Christians
and the Planet Earth
Every year on
April 22nd, many people observe an event called “Earth Day”, also
called “International Mother Earth Day”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day ; https://www.earthday.org/ ;
https://www.un.org/en/observances/earth-day ) For Christians and other Bible
students, understanding the condition of this planet on which we live should
have special significance throughout the year. Our Holy Bible explains why.
The
underlying factor for our interest is our understanding of the events that took
place in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis Chapter Three) Remember that when the first man Adam sinned
against God he brought the curse of death into the world. That curse was not
only upon mankind, but also upon the Earth itself. The Scripture says: “And unto Adam he (the LORD God) said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the
tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is
the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy
life; (Genesis 3: 17.)
(Underline added).
Many
Christians and others have failed to recognize that when the ground was cursed,
it negatively affected the full variety of animals that ate of the grasses and
other vegetative substances. (Genesis 1: 28-30) More discussion on that effect follows below.
It is also important to remember that
when Adam sinned he lost the dominion over the Earth which God had given him
during the Creation. (Genesis 1: 26-28)
At that point God’s Enemy Satan gained dominion and as the Scripture
would later reveal, he became “the god of this world”. (2 Corinthians 4:
1-4) Additional evidence of that transferal
of dominion over the Earth came when our Lord Jesus was “tempted by the Devil”
in the wilderness. (Matthew Chapter Four) One of those temptations occurred when the
Scripture records: “Again, the devil taketh him up into an
exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the
glory of them; And
saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall
down and worship me. (Matthew 4: 8-9) (Underline
added).
Lest we forget and become totally dismayed by Adam’s (and man’s)
loss of dominion over the Earth, the Creator God still maintains “ownership”
and full control over the planet and the inhabitants. (John 1: 1-3) From our study of the Bible we know that God
will ultimately prevail. Yes, we have a
new set of “rules” for our existence on the Earth, including man’s difficulties
in controlling our “sin-nature”. But we
also have a merciful and loving God who will not allow the Enemy to remove us
from this planet through his various means of death including murder and
other violence, and more. Those two reasons
explain why God saved only righteous Noah and his family through the Great
Flood. (Genesis 6: 5-7, 11-13, 17, 19)
Afterwards, however, the LORD God gave mankind, the Planet Earth,
and all the animals a new “beginning”. (Genesis
8: 15 through 9: 17)
Even as the behavior of man has continued to decline over the
centuries under the influence of the Enemy, the Planet Earth itself, has
remained faithful to our Creator. In fact, the Earth and its physical
properties and its creatures have played key roles in how God has been
implementing His Plan for man’s salvation.
Here are some examples:
·
Book of Exodus, Chapter 14, chronicles the events leading up to and including how the LORD
gave power to Moses to perform the parting of the Red Sea. That miracle allowed the people of Israel to
escape and the pursuing Egyptian Army.
·
Book of Numbers, Chapter 16, relates how Korah and other sons of Levi and hundreds of
supporters challenged the authority that the LORD had given to Moses and Aaron
to carry out certain functions of the Temple. As their punishment for provoking
the LORD, the Earth opened and “swallowed” them, their houses and all their
possessions. (v. 30-33)
·
Book of Joshua, Chapter Three, tells how the LORD gave leadership credibility to Moses’
successor Joshua by the parting of the overflowing Jordan River. That miracle allowed the people of Israel to
cross over into the “Promised Land”.
·
Book of Mark, Chapter Four, Verses 35-40, tell how our Lord Jesus rebuked and
calmed the dangerous and stormy waters on the Sea of Galilee by saying, “Peace, be still”. This is only one of the
many miracles He performed during His Earthly Ministry, many of which involved
“acts of nature”. (John 21: 25)
·
Book of Luke, Chapter 19, Verses 35-40, relate the response of the Lord Jesus to the antagonistic
Pharisees who complained as He was entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Th
Pharisees wanted Him to rebuke / silence His disciples who were loudly
declaring Him to be their King / Messiah.
The Lord responded by saying, “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones
would immediately cry out.
(Underline added);
·
Book of Matthew, Chapter 28, Verses 1-2, note that after the Crucifixion, death and burial of our Lord
Jesus, the Scripture says: “And, behold, there was a great earthquake:
for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came
and rolled back the stone from the door…”; …and now today as we review from
a global viewpoint:
·
Book of Romans, Chapter Eight, Verses 16-23, in which the Apostle Paul directly addresses
the relationship between believing Christians and what the Scripture
calls the “creature”, otherwise translated “creation”
(meaning the Planet Earth as created in Genesis Chapter One). Those
verses say:
“16 The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And
if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be
that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For
the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation
of the sons of God.
20 For
the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of
him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because
the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For
we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together
until now.
23 And
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body.”
This
revelation to the Apostle Paul came from the Ascended Lord Jesus, and through
the Holy Spirit. He is alerting us that
the future for believers involves not only the time when we will have left
these temporary, mortal, aging bodies and received our new eternal bodies. That
future will also involve the entire “Creation” / Planet Earth and its “heaven” being
made over. (Genesis 1: 6-10) That
prospect of the future is already being anticipated by the Earth itself.
The Bible
Scripture prophesied by Isaiah in the Old Testament (Isaiah 65: 16-17), and written
by the Apostles Peter and John in the New Testament further emphasize the
coming time when God will start over in creating a “New Heaven and New Earth”. That will happen after He has removed the
influence of the Enemy who has been the force behind the deaths, contamination of waters; destruction
of forests; erosion of land through mining for resources; air pollution; “natural”
catastrophes, and other evils that have plagued mankind and the planet for
thousands of years.,…especially now. (2
Peter Chapter Three; Revelation Chapters 20 through 22)
However,
before that future time of restoration, it is the responsibility of Christians
and others to recognize the perils that have beset our Planet Earth. Hopefully we can find ways to support what
God has created until the threats are removed.
Dr. W. A.
(Bill) Robinson
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