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The Importance of Taking Care of God's Creation
- Categories: Environmental Issues God Religious Beliefs
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Words: 492 |
Published: Mar 1, 2019
Words: 492 | Page: 1 | 3 min read
Works Cited
- Anonymous. (n.d.). Genesis 1:1-2:15. BibleGateway. Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1%3A1-2%3A15
- Carr, D. (2016). The beauty of God's creation. Ministry Magazine, 88(4), 11-14.
- Chan, J. W. (2019). Environmental stewardship: A biblical perspective. In S. A. N. Fernando (Ed.), Science and Christianity: A partnership in action (pp. 81-100). Theological Publications in India.
- Gobster, P. H. (2018). The call to care for creation: Perspectives from world religions. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 12(1), 53-81.
- Guzman, J. A. (2015). Caring for God's creation: The Christian ecological ethics of Aldo Leopold. Ecotheology, 20(2), 220-233.
- Hessel, D., Ruether, R. R., & McFague, S. (Eds.). (2000). Christianity and ecology: Seeking the well-being of Earth and humans. Harvard University Press.
- Ingersoll, T. (2016). Christian environmental stewardship in the Anthropocene. Theological Studies, 77(3), 667-688.
- Johnson, B. R. (2015). Earth and embodiment: The praxis of creation care in a particular place. Theology Today, 72(2), 170-186.
- Schaefer, R. T. (2018). Theology for earth community: A field guide. Fortress Press.
- White, L. (1967). The historical roots of our ecological crisis. Science, 155(3767), 1203-1207.
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Why Care for God’s Creation Matters: A Biblical Perspective
O ur responsibility to care for God’s creation is sort of like the ultimate babysitting gig. A babysitter temporarily acts as a child’s primary caregiver, attending to the child’s needs and keeping the child safe. The child does not belong to the babysitter, but the responsibility for that child’s care does for a period of time. Similarly, the earth is not ours, but we have been entrusted with caring for it, protecting what God has made so that it can be enjoyed for generations to come.
Some Christians think we only need to worry about the world’s spiritual health—that so long as we have salvation in Christ, what happens to God’s creation as we await Christ’s return is unimportant. But the Bible indicates that Christ is about redeeming the whole earth, not just our souls.
And doing nothing to help care for the earth also goes against some babysitting basics. When a child tries to play with matches or run into the middle of traffic, a good babysitter doesn’t sit back and wait for the parents to come back and intervene. Rather, the babysitter puts the matches safely out of reach. The caretaker guides the child away from the speeding cars of rush hour. She takes immediate action to keep the child, placed in her care, safe.
We as Christians cannot sit back and do nothing while God’s creation is being harmed on our watch. Creation is for God’s glory , and humans have been given the special responsibility to care for God’s creation. The destruction of creation not only imperils life, including human life on this planet; it is also a sin against God.
Climate change and other environmental threats devastate and wreak havoc on the world God has made. What guidance can the Bible offer us on care for God’s creation in light of these contemporary challenges?
Genesis 1–3: The story of creation and the fall
Theologically, the first three chapters of Genesis tell us a great deal about three pivotal relationships: those between God and creation, God and humanity, and humanity and the rest of creation.
Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 provide two versions of the creation story. While the two accounts differ in their specific details, they come together to paint a shared theological truth. God made humanity to live in shalom with each other, God, and all of creation. Shalom is a Hebrew word for harmony, peace, wholeness, and justice. It describes things as they should be.
Within this ecosystem, from the start, God assigns humans special responsibilities. In Genesis 1, God gives humankind dominion over other living things. In Genesis 2, God puts humankind in the garden of Eden to “till it and keep it.” However, God also specifically instructs them not to eat from one particular tree: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The story of Adam and Eve’s eating the forbidden fruit doesn’t just represent human rejection of God’s way. It represents the fracture of both humanity’s relationship with God and God’s creation. The reverberations of human sin disrupt shalom across all of creation.
“Cursed is the ground because of you,” God said to Adam. “Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you” (Genesis 3:17b-18a).
This would be a dire predicament if the story ended there. Fortunately, God doesn’t give up on us so easily.
How Jesus restores our relationship with God’s creation
In the New Testament, we discover that Christ not only restores and reconciles our relationship to God; Christ also restores our right relationship to the creation of which we are a part.
In the first chapter of Colossians, for example, we read: “through [Christ] God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20).
And in the letter to the Romans, Paul writes: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility … in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:19-21).
Our new life in Christ consists of a restored relationship to both God and creation. As people in the body of Christ, we—and all of creation—move toward the fulfillment and wholeness intended for everything through Christ.
We are not delivered from this world, nor are we simply assured of a greater spiritual reality lying beyond this world. Rather, the bodily resurrection of Christ means that the power of sin and death is defeated. The new creation is breaking forth in this world.
Our new life in Christ has its roots and bears its first fruits here, within our own broken and mortal lives. Likewise, newness in Christ for all the rest of creation begins here, within its mortal brokenness.
Related: How Facing Death with Christian Hope Can Bring Us New Life in Christ
Daily we experience brokenness within the created order.
Nature erupts with hurricanes, floods, droughts, and earthquakes in protest of climate change we’ve helped cause. We cannot drink safely from streams and rivers. The air around us has been fouled by the fumes from a nearby industrial plant, by invisible wastes of our own automobiles, by the stench of a giant feed-lot containment for cattle outside town. Creatures of the deep choke on plastic we’ve thrown away without care.
As a people who are being made new, we have a particular interest in the renewing of God’s creation. From the start, God has called upon humans to serve as stewards of creation—to till the soil and oversee the rich garden of creatures around us. Now, many of these precious creatures are endangered, and we humans are to blame. What might we do to restore God’s creation to its true beauty, to bring it closer to shalom ?
Why care for God’s creation must be a global effort
Our broken relationship with creation has a far-reaching impact, touching all that God has made. So our care for God’s creation cannot be limited to just one sliver of it. The church’s care for the earth needs to be global.
We ought to be concerned about the deterioration of land, air, and water within our own immediate communities. We ought to be concerned about the impact of climate change on the places where we live. But our task of caring for God’s creation calls us far beyond these boundaries. The vision of shalom is one in which all people share the resources of creation harmoniously.
The life-sustaining resources of creation are in peril throughout the globe. The massive consumption of our own affluent societies is severely straining the resources of the earth. And the natural world is not Las Vegas. What happens in one region doesn’t stay there.
The ways we’re consuming energy and resources are changing the climate of the entire planet more rapidly than ever, already causing devastation in some regions. There are also finite limits to many resources, and if one group takes more than they need, it means another group gets less. Likewise, when one area of the earth ignores the threat of climate change, the rest of the planet pays a price, too. And the people who are already the most vulnerable economically are likely to be hit hardest. A pattern of reckless and unjust resource consumption lies at the heart of our environmental peril.
We can begin caring for the earth, then, only from a posture of repentance. The restoration of God’s shalom for all of creation requires changes in our attitudes, in our values, and in our lives. If Christ’s work of redemption extends not only to us, but to all creation, then it’s time that we demonstrate redeemed relationships to the earth’s resources and a commitment that they be shared justly with all people.
Care for God’s creation
For ideas and resources on creation care, explore this toolkit that includes teaching tools for kids; ways to mobilize your church for climate justice; prayers, liturgies, and songs you can use for worship; and more!
This article draws on and adapts material from “Care for the Earth: Theology and Practice,” a 1982 paper by the RCA Commission on Christian Action. Read the full paper here.
Grace Ruiter
Grace Ruiter co-founded Faithward and oversaw its growth from a small blog to a ministry that reaches 100,000-200,000+ people each month. She has been asking too many questions ever since she started talking, and she has no plans of stopping now. Although her curiosity has challenged her faith at times, it's also how her relationship with God has grown to where it is today. You can get in touch with Grace at [email protected].
RCA Commission on Christian Action
The Reformed Church in America’s Commission on Christian Action informs and advises the church concerning current social issues and the spiritual and Christian principles by which critical evaluation may be exercised and proper action taken. Learn more about the commission’s priorities and work .
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6 Bible Verses That Guide Us in Caring for Creation
Scripture helps us see the world with God’s eyes
ABS News Blog
September 14, 2022
By Elisabeth Trefsgar
How should we care for creation?
In our deeply politicized culture, talking about how to live in our world can be intimidating. But God’s Word is full of wisdom that can guide us in stewarding creation.
It starts at the beginning of Scripture, when we see that God was very pleased with everything he made (Genesis 1:31). Even after sin entered the world, God still showed his care for his creation. The Bible is clear that we must not worship creation—or anything else—instead of God (Exodus 20:4-5). But it also celebrates the beauty and majesty of the world God has made. It describes the world as something we should enjoy and treasure. In addition, it reminds us that all of creation points us to the Creator:
How clearly the sky reveals God’s glory! How plainly it shows what he has done! Psalm 19:1 GNT
Through his Word, God communicates the value of the world. Explore these six verses and find fresh inspiration from Scripture as you seek to take care of the creation around you.
God’s creation is a testimony of who he is.
Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. Romans 1:20a GNT
God gave human beings the responsibility to care for his creation.
Then God said, “And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small.” Genesis 1:26 GNT
God’s creation is something to enjoy, explore, and treasure.
LORD, you have made so many things! How wisely you made them all! The earth is filled with your creatures. There is the ocean, large and wide, where countless creatures live, large and small alike. Psalm 104:24-25 GNT
Our faith helps us rightly view and value God’s creation.
It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God’s word, so that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen. Hebrews 11:3 GNT
All of God’s creation is waiting to be set free from the sin and brokenness of a fallen world.
All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his children. For creation was condemned to lose its purpose, not of its own will, but because God willed it to be so. Yet there was the hope that creation itself would one day be set free from its slavery to decay and would share the glorious freedom of the children of God. For we know that up to the present time all of creation groans with pain, like the pain of childbirth. But it is not just creation alone which groans; we who have the Spirit as the first of God’s gifts also groan within ourselves as we wait for God to make us his children and set our whole being free. Romans 8:19-23 GNT
God promises that a new heaven and a new earth will be part of his new creation, where he will dwell with his people forever.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished. And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband. I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: “Now God’s home is with people! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared.” Revelation 21:1-4 GNT
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Elisabeth Trefsgar
Elisabeth Trefsgar is a content specialist for American Bible Society. She has made a home in New Jersey and Sofia, Bulgaria, and is always on the lookout for the next adventure. She is passionate about seeing communities around the world flourish through the power of God's Word and the efforts of the local church. When she isn't writing, you can find her reading good stories, photographing local sights, and spending time with friends.
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1 Kings 8:57, 58a
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Creation Care: How to Steward the Earth Wisely
By Taffeta Chime | Bio
Taffeta Chime, called Taffy by most, is a writer and language teacher from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where she and her husband Shane Xu serve with the Chinese congregation at the North Boulevard church of Christ. Taffy has a BA in English and Creative Writing (2011) and an MA in English and Foreign Languages/Linguistics (2015), both from Middle Tennessee State University. She has won multiple awards for her short stories, poems, and essays and has been published in several literary journals. She also has two published young adult novels, Stoodie (2007) and The Last (2011). Through her twelve years of teaching English as a foreign language, Taffy has built intentional relationships with people from all around the world and continues evangelistic efforts through online Bible/language lessons, homestay for international students and visitors, and volunteer work in the local international community. Most recently, she is learning her new role as a mother to her daughter, Beili. Taffy enjoys watching YouTube, exercising, playing with her two cats, and streaming language games on Twitch.
What is creation care? Creation care goes all the way back to God’s command in the first chapter of the Bible for humans to rule over God’s creation wisely. This was God’s reason for creating humans in the first place: “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground” (Gen. 1:16). It’s important to remember that God saves us from our sins and is restoring us to his original intention for humanity with the result that we will someday reign with Jesus over his new creation (Rev. 22:5). This article explores how we can steward the earth wisely, as part of God’s original plan for creating humans.
How Should Christians View God’s Creation?
One aspect of God that I think we often forget is His creativity. As far as we know, He didn’t create the universe because He needed to; He did it because He wanted to. In the account of creation, we see how God enjoyed creating. He could have made the world a blank box void of distractions, joy, or altruism. But instead, He made a vibrant system of life, from micro-organisms in the depths of the ocean unbeknownst to us to the huge systems of space light years away.
When God made humans, He gave us all the animals and plants to have control over (Gen. 1:26, 28-30; 2:15) and, as happened when He finished every other step of creation, it was good. On the seventh day, He rested to enjoy His creation—before we made a mess of it.
One way in which we are made in the image of God, I believe, is in our creativity too. We are different from animals in that we create out of expression and not out of necessity (though we have seen that when humans are deprived of creativity, that does tax on our physiological state). So we know a tiny portion of how God must feel about the state of His creation now.
Creation Care: “One way in which we are made in the image of God, I believe, is in our creativity too.”
How would I feel if I worked so hard on something, gave it to someone as a gift, and then they proceeded to destroy it? Whether or not you believe climate change is real, whether or not you believe there is media hype, whether or not you believe humans influence Earth’s changes, you must know that God gave us His world—and everything on it—to care for it. And if you’re like me, you might not have even given a thought to how you might be caring for Earth.
My Story of Starting to Care
It wasn’t until I lived in China nearly ten years ago. It was a small thing, but I noticed that most of the public trash cans were split in half: one half for waste and one half for recyclables. It made me take just that extra second before throwing something away to consider, “Is this recyclable or not?” I had never really thought of that before; I just tossed everything away, and it was out of sight and out of mind.
“It made me take just that extra second before throwing something away to consider, ‘Is this recyclable or not?’”
At the international student dorms where I lived, we also had an aiyi— an “auntie”—who came to our rooms to collect any recyclable trash. When she first came, I didn’t have anything for her, but now that I knew she would be coming, I made sure to keep my plastic containers and paper in a separate bag so that I could easily give it to her when she knocked on my door.
Before this, I just shrugged off caring for the environment, not necessarily because I didn’t care for the environment but because I didn’t feel bothered to do anything more. From what I often saw and heard from others around me, it was something that was an overhyped fad—“hippie talk.” The earth was going through a natural change, and my actions wouldn’t affect that.
But what in that logic applies to any other area of discipleship? If my congregation moved toward the popularity of liberalism and started to gloss over Scripture, would I say then that I should just ignore it? If my brother or sister were mistreating someone, should I stay quiet because it’s more convenient? Then why should I take the gift of God’s earth and not serve it as if serving the Lord, all because of ignorance or convenience? I started to feel the all-too-familiar pull that I should be doing something differently.
Creation Care: “I started to feel the all-too-familiar pull that I should be doing something differently.”
I started to think about God’s creation differently, as a gift that He carefully made and entrusted to us. Once I looked at the seven days of creation through the lens of someone caring for the earth, things looked much differently. I could see how human activity has directly disturbed the natural order of God’s creation.
So, How Are We Doing with the Mandate?
God made light on the first day, but humans create a lot of light pollution that disrupts animal sleep and migration cycles and causes other problems for the environment. Nutrient pollution, primarily affecting air and water, is “one of America’s most widespread, costly and challenging environmental problems,” and water waste and inefficient energy usage only exacerbate many of the problems that pollution creates. With the spread of human habitation, we are destroying more trees and vegetation , which are obviously essential for animals and humans.
Even with human exploration to space, there has been growing concern of orbital space debris in the lower Earth orbit, which NASA now calls “the World’s largest garbage dump.” While many of the previously mentioned issues affect birds and fish, there is also what the Environmental Defense Fund calls “the most serious threat to our oceans” : overfishing. And it doesn’t take long to see how we are mistreating animals in the food industry , let alone other forms of animal abuse . We do a pretty good job of taking care of ourselves (though that is also highly debatable), but it seems we often do this at the expense of the rest of God’s creation.
One of my favorite passages has become Job 12:7-10:
“Ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.”
“Ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you.”
There is wisdom in nature, and according to Paul, God has made us stewards of these mysteries of God—and that “it is required of stewards to be found trustworthy” (1 Cor. 4:2). I think of Matthew 10:29, when Jesus says that not a single bird falls to the earth without God knowing it, and it makes me question how trustworthy we have actually been with the gift of God’s creation.
Not All Bad News
It’s not all bad news, though. Though things look bleak now when awareness increases, it’s important to remember that, as Master Gardener Susan Patterson puts it, “Modern humans have been around for a very long time and lived for much of it without causing much irreparable damage to the environment.” Patterson goes on to say that it’s the recent overexploitation that has been especially destructive.
There have been things we have done in history to positively affect the environment, like protecting endangered species and establishing wildlife preserves, controlling wildfires, reforesting depleted areas, and holding nations and corporations accountable for pollutants. And just as we see through other aspects of our relationship with God, we know we have the ability to change.
Creation Care: “There have been things we have done in history to positively affect the environment.”
How can we wisely steward god’s creation.
Caring for God’s creation is not hard, and just like other aspects of following God, we need to first look to Scripture for instruction.
There are many examples, parables, and teachings between the lines that we can glean from the Scriptures about how to care for the environment, but there are a few specific commandments for how to care for the environment, almost all of which are for the Israelites in the Old Testament as a way of teaching them how to live in the desert, how to take care for the promised land, or what to do with land that had been conquered.
And even though we do not (or cannot) take these commands as being directly to us as New Testament Christians living all over the globe, we can still look at the intentions to see what God was teaching His people regarding how to take care of His creation.
The Principle of Stewardship
Because of what God says in Genesis 1:26-30, 9:1-3, and (as told again by David) Psalm 8:6-8, that man is to have “dominion” over creation and to “subdue” it, the first thing to remember is that we should not feel guilty for using the land or animals for our own sustenance; this was the intention God had. James 3:7 reinforces this and even says that every animal is tameable for man!
But Proverbs 12:10 says a righteous person cares for his animals. Just because we have the right to use nature does not mean we have the right to abuse it. Deuteronomy 20:19-20 says, after conquering a land, not to cut down trees that can be used for food. The only trees that can be cut down are the ones whose wood can be used for protection. But as for the others, the Scriptures say “Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you?” And similarly, Deuteronomy 22:6-7 says that if you find a nest on the ground, you may take the eggs to eat but leave the mother bird in the nest. These verses all show the importance of taking only what you need. We aren’t the owners; we are stewarding God’s creation.
Again, just because we have dominion over nature does not mean we can be careless in our usage. We must still respect the environment and everything in it as a creation of God.
Creation Care: “Just because we have dominion over nature does not mean we can be careless in our usage.”
Leviticus 19:23-25 (as well as many other Scriptures) teaches us to give our firstfruits to God as a praise offering and a reminder that He provides our sustenance. When we do take, we need to remember where it came from— Whom it came from.
True, it is popular culture to pray and thank God for food before we eat, but how many of us are really aware of the provision of God and how He has provided for us through nature? How many of us actually “eat bread by the sweat of our brow” (Genesis 3:19)? How many of us take nature for granted and just assume it will always be there? We need to change our thinking and remember that, yes, we have dominion over nature, but God has dominion over us, and He is the One who designed and provided nature in the first place.
The Principle of Sabbath
Exodus 23:10-11 and Leviticus 25:1-7 have the command of the sabbath year when, apart from the six years of working the land, one year is meant for the land to rest. During this year, animals and those less fortunate are allowed to scavenge off the land.
There is a lot to learn from this command even if we are not making our living off farming. One is that rest is important for both the workers and the land. Overplanting, overworking, and the restless pursuit of production is destructive for everyone and everything involved.
Creation Care: “Rest is important for both the workers and the land.”
God, of course, gave us this example Himself in the process of creation, when He rested on the seventh day, and he commanded the Israelites also to take a break on the seventh day of the week. We must not neglect rest for us or the environment.
Applying These Principles Today
So how can we apply these commandments and rightfully use the environment to serve our needs, while continually remembering God’s providence, not abusing or exploiting nature, and still leaving room for rest? How can we take these key precepts from Scripture and be intentionally caring for the environment as we go about our daily lives? Just like following many of God’s other teachings, starting with small steps toward commitment can lead us to bigger life changes.
The easiest thing to do might be to start with where we are and what we have. My first change was about my waste management when I was in China, and that can be yours too. Recycling can seem daunting, but it’s not very hard once you learn more about it. Most products indicate on the packaging if it can be recycled or not, and you can learn your city’s guidelines for recycling to ensure you are doing it properly. In my area, I found this video particularly helpful, and Waste Management also has a useful guide here .
Creation Care: “The easiest thing to do might be to start with where we are and what we have.”
To put food waste to good use, remember the value of leftovers, homemade stock, and composting . As you think through your home, you can also consider how you might reuse items (coffee cans make for excellent storage!) or even what you can donate instead of throw away.
The next logical step would be to think about how to take less from nature as you use in the future. When it came time for me to replenish disposable products like trash bags, diapers, wipes, sandwich bags, and even feminine hygiene products, for example, I started to consider more durable items that could be reused—and it has been eye-opening! I am slowly refilling my home with reusable, environmentally responsible products, and that’s a good feeling to know I won’t have to keep buying these things and then keep throwing them away.
You can also consider your energy usage and try to cut down on unnecessary electricity, water, and heating and cooling energy by making sure to turn off lights and water when you don’t need them, keeping your home cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer, and doing similar things to cut down on daily energy usage .
Connecting to God through His creation is another important and easy step to caring for His creation. This can be done just through finding time to pay attention to nature, whether it’s watching birds outside, hiking in the woods, or as King Solomon says in Proverbs 6:6-8, gaining wisdom from the ants! It’s also insightful to work with plants and connect with those Genesis roots in the Garden of Eden. Take care of some house plants or tend a garden to gain more appreciation for the natural cycles that God has put into place.
Creation Care: “Connecting to God through His creation is another important and easy step to caring for His creation.”
Philippians 2:4 reminds us to care for others as well as ourselves, and this is a summary for environmentalism as a disciple, after considering all the other verses too: It is okay to use the environment for ourselves, but we must not neglect nature in our wake. We can make small changes in our daily lives to better understand God’s creation and our place in it.
Caring for Animals
Days five and six of the creation account were special: God made living, breathing creatures to move over the earth—in the sea and sky on the fifth day and over the land on the sixth. When we continue to consider how to care for God’s creation, we know the non-breathing aspects like vegetation, water, and heavenly bodies definitely have God’s fingerprints; it takes just a moment of watching the clouds move beyond the trees during sunrise to see that. But there is something special about God’s living creations. Even God Himself at the end of the sixth day said this day was very good.
It is obvious God cares deeply for animals. He uses them as examples for us time and time again: we learn about productivity from ants in Proverbs 6:6-8, about the providence of God from ravens in Matthew 6:25-34 and Luke 12:22-31, about humility from a variety of small and large animals in Proverbs 30:24-33, and more.
There are also Scriptures where God holds animals in high esteem. In Exodus 23:5, the Israelites were instructed to save a fallen ox or donkey, even if it belonged to an enemy. In Isaiah 66:2-4, this prophet equated killing an ox to killing a man and used it as an antithesis to humility. Of course, in Numbers 22:22-35, God used Balaam’s donkey to point him in the right direction—the direction God originally told him to go. And in Matthew 10:29, Jesus says that not even a single sparrow falls to the earth without God knowing it.
Creation Care: “Jesus says that not even a single sparrow falls to the earth without God knowing it.”
There are things we can do in our daily lives to care for animals. Some people choose to live a vegan lifestyle in order to not support unethical treatment of animals, and I personally believe that can be very good! But you don’t have to be that drastic to care for animals. Some people try “meatless Mondays” for a start or abstain from buying animal products, like leather or fur.
If you have a pet, you probably care for it by keeping it healthy and giving it affection. But even of wild animals, just be mindful that God made them too, and they have a place and a function in God’s natural order. If an animal is invading your space (maybe you’ve got a pest problem in your home, or you find an animal in a place it shouldn’t be), instead of killing it, you might try re-homing it. You could use a catch-and-release mouse trap, toss the earthworm into the grass, carry the turtle to the other side of the road, etc. (Note that, of course, you may need to call a professional to do this if you think the animal might be dangerous.)
Caring for God’s Ultimate Creation
But in spite of the special place that animals clearly hold in the heart of God, Jesus continues in Matthew 29:31, “How much more valuable are you than the sparrows?” On the sixth day, God didn’t just create animals; He finished His creation by making man. The intimate care God took to create people indicates a special place in the line of creation: humans were the ultimate creation , made in the image of God (1:26), filled with the breath of God (2:7), and chosen for salvation (Eph. 1:3-10).
Creation Care: “How much more valuable are you than the sparrows?”
Though texts like Psalm 36:6 and Ecclesiastes 3:18-21 can show that humans and animals are not that different (God created and judges over both, and both will eventually die), other texts like Job 35:10-11 and Luke 12:6-7 show that we are also worth more in the eyes of God. Yes, God loves the animals, but the Scriptures were not written for animals to understand how to be closer to Him. God created for us and wants to have a relationship with us, and the entire Bible is an account of that.
Throughout this article, we have looked at how to care for nature that God lovingly created as a gift for humans. It’s important to note after all this that caring for nature is caring for people because we are taking care of the environment—the temporary, earthly home that we all share. Scripture talks over and over about caring for the basic physical needs of others as we go through life (Matt. 7:9, Jm. 1:27, 1 Jn. 3:17-18, 1 Tim. 5:8, Gal. 6:2, Matt. 25:40, Jm. 2:14-17, etc.), so we should care for each other in obvious ways by taking care of our fellow humans’ basic needs. Yet in Matthew 10:28, just before contrasting humans and sparrows, Jesus says that we should care more for the body and soul. In order to truly care for God’s creation, we must care for the most important part of His best creation: the human soul.
Creation Care: “In order to truly care for God’s creation, we must care for the most important part of His best creation: the human soul.”
In verse 27, Jesus says to proclaim from the housetops what He teaches. That is our mission, and that is our goal. As we go through life caring for the souls of others by sharing the good news of Jesus, we don’t have to sacrifice also caring for the environment. We can be good stewards of all of God’s creation.
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Why Should Christians Care for Creation?
As bearers of God’s image, all people have the responsibility and privilege of caring for God’s creation.
As bearers of God’s image, all people have the responsibility and privilege of caring for God’s creation. Christians in particular should be motivated by Scripture. We ought to love and care for the Earth because it is God’s very good creation, and because we must care for the most vulnerable people on the planet. But we have not done this well. Our day-to-day choices and attitudes are often driven by our culture and lifestyle preferences, not the Bible. The science is clear: because of human activity, we see effects like species extinction and climate change. Lament and repentance are appropriate, but as followers of Jesus we must not despair. We can choose to move forward with “rational hope,” accepting the enormity of the problems we face while taking action with the hope of the Gospel in view.
Christian motivations to care for the natural world are clear and strong in Scripture. Yet in our culture today, environmental issues have become highly politicized, so that motivations feel more political than religious. This is particularly true on the issue of climate change. In fact, studies have shown that the strongest predictor of whether we accept the scientific consensus on climate change is not how much science we know or how religious we are. It is where we fall on the political spectrum.
At BioLogos, we seek to follow Christ, not politicians. While there may be political implications to discussions of creation care, we at BioLogos do not advocate for a particular political ideology. In fact, both major political parties have failed to live up to the biblical standard of care for creation.
Christians have a counter-cultural, distinctive, and uniquely biblical vision of the world that ought to lead us to live and act differently than those who do not acknowledge Christ as Lord. Evangelist Billy Graham’s thoughts on creation care summarize this biblical position well:
Why should we be concerned about the environment? It isn’t just because of the dangers we face from pollution, climate change, or other environmental problems—although these are serious. For Christians, the issue is much deeper: We know that God created the world, and it belongs to Him, not us. Because of this, we are only stewards or trustees of God’s creation, and we aren’t to abuse or neglect it. The Bible says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1).
When we fail to see the world as God’s creation, we will end up abusing it. Selfishness and greed take over, and we end up not caring about the environment or the problems we’re creating for future generations.
As Christians today, we need to understand the biblical basis for caring for our planet and its people. As Graham says, that may rightly lead us to repent of our personal and collective blindness to selfish choices, greed, and apathy toward God’s good creation and toward other people. We should understand the biblical basis for caring for our planet and its people. Christians should be leading the way in taking practical steps to heal our planet and protect its people.
Loving God means caring for his creation
The Christian vision of creation care is rooted in Scripture. Jesus taught that the most important commandments are to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:29-31).
Our love for God must be reflected in fulfilling the role he gave to humanity. God appointed us to bear his image (Gen 1:27) and entrusted this world to our care (Gen. 2:15). So caring for God’s creation is one of the most fundamental things we are called to do.
Scripture is clear that creation belongs to God: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Ps. 24:1). “For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine” (Ps. 50:10-11). “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth… all things have been created through him and for him” (Col. 1:15-16).
In the law given to Israel through Moses, God made provision for renewal of the land (Exodus 23:10-12) as well as for the poor (Leviticus 23:22) and for other creatures (Deuteronomy 25:4). Following the law was costly for the Israelites. Creation care may be costly for us in similar ways, today.
Our actions have caused the loss of biodiversity across the world today. Biodiversity refers to the number of different kinds of plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi in a given ecosystem. Because of human impacts on the environment, species are becoming extinct at a much higher rate than normal. The natural rate of extinction is estimated to be 1-5 species per year. The current rate is 1,000 to 10,000 times faster. On average, one species goes extinct every hour. All creatures have value before God, because God made them and called them good (Gen. 1). If we love what God loves, then we must lament biodiversity loss and the extinction of other species—especially when we’re the cause.
Loving others means caring for creation
To some Christians, “creation care” can sound like we value the planet more than people. But caring for the planet really is caring for people. The effects of environmental degradation on human health are devastating. Malnutrition from food shortages, higher rates of tropical disease, cardiorespiratory distress from pollution, and conflicts over natural resources are just some of the ways environmental problems impact the lives of real people. At first climate change might seem unrelated, but it is more than a matter of warming up a few degrees. Climate change is a “threat multiplier.” It will make lots of bad problems worse—refugee crises, hunger, disease, poverty, biodiversity loss, deforestation, air pollution, and scarcity of resources. Christians working in Majority World countries often see the effects of environmental degradation and climate change in ways we don’t here in the United States. They can attest to the realities of drought, pollution, and conflict that are exacerbated by human activity. The poorest and most vulnerable people on the planet are negatively impacted by the choices and actions of the wealthiest (see the booklet Loving the Least of These: Addressing a Changing Environment , produced by the National Association of Evangelicals).
Caring for the planet is caring for our fellow humans. We tangibly show love for our neighbors when we act in ways that promote their good. Who is our neighbor? When Jesus was asked that question, he responded with the story of the Good Samaritan. Today in the context of the climate crisis, that must mean we are not to prop up the lifestyles of those of us in the wealthy, industrialized economies at the expense of those who will suffer most as a result of the changing climate.
Rational hope and taking action
What would happen if the church caught a vision for creation care? If we let our attitudes and actions be guided by Scripture instead of our lifestyles and political preferences? What if we really believed the end of our own story, that Christ is reconciling the entire creation to himself, and we have been called to be a part of that?
Rational hope means taking the data seriously and accepting the enormity of the problems we’re facing, yet doing so with the hope of the Gospel firmly in view. This posture empowers bold action. Christians are uniquely poised to act. Think of the number of churches, missionaries, and aid organizations all over the world. If we saw creation care as a strategic priority for helping us to fulfill the Great Commission, we could see massive changes (see the Lausanne Movement statement ) . We live out the Gospel and show the love of Christ to the poor and vulnerable by meeting their basic needs (Matthew 25:40).
It’s encouraging to see what people are already doing. For example, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action has a Fellows program in which college students develop a project plan over the summer and execute it on their campus during the school year. Past fellows have installed solar panels on campus, begun composting programs in the dining halls, set up recycling programs, and engaged their legislators. Many Christian colleges are leading the way by installing solar panels or white roofs, running sustainable agriculture programs, and leading mission relief and development trips that specifically include a sustainability or climate angle to them. Even kids can make a powerful impact!
There are so many ways to get involved, it can be overwhelming. The most important thing you can do may be to talk about it with others in your life . But your tangible actions, even small ones, do make a difference. Here are some ideas for getting started:
- Go outside. Behold the beauty of the created order, and thank God for it. We cannot love that which we do not see, and we cannot see what we are not connected to .
- Sign up for Climate Caretakers . Every month they will send you a list of 3 things to do and things to pray for.
- Host a seminar at your church. Invite a speaker from BioLogos or the Evangelical Environmental Network .
- Conduct an energy study for your church or your school. LiT does this from a Christian perspective. They help save money that can be used for other purposes for the church, including missions.
- Volunteer with A Rocha on a restoration project.
Finally, equip yourself with quality resources on the science and theology of creation care. The National Association of Evangelicals’ booklet “ Loving the Least of These: Addressing a Changing Environment ” offers an excellent overview of both. Also see an essay by Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. For book-length treatments of the subject, see Steven Bouma-Prediger’s For the Beauty of the Earth and Douglas and Jonathan Moo’s Creation Care: A Biblical Theology of the Natural World . To dig further into the science, we recommend Skeptical Science , Global Weirding , and the books, articles, and talks by scientists of faith like Katharine Hayhoe , Cal DeWitt , and Rick Lindroth .
Read More About This Topic
- Our Christian Responsibility in Changing Creation
- What Does the Bible Say About Climate Change?
- Christians and Climate Change
- Caring For People and The Planet
Related resources
If you enjoyed reading this Common Question, we recommend you check out the following:
Caring for People and the Planet
Christians and Climate Science: Moving Beyond Fear to Action
Scientisting Life: Creation Care Lessons from Biology, Scripture, & Five-Year Olds
The Pope is Right: Creation Care Needs Both Scripture and Science
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The Doctrine of Creation
Other essays.
The doctrine of creation states that God, who alone is uncreated and eternal, has formed and given existence to everything outside of himself. He did this from nothing by the word of his power, and all of it was very good.
Historical Christianity has always believed—as indicated in both The Apostles’ Creed and The Nicene Creed—that God is the creator of the universe. This article will focus on providing an examination of the historic doctrine of creation and many of the relevant theological implications that flow from it. Attention will be given to the main aspects of this doctrine that have been broadly embraced by Christians throughout the centuries rather than to those areas about which Christians have disagreed with one another. In tracing out these main aspects, the following article will start by examining two important phrases from Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God” and “God created the heavens and the earth.” After that, the article will spend time reflecting upon some of the things that those phrases imply theologically, namely, that God is the source and sustainer of everything, that God created everything good, that God invested His creatures with responsibility and significance, that this diversity within creation is reflective of the doctrine of the Trinity, and that God’s creative actions are not identical with those of human beings.
Introduction
It is hard to imagine that there is any topic within Christianity that has been responsible for more debate and disagreement than the doctrine of creation. The question of whether or not God created everything in the universe is a line in the sand, so to speak, that immediately divides everyone in the world into two camps: those who believe in creation and those who don’t. 1 But this question doesn’t just divide the world into two opposing camps, it also raises a number of secondary questions, the answers to which have frequently been the cause of further division and disagreement, especially among believers. Questions pertaining to the length of the creation days, the age of the earth, and the relationship between creation and evolution—just by way of example—have fostered great debate among Christians. These matters have often taken center stage when the doctrine of creation has been discussed and have frequently overshadowed the more fundamental aspects of it. In this article, our main focus will be to examine some of these more fundamental aspects of the doctrine of creation about which there has typically been broad consensus among Christians, as well as many of the theological deductions that flow from them.
“In the beginning, God”
The first four words of the Bible place immediate emphasis upon God. They tell us from the very beginning that before anything else in the universe existed, God already was. Nothing brought him into being. Nothing gave him existence. He was around long before anything else was. He was around long before there was even such a thing as time itself.
God’s name and the way in which it was given to Moses in Exodus 3 both confirm and highlight this independence of being. The name YHWH in verse 15, which is typically translated by the English word “Lord” (in all capital letters), is connected to the “to be” verb in verse 14. In other words, when God gave his name to Moses, he expressed that name in terms of being: “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exod. 3:14). This tells us that God is the being one, the one who is. And he gives his name to Moses from the midst of a bush that was burning but not being consumed (3:2-3). In other words, the fire in the bush was not in any way dependent upon the bush for its energy to burn. It was independent, self-existent, and self-sustaining.
This is the picture of God presented to us in the opening words of the creation account. Before anything else existed, God existed. He alone is uncreated and eternal (Psa. 102:25-27; Rev. 1:8). Nothing gave him existence. Instead he gave existence to all things outside of himself.
This means that God did not need to create in order not to be lonely. He did not need to create in order for him to be able to love. He was self-sufficient; he needed nothing outside of himself. For all eternity, he had been enjoying perfect fellowship and perfect love as the three-in-one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Creation was an overflow of his perfection not a manifestation of his inherent imperfection or lack. 2
God created “the heavens and the earth”
When the Bible says that God “created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1), it does not mean to suggest that he only created those two things and nothing else. The Bible is here employing a figure of speech called merism, in which two contrasting terms are used to express totality. We do the same thing regularly in our marriage vows when we pledge to love one another “for better or for worse” or “for richer or for poorer.” Our pledge is not just for the two extremes of life but for the extremes and everywhere in between. We are using two contrasting words to express totality. We are promising to love one another all the time , regardless of circumstance. Likewise, when the Bible says that God “created the heavens and the earth,” it is saying that God created the heavens and the earth (the extremes) and everything in between. It is expressing totality. The point is that God has created everything in the universe (cf. Gen. 14:19). 3
Even though God has created all things, he has not created them all alike in significance or value. The Bible is clear that humankind is the apex of God’s creative work. Human beings were the final creative act of God on the final “day” of creation, created in the image of God and charged with exercising dominion over everything else (Gen. 1:24-8). And while we don’t know exactly what all the image of God entails, it is fairly obvious from Scripture that it at least involves a creative element. In other words, it appears that God has created human beings to mirror His image as creator. To be sure, human beings cannot and do not create in the exact same way that God does—a point to which we will return shortly. But it still remains true that part of what it means to be created in the image of God is that we are made to be vice-creators (Gen. 1:27-8; cf. Gen. 3:7; Gen. 6:14-16; Gen. 8:6; Gen. 11:4; just by way of example).
God is source and sustainer of everything
The fact that God is the only uncreated and eternal being in the universe, who is also creator of all, means that he is the source and sustainer of everything that exists. We not only “have our being” in him, but we “live and move” in him as well (Acts 17:28; cf. Heb. 1:3; 2 Pet. 3:7). This means that every person in the universe is subject to God and dependent upon him as creator and sustainer. No one is autonomous or independent. We are all derived and dependent creatures. We belong to God, the absolute owner of everything (Gen. 14:19, 22), and that means that we are accountable to him (Rom. 3:19). 4
It is this aspect of the doctrine of creation that paves the way for the gospel. No doubt this is why Herman Bavinck, Francis Schaeffer, and many others emphasized the importance of the doctrine of creation as, what Bavinck called, the “starting point of true religion.” 5 Without accountability, the need for grace and forgiveness evaporates. No doubt this is also why so many non-Christians seek to undercut or disprove the doctrine of creation. It gives them the freedom to do what is right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25) without incurring any kind of feelings of guilt.
God created everything good
These initial aspects of the doctrine of creation also mean that good and evil are not competing powers in the universe, as dualistic worldviews might suggest. God is good, and the creation he brings into existence reflects that goodness. Evil—which I take to be an anti-God posture, what the Bible calls un godliness—was not a part of the original creation in any way. It was introduced into the universe by the very creatures that God made. 6 Evil is, therefore, subject to the sovereignty of God in the same way that those creatures who choose to reject him are as well.
God invested his creatures with responsibility and significance
The fact that God created humankind in his image and invested us with the right to exercise dominion means that we are stewards of his creation and accountable to him for how well we care for what he has made. We are responsible not only for how we personally take care of God’s creation as individuals, but for how everyone else does as well. After all, we are our brother’s keeper (Gen. 4:9; Mal. 2:10).
In addition to being created to be creators, human beings are also equally invested with significance and value. There is no hierarchy among humankind in God’s creation. No one tribe, tongue, or race of people is created to exercise dominion over all others. Every human being is created in God’s image, regardless of what he or she might look like, where he or she might live, or what he or she might do. In this sense, it is proper to speak of the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man (Mal. 2:10) in this sense. Every human being receives life from the same “parent.” This means that there is no place in the world for racism or prejudice of any kind based on skin color, hair color, gender, height, weight, ancestry, or anything else that is a part of the created order.
The diversity in creation is suggestive of the Trinity
The human race is incredibly diverse. Differences in physical appearance, gender, mental capability, personality, gifting, and relationship all exist in the human race from the moment of creation. The fact that God has created the entire human race in His own image indicates that his image obviously encompasses the incredible diversity that we see all around us. That is at least suggestive of the diversity, or maybe better, complexity, that exists within God himself. To be sure, the creation account does not make this explicit. But it does make more suggestions in this direction by making special mention of the “Spirit of God” (Gen. 1:2) and by recording the way that God speaks about himself in the plural: “let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26, emphasis added).
This isn’t a full-fledged doctrine of the Trinity. But it is at least a hint in that direction. And it is enough of a hint that we should not be surprised at the full-fledged doctrine. It was foreshadowed in the diversity of the image of God in creation. 7
God’s creating is not the same as human creating
As mentioned previously, God’s creative action is different from ours. When we make something, we use pre-existing materials to do it. We do not create anything that did not already exist. But when God created the universe, he did not use anything that was pre-existing, because “in the beginning” God alone existed. This means that God created the universe ex nihilo , or out of nothing. He did not use pre-existing material. That is the point of Hebrews 11:3, where the apostle says that “what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” It is the point of Romans 4:17, which tells us that God “calls into existence the things that do not exist.” And it would also seem to be the point of the Hebrew word bārā’ in Genesis 1:1 (translated “created”). This word, when it occurs in the Qal stem, is only and always used of God and the kind of creating that He alone does (see Ex. 34:10). 8 It is never used to describe the secondary creation that human beings carry out by manipulating things that already exist.
If creation is not ex nihilo then a difficult theological issue results: where did the pre-existent material come from? If we say that it was created, then many questions arise: Who created it? When? Why? Was God not able to create it? What is the relationship between this “creator” and the God of the Bible? If we say that the pre-existent material is eternal, then we are saying that a rival god exists who, like the God of the Bible, is eternal and uncreated but who, unlike the God of the Bible, is wholly impersonal and uncommunicative. The Bible’s teaching about the nature of God requires ex nihilo creation. Anything less would undercut the Bible’s picture of God as sovereign, eternal, holy, and free.
God’s act of creating is also different from ours in the way in which it was carried out. God spoke his creation into being (Gen. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14-15, 20, 24, 26; Ps. 33:6; 148:5). He did not put it together by hand or with the use of special tools. He spoke, and it was. This tells us that our God is a communicating God. He is a God who speaks and makes himself known (Rom. 1:18-20). Once we understand this, we should not be surprised that he would later choose to reveal himself specially in the written word and in the person of his Son—the incarnate Word of God (John 1:1-2; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2).
God’s creative work may not be identical with that of human beings, but it clearly sets the pattern for it. Not only is human creativity a product of God’s work in creation, but the weekly cycle of work and rest is as well. This weekly pattern is mirrored in eternity, as human beings work for their lifetimes and then enjoy an eternal Sabbath rest in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ. The doctrine of creation, therefore, ultimately points us to that reality and calls us to “strive to enter that rest” by holding fast to Jesus Christ by faith to the end (Heb. 4:9-11).
Further Reading
- Herman Bavinck, In the Beginning: Foundations of Creation Theology
- Henri Blocher, In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis . See a Book Review here .
- D. A. Carson, “A Theology of Creation in 12 Points”
- D. A. Carson, Video: The God who Made Everything
- John D. Currid, A Study Commentary on Genesis
- Jonathan Edwards, A Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World
- Anthony A. Hoekema, Created in God’s Image
- Douglas F. Kelly, Creation and Change: Genesis 1.1 – 2.4 in the Light of Changing Scientific Paradigms . Also see Blog Comments
- Ian A. McFarland, From Nothing: A Theology of Creation . Also Video Interview
- Matthew Miller, “The Bible’s Conflict-Free Creation Story”
- Guy M. Richard, “Where Did Satan Come From?”
- Paul Tripp, “The Doctrine of Creation”
- E. J. Young, In the Beginning: Genesis Chapters 1 to 3 and the Authority of Scripture
This essay is part of the Concise Theology series. All views expressed in this essay are those of the author. This essay is freely available under Creative Commons License with Attribution-ShareAlike, allowing users to share it in other mediums/formats and adapt/translate the content as long as an attribution link, indication of changes, and the same Creative Commons License applies to that material. If you are interested in translating our content or are interested in joining our community of translators, please reach out to us .
This essay has been translated into French .
Home / Essay Samples / Environment / Environmental Issues / Stewardship of the Earth: Taking Care of God’s Creation
Stewardship of the Earth: Taking Care of God's Creation
- Category: Science , Religion , Environment
- Topic: Animal Welfare , Christian Worldview , Environmental Issues
Pages: 3 (1497 words)
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Introduction
What are the causes of the issue, what is the effect of this issue upon society, what does catholic social teaching say about this issue, how do key principles from catholic social teaching apply to this situation, from a christian perspective: what can be done to help solve this issue, is there a clear link or cohesion between cst and scripture, bibliography .
- (N/A) “Catholic Social Teaching.” Explore Catholic Social Teaching Principles | End Poverty | Caritas Australia
- Amy Doll (2016) “Deforestation.” Prezi.com
- (N/A) “About CST.” Catholic Social Teaching
- (N/A) “BibleGateway.” BibleGateway.com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages.
- Katy (N/A). “Bible Verses on Caring for Creation.” Web of Creation,
- (N/A) “13 Bible Verses about Caring For Animals.” 13 Bible Verses about Caring For Animals
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