Creation Care
Why Creation Care?
Scriptural reasons why care for creation is a valid activity for the church:
Good Earth
Scripture has much to say about God’s creation, beginning with its inherent goodness. When God created the heavens and the earth he considered all the things he had made and concluded “it was good” (Genesis 1: 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). On the sixth day, after the creation of man, he concluded it was “very good” (Genesis 1: 31).
Christians believe in the general goodness of creation and the material world. In 1 Timothy (4: 4), Paul affirms this when he says, “For everything God created is good.” It follows that Christians should be eager to protect Creation, if for no other reason than it is good and comes from the hands of God.
Creation Care in the Old Testament
The Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) provides a rich storehouse of teachings about God and his creation. Beginning in the second chapter of Genesis we learn of humankind’s humble origin. God created Adam and Eve from dust (Gen. 2: 7). After they were formed he commanded Adam and Eve to populate the earth and rule over it (Gen. 1: 26-28). Later (Gen. 2: 15), God clarifies that ruling over, or subduing, means a responsibility to serve the earth by working it (abad) and caring for it (shamar).
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2: 15
The Hebrew verbs abad and shamar imply God wants humans to serve, care for, and preserve the earth as good stewards. In Genesis then, humans are both rulers (stewards) and creatures of the earth—both separate from nature, yet inextricably part of it.
There is no indication that this command from God is no longer in effect; indeed, the command to work and take care of the planet is more critical than ever as the human population exceeds 8 billion and human technology threatens the stability of both life and climate.
The Bible provides an explanation for why humans prove such poor stewards of the earth. In Genesis, we see the original harmonious relationship between humans and the earth was short-lived. Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, and in so doing suffered broken relationships with God, with self, with each other, and with creation. Access to the Garden of Eden was barred and creation no longer freely provided its bounty (Gen. 3: 17-19). This great fall, however, did not mean that God stopped caring for his creation.
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The story of Noah paints one of the most striking pictures of God’s ongoing care for his creation. From the Bible we learn that “in the days of Noah the wickedness of mankind was great in the earth” (Genesis 6: 5). As a result, God was “sorry He had made man” and determined to destroy mankind and start over (Gen 6: 6). But one man found favor in God’s eyes. Because of his love for Noah, God opened a way of salvation—an ark (boat) big enough to save Noah’s family and two of every living creature. After the flood, God made a pact not only with Noah and his descendants but also with nature.
I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. Genesis 9: 9-10
The fate of humankind and of all creation are clearly linked in scripture.
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An important part of the Old Testament consists of the laws given to Moses by God. These laws offer insights into the heart of God, including how he wants his people to treat his creatures. One of the best-known of the ten commandments of the law was the command for God’s people to rest every seventh day, on the Sabbath (Exodus 20: 10). Less well known is that livestock was also to be given a Sabbath day of rest (Exod. 23:12) and after six years of planting and harvesting, the land was to have “a year of complete rest [from cultivation]” to sustain the fertility of the soil (Leviticus 25:5). In another command, oxen employed in grinding grain were not to be muzzled so that they could eat while they worked (Deuteronomy 25:4), establishing a principle of kindness to hard-working animals. According to author Richard Foster, “The whole point of this instruction was that our dominion over the earth and the little creatures that creep upon it is to be filled with compassion. We should not rape the earth but manage and care for it — kindly, lovingly, tenderly.”
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Another great reason for respecting and preserving creation is to protect its role in bearing witness to God’s glory, mercy, and greatness. The Psalms are rich in references to God as creator and to creation as a reflection of God’s glory.
The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19: 1
How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works… Psalm 104: 24, 31
It follows that to tarnish or destroy God’s beautiful creation is to destroy and deface something that bears witness to the existence of God. Christians, of all humans, should be the most concerned about preserving the earth’s cleanliness, keeping water and skies pure, protecting God’s creatures that he cares for, and sustaining the productivity of the land.
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Finally, the OT makes clear that the world and the heavens still belong to God (Deuteronomy 10:14; Leviticus 25:23; Job 41:11).
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas and established it on the rivers. Psalm 24:1-2
To demonstrate this, according to the Law Israelites were not allowed to sell property permanently; instead, they were to consider themselves tenants—temporary inhabitants of the land (Leviticus 25: 23-24). Instead, when the rich sold lands permanently for development (denying the poor the eventual return of their ancestral lands) the prophet Isaiah proclaimed:
“Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room in the land…” Isaiah 5:8
After the forests of Lebanon were denuded and the land destroyed by the Babylonians, the prophet Habakkuk warned that nation:
“The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed man’s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.” Habakkuk 2; 17
Indeed, the fate of men and all its creatures are inextricably linked in the OT. When Israel is called out for abandoning the knowledge of God by swearing, lying, murder, stealing, adultery, and bloodshed, the prophet Hosea proclaims:
“Therefore, the land mourns and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.” Hosea 4:3
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Creation Care in the New Testament
The central message of the New Testament is a proclamation of the coming of Jesus the Christ and his coming kingdom. To Christians, Jesus changed everything. He came proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 3: 2, 9: 35; Luke 8: 1), and he instructed his disciples to pray for God’s Kingdom to come on earth (Matthew 6: 10).
In his life, Jesus provided a glimpse of himself as Lord of creation, where even the winds and the waves obeyed him (Matthew 8: 26-27). He was a close observer of nature and used natural phenomena to teach and instruct his followers (John 4: 35; Matthew 13: 31-32).
In parable form Jesus spoke of how the Father cares for the smallest of his creatures: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God” (Luke 12: 6). Jesus also taught that the Lord actively provides for creation, feeding the birds (Matthew 6: 26) and clothing the lilies (Matthew 6: 30).
If Jesus loved and respected nature it follows that his people should as well. What God loves we should love. Christians do well to remember that “all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16),
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The New Testament also teaches that Christ came to save not just people, but also his creation. The passage of John 3: 16, frequently quoted as the most succinct summary of the message of the entire Bible, tells us that it was because of the Father’s love of the world that he sent his only son, Jesus, to die for us. But the word translated “world” also connotes the whole of creation, not just the world of people.
For God so loved the world (kosmos), He gave his only begotten Son... John 3: 16
The Greek word kosmos can refer to the world of people, or to the larger world of the entire created universe. This latter interpretation is supported when Paul assures us that Jesus died to reconcile not just people, but all creation:
For in him [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Colossians 1: 19
Restoration of God’s rule, scripture says, includes healing of all those relationships broken by the fall of Adam and Eve. This includes healing of man’s relationship with the earth, something predicted in the Old Testament book of Isaiah:
Behold I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Isaiah 65: 17
This promise is repeated in 2 Peter 3: 13:
But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heavens and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
Full healing from the impact of sin in our lives and in our world will not come until the day when Christ returns (Acts 1: 11; Ephesians 1: 13-14). However, for the early Christian church, the resurrection of Christ marked the beginning of a new age of God’s rule where the people of God begin working toward healing a broken world.
Jesus left the church a commission to go into the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28: 19-20). But we do well to remember that humans have been given a still older commission from God to till the earth and care for it. We cannot dismiss the command to care for the earth any more than we can neglect other key commands of the Old Testament, such are caring for the poor and needy, seeking justice, or following the Ten Commandments.
The core of the Christian faith is hope in a Savior from God who will restore humankind and the creation to its original Edenic harmony. This restored Kingdom of God was inaugurated with the coming of Jesus of Nazareth and was meant to be continued by the Church.
Creation Care and the Evangelical Covenant Church
The Evangelical Covenant Church has never shied from speaking on issues relevant to our culture and time. That’s true even—or especially—on complex and difficult issues of contemporary life including abortion, war, assisted suicide, sexuality, poverty, religious persecution, and racial righteousness. Creation care is no exception. Two non-binding resolutions on creation care have been passed by delegates to the Covenant Annual Meeting: a resolution on Creation Care (2007); and a resolution on The Environment (1992). In these, the denomination affirms that the world is not our own to do with as we please, but belongs to the Lord (Ps 24: 1-2). Both resolutions encourage local churches to teach environmental awareness from a Christian perspective, a task we willingly take up here on this website.