By Matthew Soderberg | Sports Reporter
In the beginning, there was the Word, and the Word was with God. Then they made the Earth and all its inhabitants, and then us, the humans. Then we destroyed all the hard work they provided for us.
Genesis 1 starts with the creation story. After God creates man, He says to him in Genesis 1:28 “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over all living creatures.” I think many people take that to mean humans can do whatever they want with the land and the animals and the plants they were provided with, but that’s not quite right.
Dominion is defined as having sovereignty or control over something, like how parents have dominion over their children. Now, parents aren’t supposed to corrupt their children and mutilate their bodily functions, but that’s what humanity is doing to the Earth. Our planet is wounded, and only the people who caused the gashes in its surface and its exterior can heal it.
Psalm 24:1 says the “The earth is the Lord’s.” We simply control and take care of it for Him until He comes back. It’s almost like renting a house, but instead of losing your security deposit if you treat the property poorly, you lose eternal life and the chance to know Jesus in heaven.
Most people I encounter who are not climate activists and follow Christ suggest that the warming of the Earth is simply God’s way of ending it all so He can come back for Judgement Day. I suppose my counter-argument would be, what if it isn’t?
What if it isn’t His plan to use climate change as the existential crisis to turn humanity towards Him? What if He expects us to take care of the Earth as he told us to from the start? After all, He said a really long time ago to Noah in Genesis 8:21 that He “will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”
He understands we’re not perfect, and He promised anyway not to destroy the Earth again after the Flood. Therefore, it is our responsibility to take care of what was left for us. Genesis 2:15 says God left us “in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Perhaps, as good Christians, we should give that a try.
