(This week we continue our brief review of what Scripture teaches us regarding Christian’s relationship with the environment, see last week’s article).
Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, and told to ‘work & take care of Gdn’ (see Genesis 2.15). ‘Work’ is the Hebrew word ‘Abad’ which means to ‘dress, serve or to cultivate’ The word for ‘take care’ is ‘Shamar’ which means to ‘protect, attend to, watch over it’.
We are meant to serve and protect God’s creation. This real inconvenient (and Biblical) truth! God is one who serves, & we are made in his image.
If we move on in Scripture, we read in Genesis 9, after the flood, comes what is called the Noahic Covenant where no less than 8 times God tells Noah, ‘My covenant is with you and all creation, all the earth’.
Then later in Exodus, we learn that men, women AND livestock were all part of God’s liberating action from Egypt. Both the people and the animals were treated as slaved, working seven days a week, and God was deeply concerned that the animals were freed from this bondage as well.
Indeed the very Sabbath command includes animals – the people of Israel were commanded by God to allow them to rest. In fact, the whole principle of the Sabbath year also includes the environment where the people were commanded to allow their fields to lie fallow for a year (the fields could also ‘rest’ from their labours).
Furthermore, the whole Promised Land concept involves evocative images that convey God’s delight in creation – for it was a land flowing with ‘milk and honey’. Then, throughout the Psalms and Prophets there are constant references to mighty & glorious works of God through nature.
As we move into the New Testament, we learn from Roman’s 8 that the WHOLE of creation is groaning as in pains of childbirth, awaiting redemption and healing from God.
Jesus’ saving mandate includes creation! At our creation, we were commanded by God to love, care for and protect creation & this command is emphasised and heightened through Christ, who is as Colossians 1 tells us the ‘image of God’ and the ‘instrument’ of creation.
After his Baptism and before his ministry started, Jesus retreated into the wilderness. It was there that his calling was made clear. Then the Bible returns to a Garden theme for it was in a garden that Jesus was resurrected. After all a garden was the backdrop for the Fall of humanity, so it was more than fitting to first announce in the splendour a garden that Jesus had conquered sin and death.
The final image I want to bring to you is from Revelations 21.1 which speaks of ‘a new heaven and new earth’ coming down old earth. The language used is not to say the old will be annihilated but rather restored, redeemed and reconciled.
I am really sorry that I couldn’t spend more time on this, but I do hope you have gained some sense of the sheer scope of the Biblical narrative which depicts God’s concern and love 4 all creation and our role as God’s servants to be servants of all.
Christians should deeply care for and respect creation not just because it is the trendy thing to do, but because God commands us to.