wants to see them move forward." (p. 161)

Using a common concordance found at the back of many of our Bibles in the reference section, you will probably see 10 to 50 references to the earth. I have a paperback Cruden's Concordance, and it lists well over 100 references to the earth: earth, all the earth, in the earth, on and upon the earth, and even, to or unto the earth.

Let's start with how the biblical narrative unfolds. The first eleven chapters of the Bible portray a good Creation that was affected by sin and evil, so that in the Tower of Babel story God dispersed humanity throughout the world, confounding their languages so that humans would no longer be able to unite in attempts to become divine. But, the very next chapter begins the story of the calling of Abraham and special promises to him. N T Wright gives a simple understanding of this narrative transition: "The problem of evil within the [Creation] was not addressed by means of extended discussions of its origin... for the most part the question is focused on the present and the future: granted the presence of evil in the world, what is the creator going to do about it?".

The answer is the call of Abraham. He and his descendants, through Isaac, and Jacob were chosen to be the means of blessing to all the families, all the nations of the world, and were promised to receive an inheritance that included land. This is where some Bible interpreters have failed to see the Big Picture. It was on the foundation of Jesus Christ that the Apostle Paul would later exclaim that the inheritance promised to Abraham was nothing less than the entire world. See Romans 4:13.

A derivative of one phrase used in the Old Testament is "all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord" (Numbers 14:21) and "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord" (Habukkak 2:14).

The prophet Isaiah also had much to say about the restored world. "In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely" (Isaiah 4:2). "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:9).

"For this is what the LORD says-
he who created the heavens,
he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,
he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited-
he says:
'I am the LORD,
and there is no other.'" (Isaiah 45:18)

The Psalms also are filled with ideas about the earth. "All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee" (Psalm 66:4)."For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth" (Psalm 74:12).

"And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever" (Psalm 78:69). "The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them" (Psalm 89:11). "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth" (Psalm 104:30). "The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men" (Psalm 115:16).

These are scriptural reasons why I support Christian environmentalism as an ecobeliever. I hope you find this interesting and will keep reading below.

Revelation 21:5 tells us that God is "making" all things new. We usually think he is going to make all things new and there is a subtle difference. The first is a continuing, ongoing process, that speaks of transformation, restoration, and renewal. That is what Revelation 21:5 tells us. The other idea is one of cataclysm and catastrophe, and I know it is a very popular view. But, I don't believe the Bible- the whole story of the Bible- leads us to that conclusion. It is only because we have been taught that Revelation is about a future time of cataclysm that we automatically expect doom.

On the surface and in isolated verses, we might get the idea that Christians should reject the world. And I would agree that following the ways of the wicked or evil in the world is a course for doom. However, those verses have employed a form of literary artistry that condenses and symbolizes any form of worship or human activity that is contrary to God's original "good" purposes for humanity and His creation. By contrasting the righteous and the wicked in the world with God's good purposes for the world the biblical writers tried to convey the true duty of humankind. This should not lead us to the errant conclusion that the earth is bad and not worthy of our care or concern or that we have no need of Christian environmentalism.

Let me also point out that although there are some in our ranks who ascribe to a doomsday philosophy, the gospel writer's themselves announced the birth of Jesus as the coming of peace, shalom. Luke portrays a heavenly angelic choir singing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (2:13).

Very few Christian theologians today might disagree that the concept of resurrection takes a strong place in the New Testament.

Some theologians might disagree, but it is generally accepted that resurrection spoke
of being raised to new life in a physical, literal sense to be on the earth. The Apostle Paul made resurrection a dominant theme in his epistles, and Luke records Paul's speeches about it in Acts.

Especially in Acts 26:6-8, Paul connects resurrection with the promises (remember- land/world, blessings to the nations, etc.) God made to Abraham:

"And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me. Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?"

Paul's argument here was preceded by his integrity in knowing and keeping the customs, laws, and questions of Judaism. He was a devout Pharisee, who rigidly adhered to the covenant of Torah, and memorized the scriptures. He was well versed in the history and the theological expectations of that people. Salvation was a word that carried a broad array of meanings in the form of healing, reconciliation, restoration, and forgiveness of sins.

And though some will suggest that the second coming of Jesus will usher in a great tribulation and cataclysmic destruction, not all Christian preachers and teachers interpret the scriptures that way. How else could His eventual return be something to hope for?

The early Christians saw their scriptures as a message of promised hope and healing. "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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Yet, these words were sent as messages of peace to Israel, the nation, who had been called to be a light to all the other nations. "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6).

So, put it all together. We have a good world marred by sin and death; we have God calling Abraham to be the forerunner of those who will reverse this trend; we have series of proclamations about God's plans and purposes for the earth, and we have a dynamite apostle, Paul, who unwaveringly proclaimed the literal physical resurrection. And, we have Jesus himself, the firstfruits of the resurrection. Jesus declared, "the meek shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5).

I believe in the resurrection, and I believe we have an obligation, a duty to conserve and protect the environment, of this earth, especially as believers who name the name of Jesus Christ.

Why not see what you can do to help?

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