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YOUR
RELATIONSHIP TO GOD'S CREATION
"They will introduce heresies and will bring the way of truth into disrepute with stories they have made up." - 2 Peter 2:1-3
For a moment try to look at the environment from a different perspective
than normal. Frame what we see in nature with foundational concepts
that God gives us in the Bible and see how that changes the way you look at your
relationship to the environment.
Let me remind you about some of the basic doctrines of the Bible that
many of us learned as young children. The
Bible teaches that man is fallen, that death and suffering entered the world
because of Adam original sin and that God cursed the ground because of man's
rebellion? If we assume that these claims are true, what does that mean
in the physical world today? Can
science measure the conditions that existed before the curse, or are those
things only apparent through God's revelation?
By applying these basic doctrine, we can conclude that "survival
of the fittest" was not part of the original good creation and that the
decline of natural resources that we are experiencing is part of God's plan.
This means if we cleaned all our factories and changed our wasteful
habits, we would still be living under the curse.
There would still be the environmental problems.
We would not achieve a utopian life on a South Sea island in the land of
milk and honey where there is no toiling, disease or crime.
We are a people who tend to separate our spiritual lives from our daily
lives. The spiritual world operates
under one set of laws. The physical
world under another set of laws and so God has no real relevance in the daily
lives of most people. He gets our
attention only on Sunday and during times of personal crisis.
Since most people approach God from this perspective it is not
surprising that most people find it easier to trust things that they can see
and touch even when it disagrees with the Word of God.
It is easy for us to look at the Bible as instructions on how to get to
heaven. It is harder for us to see
it as a description of our physical world.
If we are willing to accept the Bible's advice for the health of our
soul, why doubt what it has to say about the health of our planet?
Yet instead of constructing our view of the physical world around what
God has told us about his creation, we act as though the Bible is only accurate
for spiritual not scientific matters. We
measure the accuracy of the Bible against our scientific theories and consider
the interpretation of men infallible instead of the Bible.
How does this outlook effect our view of man's relationship to the physical
world and our responsibility as caretakers of the Master's possessions while
he is away?
Today most science is based on the premise that everything which exists
can be measured and observed by investigating the properties of the physical
world today. But writing 2000
years ago Peter warned: "you must understand
that ... scoffers will come [saying] everything goes on as it has since the
beginning of creation" (2 Peter
3:3-4)
This is not to say that scientific observations are inaccurate.
At a given atmospheric pressure and salinity, water will always
freeze at the same temperature. That is a scientific fact.
But environmentalists are trying to understand how nature's processes
are out of balance by ignoring what God has told us about the history of our
world and looking for clues in the rocks. Because
today's theories do not include God as Creator, we are using flawed basic
assumptions for our models of nature.
These are the things being described when Peter wrote:
"there will be false teachers among you. They will ... introduce heresies, even denying the sovereign
Lord ... and will bring the way of truth into disrepute ... with stories they
have made up." (2
Peter 2:1-3)
What are the implications of our inaccurate way of looking at things.
We are viewing man as an just another animal; viewing nature as advancing;
studying climate without considering the Bible's version of historic geology;
leaving God out of the cause and effect events of our three-dimensional model
of the universe. Nature is creation
after being drastically altered by the Fall.
If people look at nature and think they see Eden, it is not surprising
so many cannot picture an all-powerful, good God. These errors distort our image of God. It would be a universe designed by trial and error, where
innocent creatures are food for predators and God arbitrarily sends disease,
earthquakes, storms and drought. What
kind of God would have called this precarious "balance" good?
We should not assume that the balance that we see in nature today represents
the good creation that was present in Eden.
Modern science cannot distinguish Eden from the Fall.
People act as though the Pilgrims invaded in Eden and any changes
man does to the land are inherently wrong.
Man is portrayed as a villain robbing helpless nature, as a weed
spreading throughout the Garden. Our
distorted view of why suffering and death are in the world has impaired our
ability to see the creation depicting God's character.
We assume that God created the world just as we find it.
If a world view is wrong, then solutions based on it will fail. Because
men of science don't recognize that the creation is fallen, they are asking the
wrong questions.
"Saving the Planet" has become a dominant social concern.
People want to do something to help.
We want to serve God, but we want to do it our way.
We project our own perspectives upon God.
We have our own image of the good creation and so we fight to prevent
nature from being changed, as though we are defending the creation in God's
absence. But if this is a fallen
world, then these modern scientific assumptions are not correct.
We cannot assume that what we see today has always been true.
In Matthew 22:29, Jesus told the leaders of his day:
"You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the
power of God".
All creation is a tool for God's purposes.
God's hand can be seen in ecological events.
God withholds the fruitfulness of the land to get our attention, but we
fail to understand why our rebellious behavior is being disciplined.
We turn to science for deliverance from our physical trials and
struggle against God's correction, rather than returning to him.
This tells us that our ecological problems are in fact a spiritual
issue. The impacts of our moral and
ethical choices are more serious than we would think.
We are now facing the consequences of our spiritual failures.
Effects of sin on the world go beyond what is apparent.
We have regulations for industrial wastes, but at the same time we fight
restrictions on our own uncleanness, like simply cleaning the outside of a cup,
as Jesus said in Matthew 23:25.
The principle pollution we bring the world are the things that come out
of our hearts. Our rebellion against God has an impact on nature.
Personal conduct effects the environment. These things seem unrelated.
We expect our behavior to have no consequences.
God's covenant with Israel included both blessings and curses, to make us
fruitful when we are dependent on him, and to make our burden greater when we
ignore his instruction. This is simply
the law of cause and effect.
Like us, the Pharisees were also preoccupied with external cleanness, but
Jesus admonished them about internal uncleanness.
Today we worry about our health, preventing the chemical pollution
around us from getting into our bodies, but the prophets rarely rebuked the
people for their failures under dietary and hygienic laws.
The judgments from God that had a severe environmental impact, the curse,
the Flood, fire and brimstone, did not come because those people handled
chemicals improperly or were especially bad in misusing their natural
resources. God passed judgment on
them because of their wicked hearts, their internal, not external, uncleanness.
How did he judge them? Nature
became increasingly degraded. God
withdrew a portion of his blessing of natural resources.
God had told Abraham that a dozen righteous people would prevent judgment
upon Sodom and Gomorrah. But when
the critical mass was reached there was an end to God's patience.
What had been described as a well-watered valley capable of supporting
five cities was turned to a wasteland. In
a very real sense, we are the salt of the earth.
Like salt prevents meat from spoiling, it is the Church that provides
real environmental protection.
Our laws concerning clean water, clean air, undisturbed wilderness and
greenhouse gases, that we hear so much about today, are all merely attempts to
clean the outside of the cup. The
pollution having the greatest effect on our global environment does not have
anything to do with chemicals or natural resources.
God withholds his provisions. He
reduces the health and productivity of the land, to cause us to realize our dependence
upon him and our rebellion against him, and so repent and be saved from his
punishment. When we get our
priorities straight, when we seek the kingdom of God first, (when we make him
our joy), then as an added benefit God will take care of all these other things
that he had sent to discipline us because of our rebellion.
How should we respond to those who accuse Christians of being uninvolved
with environmental issues? Point to
the impact of immorality in the Fall, the Flood and Sodom.
Then ask them to think about what part they play in God withholding the
health of the land.
Our young people are concerned about the health of the world which we are
leaving them. They see our priorities and failures as a reflection of
our religion. If they are rejecting
Christianity, it is partly because it does not offer them hope.
We need to show that Christianity is relevant, and that a life in
rebellion against God is the real cause of the degrading of nature.
By
Maurice Hamel
011201
www.healingtheland.org
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