A reply to Visitor’s comment (see below):
I applaud your care for God’s earth through your conservation efforts and as a parent I heartily agree with your desire to have a clean earth for your children to grow up in. I also appreciate your ability to copy and paste scripture that is important to you.
It takes someone very strong in their convictions to defend what is important to them and record it for all the world to see. I can tell that you are passionate about this subject because you took the time to communicate it to us and the effort to chose you words carefully. You even used a medium that will be around for generations to come. Your children can now discover your stance towards “Creation-Care” even if you choose never again to speak on the subject. You sound like a person who is firm in his/her convictions and I admire that. I don’t expect you to change these convictions but who knows, somewhere along the line you may. I hope you will agree with me that you are not like God: Unchangeable, Unshakable, Immutable.
That is why we can trust God; when He shares His heart on a matter; when He inspires the words of a psalm; when preserves these words for all generations to see; you can be sure He has done so for a specific reason.
In Gen 1:28-31 God gives man the jaw dropping pre-fall responsibility of stewardship of His “good” earth. Sadly, after the fall of man, we are now locked into constant struggle with the “cursed” ground (Gen. 3:17) to yield food that is eatable. Is our stewardship revoked because of the fall? I don’t believe so. Yet there is a change in how we must cultivate the earth so that it yields these eatable plants. Now it is hard work and anyone who has grown any kind of garden knows that in order to succeed you must proactively roll up your sleeves and struggle to produce the desired result.
In a perfect pre-fallen world with no sin, no death, no poisons in the air or water we could afford the attitude of looking at this stewardship as a passive thing. We could use natural resources and God’s perfectly designed ecosystem could automatically replenish. We could rule with the authority given to us but the power would still be His. We could honestly subdue/rule/dominate the earth without the self-centered motives that we inherent from the fall. But yet here we are, in our sinful world; in a creation that moans to be redeemed right along with us. I for one could never worship a creation like that, or any at all for that matter.
Only the Creator deserves my worship and as I grow in the experience and understanding of Him I welcome those things that are on His heart. I strive to honor these things that He has shown are important to Him and recorded for all the world to see. I develop a passion according to the things that He took the special effort to communicate in specific words to His people. I explore the medium he has chosen (scripture) to reveal these things to me and discover His stance on things that He is passionate about. Creation Care happens to be part of this stance and so it should also be part of mine, and everyone who claims to be His follower. Whether or not this creation passes away or is refined (a contextual view of the verses you mention) I will live in the here and now and do my best to honor with my attitude and actions God. To do anything less would be hypocritical and involve acute eisogesis.
Visitor’s Comment (replied to above):
How does the “Green” movement jibe with these verses?
“Behold, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind. Isaiah 65:17
The mountains will melt under Him
And the valleys will be split,
Like wax before the fire,
Like water poured down a steep place. Micah 1:4
By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:7
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 2 Peter 3:10
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. Revelation 21:1
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I am a Christian and I believe that Mankind is commanded to: “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.” I am a hunter and I believe in conservation and preserving wildlife habitats for the use of Mankind. I am a parent and I want my kids to grow up without poisons in their air and water.
However, the whole world now seems mad with Gaia worship. I do not plan to follow. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Which part of the Great Commission charges the Church with this new “Creation-Care” mission? Which of the Apostles taught this new thing? Where is it written? [Eisogesis does not count.]
