"We beasts remember, even if dwarfs forget, that Narnia was never right except when a Son of Adam was King."
(Trufflehunter, Prince Caspian)
Last time, I talked about why God created the human race--to rule over the world on his behalf. This, of course, is a radical shift in how most of us were taught to think about the Christian life. We were taught that being a Christian means waiting for Heaven, not taking stewardship of the Earth. This shift in focus begs a question: what exactly is our relationship with creation in Scripture?
Last time we looked at Genesis 1:26-28, where God declares that he has created humanity to rule the Earth. There we find God establishing an ecosystem between Heaven and Earth. God created the world, with its plants and animals, and he called it good. God loves his creation--you can see that in God's responses to Job, beginning in Job 38. He creates human beings--physical creatures with spiritual awareness, with the capacity to intentionally alter the shape of the planet. And he makes them in his image. In ancient cultures, bearing someone's image meant you bore their authority. Messengers and governors sent by distant kings would carry his image with them to prove that they spoke for the king. Human beings, in the beginning, were created to rule as governors of the earth, on behalf of the God in Heaven. Thus the ecosystem: Creation answers to humanity, and humanity answers to God. Without each of these three parts, the system collapses.
Last time we looked at Genesis 1:26-28, where God declares that he has created humanity to rule the Earth. There we find God establishing an ecosystem between Heaven and Earth. God created the world, with its plants and animals, and he called it good. God loves his creation--you can see that in God's responses to Job, beginning in Job 38. He creates human beings--physical creatures with spiritual awareness, with the capacity to intentionally alter the shape of the planet. And he makes them in his image. In ancient cultures, bearing someone's image meant you bore their authority. Messengers and governors sent by distant kings would carry his image with them to prove that they spoke for the king. Human beings, in the beginning, were created to rule as governors of the earth, on behalf of the God in Heaven. Thus the ecosystem: Creation answers to humanity, and humanity answers to God. Without each of these three parts, the system collapses.
And collapse it did, as we all know. Adam and Eve rebelled, and the ecosystem fell apart. Where do we see the Divine Ecosystem crumble? In the curses. Look at how God curses Adam:
And to Adam he said, | 
The Divine Ecosystem
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Notice that when humanity rebels against God, the result is that creation rebels against humanity. As soon as Adam ceases to be a faithful servant of God, creation stops answering to him. Human rebellion against authority has undermined the very concept of authority on earth, and ever since humanity has struggled to master creation and creation has fought back.
The relationship between humanity and creation is further developed throughout Scripture: the actions of human beings (specifically their sinfulness or righteousness) has a direct effect on the state of creation. In Leviticus, God tells the Israelites that he will send them into exile if they break his covenant. The purpose of this exile is not only to punish Israel, but also to give rest to the land, which will have been suffering under their sinful rule:
The relationship between humanity and creation is further developed throughout Scripture: the actions of human beings (specifically their sinfulness or righteousness) has a direct effect on the state of creation. In Leviticus, God tells the Israelites that he will send them into exile if they break his covenant. The purpose of this exile is not only to punish Israel, but also to give rest to the land, which will have been suffering under their sinful rule:
“Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it."(Leviticus 26:34-35, ESV)
We see the same thing in the book of Judges. When God sends a judge to deliver Israel, and they temporarily turn from their sin, the author summarizes these events by saying, "And the land had rest" (Judges 3:11, 3:30, 5:31, 7:28). When God finally does send the Northern Kingdom into exile, the Assyrians repopulate the land with gentiles who don't worship God. His response is to send lions against them--creation itself rises up against a sinful regime in the Promised Land (2 Kings 17:25).
This is the state of creation under a broken ecosystem: humanity rules (sinfully) over creation, and creation suffers--and often fights back. As long as humanity continues in its rebellion, creation will suffer and rebel. But the prophets of the Old Testament foresaw a day when God would end human rebellion and all its consequences--including the conflict between human beings and creation:
This is the state of creation under a broken ecosystem: humanity rules (sinfully) over creation, and creation suffers--and often fights back. As long as humanity continues in its rebellion, creation will suffer and rebel. But the prophets of the Old Testament foresaw a day when God would end human rebellion and all its consequences--including the conflict between human beings and creation:
And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.(Hosea 2:18, ESV)
Human beings are an essential part of God's design for this planet. Creation needs us--and it needs us to be righteous and obedient to God. This means that your salvation is not just about you. God is saving you because he loves you, but he is also saving you because you are essential to his plan to save the people and creation around you. When Scripture says that God sent his Son because he "so loved the world," that is not shorthand for all of humanity. He means the whole world. Perhaps this is why Jesus said that if the crowds had fallen silent at the triumphal entry, "the very stones would cry out" (Luke 19:40): because Jesus is their savior too.Of course, Jesus did not come to die for rocks, or trees, or birds, or lions. He came to die for human beings. But Paul is very clear that the salvation of humanity has consequences for the whole of creation:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to [or in\ us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.(Romans 8:18-21, ESV)
Notice that creation is waiting for the revealing, not of God, but of the sons of God. When creation is finally set free, it is not by means of the freedom of God, but the freedom of the children of God. Humanity has a role to play in this world, and God is saving us so that we can play that role.
Here, at the end, let me clarify one thing. When I talk about being stewards of creation, you most likely started thinking about fighting pollution and going green, but that's not what I (or the Bible) mean by it. Don't get me wrong, good stewardship of the Earth is part of it. But in Scripture, creation is not separated from morality. The land can be polluted by sin just as much as by chemicals (Numbers 35:33). Ruling this earth on God's behalf is not just gardening. It is ruling, in the full sense of the word. Micah, quoting Deuteronomy, reminds us what that means:
Here, at the end, let me clarify one thing. When I talk about being stewards of creation, you most likely started thinking about fighting pollution and going green, but that's not what I (or the Bible) mean by it. Don't get me wrong, good stewardship of the Earth is part of it. But in Scripture, creation is not separated from morality. The land can be polluted by sin just as much as by chemicals (Numbers 35:33). Ruling this earth on God's behalf is not just gardening. It is ruling, in the full sense of the word. Micah, quoting Deuteronomy, reminds us what that means:
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of youbut to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?(Micah 6:8)
Unfortunately, justice, kindness and humility have always been in short supply for our species. Next time I'll talk about how God set out to fix that several thousand years ago through a man named Abraham--and how his family's failure led to a whole new hope for humanity.
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