In this final lesson of the Creation Foundation series, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines what Genesis 1-2 and the rest of the Bible teach us about stewarding the earth. Pastor Dave first investigates the Genesis 1 mandate given by God to mankind to rule the earth and then overviews biblical principles for responding to modern environmentalist movements. Pastor Dave concludes by considering the Climate Change controversy of our day as well as a few other application questions.
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All right. Well, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Sunday school.
Please find your seats. Today we come to our last official lesson lesson of the creation foundation series. Thank you for being part of it. In our last lesson, we were talking about what it means to be stewards of God’s creation.
Stewards of God’s creation. Now, last week we talked about the age of the earth. And we saw that according to a straightforward reading of the Bible, especially its first chapters, the earth is only about 6,000 years old. And how do we get that number? Recall, you simply add up three sets of years based on time details in the Bible and specifically the Genesis 5 and 11 genealogies. Is my microphone cutting in and out?
Okay. Sorry if that comes up to be another uh issue in today’s lesson. I know it was doing that a little bit last time. Not sure why it’s doing that, but as I was saying last time we looked at the Genesis 5 and 11 genealogies and though some Christians infer gaps in those genealogies and therefore they stretch the age of the earth to about 20,000 years, we saw that there’s really no reason to do that. There’s no reason to include gaps in the genealogies.
These are unique genealogies in the Bible. Chrono genealogies.
No reason to assume gaps.
If we just look at what’s the information presented there, it’s about 2,000 years from Adam to Abraham, 2,000 years from Abraham to Christ, and about 2,000 years from Christ to today. So about 6,000 years old.
We also saw last time that though the question of the age of the earth is not salvific, it is an important one because what does it have to do with fundamentally when it comes to the Bible?
Yeah. Is it true and is it authoritative?
If you assert or if you allow for an old earth and universe several billion years old, then you’re not being fair to the Bible’s own claims about creation, about the age of the earth, and you are really compromising the authority of the Bible for the sake of man’s modern theories.
Another authority is causing you to reinterpret the Bible. And that’s never a good stance to have as a Christian.
Instead, because we know that the Bible is trustworthy as the word of God, because the Bible clearly contradicts man’s current theories, we should let the Bible be our starting point. Let the Bible adjust or even cause us to reject man’s theories.
We can let the so-called wise men of our world rave as they may.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, says Proverbs. We may be persecuted temporarily because of this, but we will not ultimately be put to shame if we stand on the word of God.
It’s been vindicated before. It will be vindicated again.
Now, God did create the earth in six solar days, but God also gave direction to man as to how man should take care of the earth.
Man was given rule and stewardship of God’s creation.
That stewardship is the subject of our study today. What does it mean to steward God’s creation?
Here’s our approach to today’s topic. We first take a look at the original charge given to man and women in Genesis 1.
Then we’ll discuss biblical principles when it comes to facing environmental issues today. And third, we’ll talk about that issue that is ever present in today’s media, climate change.
Let’s pray before we go on.
Lord, it is amazing that you have made man a little lower than the angels.
That you have crowned him with glory and honor and have given him dominion over the earth. We know that that statement is ultimately fulfilled in Christ. Yet it is amazing that even in a fallen world, even with so many who rebel against you, you still have given us the place of stewardship, we are accountable to you. Teach us, Lord, what it looks like to walk faithfully as stewards of creation, even in this lesson today in Jesus name. Amen.
Okay, we’re going to start by looking at God’s original charge to man and women.
So, if you would please turn to Genesis 1 again, Genesis 1. and we’re focusing on verses 26-31 specifically.
Genesis 1:26-31. We’re going to read this, then we’re going to make some observations on it.
Genesis 1, starting in verse 26.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply. fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food for you. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that moves on the earth, which has life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God saw that he had made and behold it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
We’ve read this passage before, but let’s make some new observations of it.
Notice the first thing that’s said about man in verse 26.
He’s going to be made in the image of God. Notice also that when God creates mankind, he defines man’s relationship to the animals. What is that relationship?
He is to rule over them. Man is to rule over the animals. And which animals exactly according to this passage?
All of them. All the animals.
Notice what else man has given dominion over. Is given dominion over the earth.
And how much of it?
All of it. Once again, all the earth.
And then notice the different commands slashblessings. Notice it says he blessed them and then he tells them to do certain things that God gives to man and women in this passage. He says be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth.
It’s two ways of saying the same thing.
Subdue the earth and rule over the animals.
God also identifies a food source in this passage. What is that source?
Plants. And for whom are plants going to be food?
Both for man and the animals.
And then how does God describe the created order that he’s just inaugurated at the very end? Very good. Not just good, very good.
All right, let’s ask some interpretation questions now.
What part of being made in God’s image is most emphasized in this passage?
It’s the rule. When we pointed this out before, but when God says, “Let us make him in our image. Let us make him in our likeness,” the first thing he says after that is, “Let them rule.” And then we hear that repeated in a couple different ways. God is a ruler by nature and he designates man as a ruler over the earth.
Yeah, over the earth and and the animals. Now, what does it mean to rule?
Well, what does that word actually mean in our language?
In charge of the boss.
Yeah, you’re in charge of the boss. What else? You have authority. What else?
Okay. Responsibility.
Yeah, I think these are all correct. You have authority. You lead. You direct the use of resources.
And such rule is man’s job. It is his role given to him at creation.
Man as God’s under ruler is going to have authority to decide what to do with what is on the earth.
We notice also that when speaking of the earth, God tells man to subdue it. What does it mean to subdue?
Yeah, Cheryl.
Yeah. Bring it under control.
What else might sometimes think of it? Maybe not in this context, but other places to conquer, to overcome, to take command over, to make something subject to you.
And if you’re going to take command over something and rule it well, well, what are you going to need to acquire?
Say that again.
Often there will be laws associated with it. That’s true.
Say that again.
Yes, knowledge is certainly one thing.
What else?
Okay, there needs to be something to rule over. So, yes, a subject. Subjects.
Okay, you need the proper character, you need strength, you need the resources that are going to enable you to conquer or subdue or to bring under your control. Certainly, you need to be the proper ruler yourself, but you need the resources to do and you need the knowledge about how to do it. This is true of man and his role over creation.
He’s going to need to study creation in order to know how to direct it and know how to make the most use of it. And man is also going to likely need to gather resources in order to make tools that allow him to further direct and rule creation.
Now, man can’t know and gather resources like God can. God is omnipotent. God knows everything from a distance and before it even happens.
So, how is man going to need to rule in contrast to God?
Right.
That’s right. So, man’s going to have to actually take a look at what’s around him. And can he do that from a distance?
No. He’s going to have to get up close and personal.
Or use tools that bring him up close and personal. His rule is going to have to be direct. He’s going to have to be up close. he’s going to have to touch and even work with his own hands as part of ruling creation.
Now, Genesis 2 gives us a little bit more information as to what this commanding and subduing looks like for man. So, turn over there real briefly.
Notice in Genesis 2:15, Adam is given a specific role when it comes to being placed in the Garden of Eden. What is Adam’s role?
He is to cultivate it and keep it.
And those are poignant terms.
What do they imply?
Say that again.
Okay, definitely work. But what else?
Okay, the rule concept is coming back again. But specifically, cultivate and keep. It doesn’t just say work it. He says cultivate it.
What does that tell us?
Is it guarded?
Yes, there’s there’s an element of guarding so that what’s there is not lost. But what else?
He needs to make it better. It needs to develop it. He needs to make it flourish. as you say, this rule even over the garden is forward thinking and it’s even accountable because God says you are to keep it, you don’t do it, well, you’re accountable for that.
So, as what we’re seeing is that as man exercises authority over the earth, he is going to in a sense conquer it, but not for the purpose of disposing of it.
Rather, he develops the creation even as he makes use of it and enjoys it.
He is accountable. Therefore, man is accountable for maintaining and improving the creation for the future, especially for man’s own descendants.
There’s something else here in chapter 2. And look again at Genesis 2:19 to20.
What task is Adam given there?
That’s right. He names certain kinds of animals.
Now, we know that’s part of God providing a suitable companion to to Adam is in the creation of woman. But think about it for a moment.
How did Adam actually do this? How did he name the animals?
They were brought to him. They were brought to him. Yes. But how did he decide what name to give each animal?
that just okay so certainly in a prefallen state his knowledge his ability to think was unhindered but that doesn’t mean that he was created with all the knowledge that there was even all the knowledge of all the animals we actually get a glimpse of how Adam probably named each animal because we see a how Adam names women.
How Adam names women when she is brought to him.
He um if you remember the reasoning there or if you just glance down there, he actually tells us where he got the name from. He says, “She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.” So the name he uses is actually very descriptive of the creature.
He in one sense studied the woman and came up with an appropriate name for her. So Adam likely did the same thing with the animals just like taxonomists do today with those crazy Latin names.
He studied each animal and then gave a name that was appropriate to that animal.
So that tells us this work of steady classification even it is part of man’s rule as well not just of animals but of all other things that are in nature and even the things that man creates.
God has endowed man with intelligence to study and to categorize.
That’s part of his stewardship. And by the way naming especially in ancient culture was a symbol of what? authority.
That’s right. You name something because it belongs to you. Of course, Em and I are thinking about that with our baby arriving soon. We know that we get to be the one who chooses the name. This is our baby.
Naming is mark of authority.
Now, in Genesis, God names man. He names certain parts of creation, but he leaves a lot of the other names up to man himself. man will be the one who decides what it is called. As God’s vice authority, God has delegated that role to man.
So from Genesis 1 and 2, we’re getting a more complete picture of what it means to be a steward. What is man’s role when it comes to the earth?
Man decides what to do with the earth, its animals, its resources. Man gains mastery over the various parts of creation through personal work and study. Man develops and maintains the earth and its resources with his own multiplication in mind. Man observes and he classifies various parts of creation.
And man is accountable for God for how he rules creation.
Now, as was mentioned, it’s worth noting as an aside that each one of these things requires work.
Don’t miss the fact that Adam and Eve were created to work as part of being rulers and stewards of creation before the fall.
Their rule would require work. Now, that work was not originally created, frustrating, or arduous. It was enjoyable. It was doable. It was fulfilling.
Work was later cursed as part of man’s descent into sin. But it is redeemed for us as Christians so that we can do all of our work, even the work of stewarding the earth with joy and unto the Lord for his glory, even through the toil.
Work came before the fall.
But considering this picture of ruling, is man still ruling in the ways that I we’ve just outlined, is man still ruling these ways today?
Is he deciding what to do with Earth’s resources? Is he seeking to master creation through work and steady, developing the earth, classifying the world, remaining accountable to God? Are these things still true? They are.
Now, this is not executed perfectly.
It’s often executed sinfully, but this role is still man’s and it is still being exercised. Our economies and technologies, our research and education, our food and machines, refining, they are all examples of man exercising the dominion that God gave him over the earth and its creatures.
Those things are not bad. They’re good.
They’re part of fulfilling what God has commanded man to do. These methods are actually or these methods of ruling the earth are actually glorifying to God.
since they are fulfill a fulfillment of his creation charge, his blessed mandate.
Of course, there is an important difference in man’s exercising dominion today as before the fall and that is of course there is sin in the world now and the world is cursed and so is man.
So even though man is still a steward of the earth, he now rules sinfully, selfishly and recklessly.
Ruling and developing creation is also now painful and tedious. The world itself is subject to corruption in every quarter.
And we see the grievous implications of that in our world today both on a personal level and as a national international level. We see lands become overworked and unusable due to poor stewardship. We see invasive species appear and wreak havoc on environments. We see that there’s competition, conflict, and even bloodshed over the resources of the earth.
Man has even and still tries to turn his fellow man into a resource rather than treating him with dignity as a image bearer of God. Turns man into a resource through slavery of various kinds. And of course, pollution also makes water unclean and undrinkable and things like that.
Man is not exercising perfect rule, not taking care of the earth as he ought.
And as a result, many environmental and social movements have arisen to rectify these issues, combat these issues. And we are daily urged to donate money or take part ourselves. Governments have also gotten involved in environmentalism through regulation and conservation.
Businesses have gone green in certain ways.
So in light of this, what do we do now?
What do we do now as Christians when it comes to ruling a good but corrupted earth?
How do we navigate environmental issues that we see today? We know there are problems. There are people trying to fix those problems. How should we respond to their calls to action?
Certainly, it is clear that the Genesis 1 mandate to rule the earth well continues.
The earth is still for us and we are also still accountable to God for the way that we use, develop, and maintain the earth.
However, there are certain promises of God that are important for us to keep in mind as we consider environmentalism.
Those movements that are all about conserving and protecting the earth’s environment.
And I’ll just go through a couple of those with you. One very important one appears in Genesis 8:es 20 to chapter 9:3. So, why don’t you turn over there, not too far from where we’ve just been in Genesis 1 and two. Here in Genesis 8:20 and following, we’re going to read what God says to Noah after the great flood subsides from the earth. This be around 2350 BC according to the Genesis 5-11 genealogies. Here’s what God says to Noah after the flood.
Genesis 8:20.
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, that is Yahweh, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Yahweh smelled the soothing aroma. And Yahweh said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man. For the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth. And I will never again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear of you, and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth, and on every bird of the sky, with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea.
Into your hand they are given. Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you. I give all to you as I gave the green plant. We’ll stop there.
Just a quick set of observations on this passage. Notice what God promises to Noah and to his family. He says he’s never going to curse the ground again.
That is destroy the earth. He’s never going to destroy the whole earth with water again as he had done. And he’s always going to uphold the earth’s natural cycles of seasons and days while the earth remains.
And notice the conditions God gives for these promises.
What are they?
Trick question.
There are none. In fact, he says these are given in spite of the fact that man is evil constantly.
Man is evil from his youth.
It’s it’s funny how the text actually says for I will never again curse the ground the ground on account of man for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth. That doesn’t seem to follow. The reason you’re not going to curse the ground again is because man is continually evil. Shouldn’t that be the opposite? I won’t curse the ground again because man’s going to be good. Now, that’s not what he says. He says, man, he hasn’t changed. He’s not going to change. Nevertheless, I’m not going to curse the ground.
There are no conditions for these promises.
Rather, man’s evil is noted.
And then notice one command from Genesis 1 is repeated here. What command is that?
That’s right. be fruitful and multiply.
And then notice what new kind of authority is given to man here. He has authority to eat the animals, which was not something God said to do before, but now God says, “I give it to you along with the plants.” Now, this is an important passage for thinking about the environment because God promises despite man’s evil and his misrule of the earth that God will nonetheless preserve the earth and its cycles while the earth remains and he will never again destroy the earth with water.
Now, someone might ask, “But might God let us destroy the earth and therefore his promise to preserve the earth will cease to apply?” Well, that cannot be. Why not?
We’re not capable of that.
We are probably not capable of that.
Sometimes it seems like we are with nuclear weapons and things like that.
But there’s actually an even stronger reason why we know that we’re not going to destroy the earth.
Exactly. because God already said he’s going to be the one who does that. And we can see that specifically in the other passage there. Turn over to second Peter 3.
Second Peter 3 7 and 10.
God has already told us how the earth will be destroyed. It will be destroyed with fire and God will be the one to do it.
Second Peter 3 verse 7.
But by his word, the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. And then down to verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
That’s pretty clear. God tells us through Peter that the world is reserved. It is kept to be destroyed in a certain way.
We won’t be destroyed by an alien invasion, the melting of the ice caps, or a giant asteroid.
God will destroy the earth with fire on the day of judgment.
And that is going to be according to Revelation 20 in the end of Christ’s millennial kingdom after the final satanic rebellion. God will destroy this earth.
So we have these two promises to keep in mind when it comes to the environment.
On the one hand, God says, “I will fundamentally be the one or I will be the one to fundamentally preserve the earth.” And on the other hand, God says, “One day I will be the one to totally destroy it.” Now, what are the implications of that?
We might ask, does that mean that it doesn’t matter what we do with the Earth? Just go ahead and trash it? After all, it’s a disposable planet. Sometimes you people say that. So, should we just go ahead and trash it?
No. Why not?
The stewardship that God exactly the stewardship principle we are accountable for the God for what how we rule the earth and even if we don’t fundamentally destroy the earth we can make it much worse for ourselves and for our fellow man. The earth won’t pass away until God says so. But we can make the earth or certain parts of it a lot worse for ourselves in the meantime.
I don’t know about you, but I’d like to live in a world, or at least a part of the world, where I don’t have to put on a mask just to go outside because of how smoggy the air is. Or I don’t want to be have to be careful about lighting my tap water on fire because of all the chemicals that are in it.
Such reckless abuse of the earth’s resources would not only be unwise, it really would be, as you said, Mark, a violation of the Genesis 1 mandate.
Okay. Hey, so we shouldn’t trash the earth even though God is going to destroy it one day. But does that mean we should be come as green as possible?
Not necessarily.
Acting wisely as rulers of the earth means that sometimes we will need to do one thing which may be called green and other times we may need to do the opposite thing which many envir environmentalists would not be happy with.
It really is another illustration of the reality of Ecclesiastes 3 1:8. You don’t need to turn there. I’ll just read that to you. Remember Ecclesiastes 3, Solomon is noting how man is not in control of his time. And the way he does that is by saying that sometimes you’re going to arrive in situations where you’re just going to have to do a certain thing whether you want to or not. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
There is an appointed time for everything and there is a time for every event under heaven. A time to give birth and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search. A time to give up as lost. A time to keep, time to throw away. Time to tear apart. Time to sew together. A time to be silent. A time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war. A time for peace.
Really, good rule of the earth may mean that sometimes it’s best to cut down the trees, but other times it’s best to leave the trees there or plant more.
Sometimes it’s better to use fossil fuels.
Sometimes it’s better not to use them or to cut back on the use of them.
How will we know? How will we know what is best in each situation?
Well, let me give you four additional principles from the Bible that I think will be helpful to us when it comes to stewarding the earth and responding to environmentalist movements. So, four more principles. In addition to what these things we’ve just looked at here, we certainly want to maintain the idea of accountable stewardship. We want to remember God’s promises and we need to know sometimes are going to call for certain things and sometimes going to call for other things. But here’s four additional principles.
Number one, the gospel of Jesus Christ is always of first importance.
We are not on earth primarily to preserve the environment or to fix governments or to end all social ills.
We are here to proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ.
The earth and everyone on it will ultimately perish.
But each person’s soul is eternal. We are to reach those souls. This is the most meaningful work we can do.
We help the environment where we can, but we can’t afford because of our main priority. We can’t afford to embrace every environmental initiative.
Our time, our energy, our money are limited and those resources must go chiefly toward the gospel.
So that’s number one. The gospel of Jesus Christ is always of first importance. Number two, man is the most important part of creation.
There are some environmentalists who see mankind as the ultimate problem.
We need to keep these forests pristine.
They say for the sake of the animals, for the sake of the plants, just think about how much our ecosystem has been disturbed by man moving into the area.
Well, that reasoning fails to consider Genesis 1, where man is told to fill the earth and subdue it.
The whole earth has been put under man’s authority for man to direct, for man to use, for man to live in.
We were not made to serve the animals or serve the plants, but to act as stewards over them.
Now, this doesn’t mean that we treat animals cruy or we callously drive scores of species to extinction, but it does mean we have to correctly arrange our priorities.
And further, while it is part of some religions, especially in Asia, to treat the earth or nature as a sensient being to be honored. It is not nature that we are to honor, it is not nature that we are accountable to. It is God.
Exodus 20, the Ten Commandments, it reminds us that we have no other God except Yahweh.
So not mother earth, not the local river god, not the precious jaguars, not the giant redwoods.
We are stewards accountable to our creator, not created things.
And Romans 1 tells us that is the way.
It is the way of the rebellious human heart to revere even worship the creation rather than the creator. We are not to do that.
We rever God. We are accountable to God and we recognize what God said that man is the most important part of creation.
So that’s number two. Number three, serving your fellow man means wisely taking care of the earth and its resources.
Listen to what Philippians 2:es 3 and 5 says. Philippians 2 3:5. Do nothingness do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. Of course he goes on.
I think we can already see an implication from that exhortation when it comes to the environment abuse of the earth and its resources.
It will make life worse for everyone.
For example, if you overfish, you may make a killing in the short run.
Make a lot of money, make life nice for yourself, but in the long run, everyone is going to suffer for it, including you, because the the fish will no longer be there. Nobody else can benefit from them.
We Christians recognize this. So therefore, Christians must not act in a selfish way.
We will actually be witnesses in how we care about our fellow man based on our our environmental choices.
Someone once said that environmental questions must be addressed with one anothering in mind. And I think there’s a lot of truth to that. We have to ask when it comes to certain envir environmental issues, how will I love or hate my neighbor by pursuing this?
Now, keep in mind principle one, the gospel is always primary. Some people will say, “Hey, if you’re a real Christian, then you really want to love your neighbor, you got to get behind this environmental cause.” A lot of social causes, a lot of environmental causes are framed that way. We’ve got the proper priorities, gospel first. And yet, we do recognize it is a matter of loving our neighbors and how we respond to certain environmental questions. But be aware though that sometimes the loving thing, the truly loving thing is not going green, at least in a particular situation or particular area. It’s going to have to be on a case-by case basis. It’s not always necessarily, oh, we have to save this tree or we have to prevent that species from going extinct. We have to ask, what’s really going to be loving our neighbor there? Not just in the short term, but the long term. And then finally, number four, Christians must honor the government and their environmental directives.
Governments, as we know, are always imperfect and governments have become influenced by environmentalist causes.
So that means governments are going to create and enforce environmental policies that will be imperfect and sometimes downright foolish.
However, we want to remember the exhortations given to us in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 that we submit for the Lord’s sake to the governing governing authorities.
Rulers are actually put in their place by God. So by submitting to them and whatever is not sinful, you obey and please God.
Moreover, obedience prevents us from suffering governmental wrath. It keeps our consciences clean, and it silences the talk of foolish men who who oppose Christ.
So then, if our rulers decide that we must all install new special filters on our cars or that we must pay a pollution tax, it may not be welcome. But that’s okay.
Don’t grumble against God’s sovereignty.
Don’t disobey God’s representatives.
For the Lord’s sake, show honor to the government and its environment related laws.
Of course, as we are able to influence our government toward the wisest policies related to the environment, we should do so, but not at the expense of our other priorities as a Christian. Of course, the gospel being first, and certainly not to the point where we no longer honor or submit to the government.
Of course, I recognize there’s a tension between number three and four.
There may be maybe certain isolated exceptional situations where you say the government has commanded this as a law, but this would be unloving in this particular situation if I followed that law. I would actually be disobeying Christ and loving this other person. If I follow that law, I I recognize that there’s going to be some tension and sometimes you will have to disobey the law in order to love your neighbor. But fundamentally our attitude as Christians is even if I don’t agree with this policy, even if I don’t think it’s wise, God put them in charge, I want to honor God by honoring the authority even when it comes to the environmental directives.
Now when you mention environment and government, of course, one of the biggest issues that has emerged even related to our government, but even apart from government in the media today, it is the issue of climate change.
climate change or what used to be referred to more commonly as global warming. Those terms are used synonymously, though they don’t exactly mean the same thing, but that’s the way people talk.
There is a lot of misinformation today when it comes to climate change and global warming.
I cannot say in the rest of this class everything that I could say about those issues. So, what I’m going to try and do is just give you three quick facts regarding climate change to help you think about the issue biblically. Three quick facts.
Number one, climate change is technically real.
Climate change is technically real.
According to a widely recognized study, the average global surface temperature has increased by about 1.2 degrees since 1880.
Now, there’s a little bit of an asterisk on that. I’m going to give you some articles in a little bit that talk about some issues with that measurement, but it is pretty widely recognized.
The Earth has gotten slightly warmer over the last 100 years or so.
But is that a big deal?
It depends on your worldview.
If you believe that the earth is 4.5 billion years old, it was created by random chance. And with temperatures assumed to have changed only very gradually over millions of years, then this one degree temperature increase over the last century, it seems like a rapid and serious development.
This could be the beginning of the end.
Things have never changed this rapidly before in the the millions of years.
Look what’s happened in just a hundred years.
That’s what one worldview will lead you to believe.
But if you believe in a young earth made for man to multiply on it, an earth that is maintained fundamentally by God, then this temperature change is not nearly as concerning.
Not saying that we should have no concern at all, that we should not react at all, but there’s no need for great alarm.
We are not facing the ruin of the earth.
That’s number one. Climate change is real.
Number two, climate change is not well understood.
Let me define my term there for a second. Climate change, we’re talking about how the the average temperature or typical weather of an environment is changing.
So that the way it was in a certain period, it it changes into something else. That’s what we’re talking about with climate change. But number two, climate change is not well understood.
Despite the impression you may get from the media and from our government today, scientists do not actually have a firm grasp on either the causes or the effects of climate change.
We know greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are involved in the temperature of the earth even in the warming of the earth.
But are these gases an effect or in a cause of warming? How significant is carbon dioxide to the whole equation? It’s often singled out as a villain in climate change discussions today. How significant is carbon dioxide really in the whole equation? Is man a significant contributor to the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and therefore to global warming and climate change.
Solar activity and other factors certainly play a role in the climate, but why and how much is not fully known.
We can appreciate the challenge that many scientists face in trying to understand and articulate what’s going on with the climate because the earth is an incredibly complex environmental system and the data that we have to work with is limited. I mean extensive scientific measurements have only been available within the last century or so. Other information is much more speculative.
Now what that means because the environmental situation is so complicated and our data is limited.
What that means is as with the age of the earth assumptions play a pivotal role in what you say about climate change, what these scientific findings are.
And this is why we see a huge amount of variation in predictions about the effects of global warming.
Some people say it’s going to turn out this way. Some people’s going to say it’s going to turn out that way. It all depends on the assumptions that you plug in because the data is very limited.
This is also why the main models that are used even by powerful governmental organizations, even international organizations have so far proved inaccurate.
Many of these are using evolutionary assumptions which is already going to get you into problems. But again, the situation is extremely complex and our data is limited. So our models have so far proved very inaccurate.
So climate change is not well understood. But that being said, there is good reason to believe based on historical observation in the last two millennia that the earth goes through cycles of warming and cooling.
And what we’re experiencing right now is another warming period to which humanity will have to adapt, but which does not really threaten all life on Earth. This is why I say Christians should not have no concern about it. We’re going to have to adapt.
Communities all across the earth are going to have to adapt. But this has actually been true throughout the earth’s history.
I didn’t write it down in my notes specifically, but there was something called the Roman warm period. and the medieval warm period and the little ice age. These are all periods where you had slightly warmer temperatures or slightly cooler temperatures than normal. And these affected communities across the earth, warm periods were actually generally better for crops and prosperity where cooler periods are actually worse for crops and worse for prosperity.
It would seem that sea levels have risen and fallen during the earth’s past.
That’s going to affect coastal communities. So again, it’s not like there’s no issue here, but it’s not like many people say it is. That’s as best we understand right now.
Or at least that’s what some people say.
A majority of people have a much glooier view or the majority of voices I should say have a much glooier view about climate change. And that is because number three, the climate change issue is very emotionally, financially, and politically charged.
Unfortunately, what we’ve seen play out with evolution versus creation among scientists is playing out in the conversation when it comes to climate change. And that is there is no conversation really.
The widely though not universally accepted opinion among scientists and environmentalists today is as former President Obama once tweeted, “Climate change is real, man-made, and dangerous.” If you object to any part of that statement, climate change is real, man-made, and dangerous. If you object to any part, you are treated by many as a Neanderthal climate change denier who is not worth listening to.
Not going along with the scientific consensus on climate change could cost you. It could cost you your reputation. It could cost you your political career. And it can cost you your academic or scientific position.
And it has even people who are not creationists, who are not Christians, have lost their positions as scientists because they didn’t go with the consensus or what is claimed to be the consensus.
There is a great deal of money and even political power tied up in the climate change question.
And so many are often more interested in seeing their agenda supported than arriving at accurate answers.
Now this is true on both sides but it does seem that the side of saying climate change climate change is that’s going to whole earth it seems to be more on that side.
Additionally the reporting on climate change today is full of data manipulation, emotional manipulation, browbeating, recency bias and other obvious logical fallacies. I mean even the change from talking about global warming to climate change was very strategic because climate change you can just look at any sort of anomalous weather and say look climate change but as Ecclesiastes says one of the things that we’re so why we get so um shocked by different things happening is because we don’t remember the past. Oh this is pretty extreme weather but do you remember the extreme weather we had in the past? Probably not because it’s so long ago.
Anyway, so there’s a lot of manipulation and facious talk and reasoning going on. So what does that mean for us as Christians?
Bottom line, we should be very cautious about what we see reported in the media about climate change. I think a biblical understanding automatically means we should be less alarmist than many people who don’t believe the Bible in our world. But when it comes to the specifics, it would be wise to be cautious with the claims and even the findings of different people. I can’t go into the details right now, but people have literally gone into historical records and adjusted them because they they say that can’t possibly be right.
It couldn’t possibly have been warm warmer in the past than it is right now.
And this has been documented.
This is the worldview informing how you interpret and even manipulate data.
I can’t go into all the details, but I found a couple of articles that I think will be useful from you if you would like a more extensive treatment both from a biblical and scientific background on these issues, global warming and climate change. There’s first a kind of intro article from the Answers in Genesis website called Global Warming Factor Fiction. put the link up there, but you can just look it up in the title. Answers in Genesis has a number of articles related to global warming, climate change. I think those would be useful to you. If you want a more extensive article, then the answers research journal, which is also connected with answers in Genesis, has an article called a proposed Bible science perspective on global warming.
This is more scholarly. It’s going to sound a little bit more academic as you read through it, but it’s still understandable. It’s it’s meant for people to be able to understand it, even if they’re not scientists. So, I recommend that one. proposed Bible science perspective on global warming.
And then one other article which is maybe slightly more extensive than even the second one from Creation Ministries International is entitled anthropogenic global warming. So anthropogenic means human cause manaused global warming a biblical scientific approach to climate change and you can find that at crereatation.com.
Of course, misinformation has been and always will be a challenging problem in our vaporous world. I mean, again, go back to Ecclesiastes. You think misinformation is a new problem? You think complex issues that are difficult to understand?
Do you think that’s a new problem? It’s always been that way.
Maybe more obvious to us with all the um electronic access we have with the internet and such, but it was a problem in the ancient times as well.
How do you know what to believe? How do you know whether that person says h what happened really happened?
It’s difficult to navigate through. We have to do our best. But thank the Lord that his word is sure.
So as we navigate the various and difficult environmental questions of our day, we can trust the promises and principles of God’s word.
In the end, it all comes down to stewardship. The world is for our use, but we are accountable to God for how we use it. That we need to remember first and foremost. Now, a few application questions before we end our time today.
Christians are often seen as anti-environmentalist.
Why is this the case?
Yeah. I mean, I think that’s a main part of it. If we don’t believe exactly what a certain environmentalist believes and they’re like, “Oh, you must be totally against the environment.” I mean, that’s the rhetoric of our day. If you’re not completely on my side, you must be my total enemy. Which is not fair, but it’s often an accusation given against Christians.
In some ways, that’s understandable because our stance is going to be confusing to people in which if we’re thinking biblically, we are both pro-human and pro- environment. We just have a certain arrangement of priorities.
They don’t get that very often. And it’s also true that some Christians do go too far in the way they treat the environment and they forget the idea of stewardship.
Some people who do say, “Yeah, it’s a disposable earth, so it doesn’t matter.” They do go too far, but that’s not what all Christians say or do.
Certainly, the impression of most people in the world is that Christians are anti-environmentalists, but it’s not really the case. We understand what the Bible’s called us to, that is stewardship. It’s a slightly different view than those who worship the environment.
What are the dangers of becoming too involved in environmental causes as a church?
focus on the gospel.
That’s right.
I think one of the things I don’t want to go down this rabbit hole, but I notic that the environmental movement and population control that pretty well.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. That’s that’s valuable, Mark. But you’re right, becoming too involved in environmental causes, the biggest danger is that it’s going to replace what is more important, the gospel of forgiveness of sins and salvation through Christ instead becomes the gospel of saving the planet, which is not the real gospel. There will be a diversion of important resources to a less important goal. And many Christians or many professing Christians have gone down this road. They’ve taken up the green movement as a major cause.
the church should embrace it as well.
But we need to have the proper priorities.
And as you said, Mark, it is disturbing that environmentalist causes are even linked explicitly sometimes and not all of them, but sometimes with human population control, even seeing humans as the problem. We’ve already seen that.
That’s that’s a total inversion of what Genesis 1 and 2 tells us the earth is about what the earth is for.
Some people would use that to say that abortion is actually a virtue.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Mark, you’re just noting that some people use that as a way to say abortion is good or good not to have children when the Bible says children are a blessing. You know, so contradicting what the Bible says there for the sake of the environment.
As we encounter people who have a genuine fears about the threats of global warming and climate change, how can we use the scriptures to share the truth of the matter with them?
Okay.
God what God would say that’s going to happen.
Yeah. So that’s useful and one thing we can share should share is that God’s word is reliable. And so there’s a lot of things being said about the climate about global warming that is not as reliable as what God’s word says. So, if we’re gonna understand these big issues, let’s start there.
Magda, you were gonna say something else.
Yeah. So, a couple things there you said Magda that are useful. Of course, there’s more than one right answer to this question here, this third question.
But one is to just share simply what the promises God said about the earth and about how God has promised to take care of the world, take care of people fundamentally and uh but still that can even lead to a conversation about well why do we have these difficult issues with our climate?
Why are thousands of people killed in an earthquake?
This is not the way God designed the world. This is actually the effect of sin on the world. But that’s not the worst part. And this is another way we can go with the global warming climate change question. God’s going to take care of that. But there’s something much more important for you to be concerned about, and that is your soul.
The fear that you ought to have because of the coming judgment of God is much more important than the fear you have about climate change.
The world needs to be redeemed, but even more importantly, your soul needs to be redeemed. You need to come to know Jesus Christ. So there’s a number of things we can share and we can even link how the Lord brought Noah through the judgment so he can bring every soul that turns to him through the judgment of his wrath against sin. So we’re safe with God whatever happens with the climate.
One more question. The media is constantly presenting messages that promote worship of the creation rather than the creator. How do we guard ourselves against that kind of false influence? We got to go back to the scriptures. We have to test what we hear and what we see against what the scripture declares. And we need to make sure we know the scriptures. Need to study the scriptures deeply and consistently so that we know the truth.
Well, if you have more questions or comments on today’s topic, please email me or come talk to me afterwards. But with that, we come officially to the end of our Creation Foundation series. Again, thank you for being part of that.
I know I haven’t left much time at the end of these lessons for questions, and I do feel slightly bad about that, especially because we broach topics that can be spoken about much more at length, but I want to make it up to you, which is why I mentioned this last week. We’re going to have a special Sunday school class next Sunday where we are going to do a Bible question and answer during the Sunday school hour. Now, you need to send me your questions beforehand. It’s much better if I know what the question is ahead of time and can prepare an answer. So, you can just send it to my email address, pastor dave@calvary.org, but send me your question related to the Bible. Certainly, I welcome anything based on the creation series that we’ve done, but it doesn’t have to be that. It can be something else in the Bible. But make it an honest question. Make it an edifying question, not one that’s merely meant to stump your pastor. You can do that if you really try, but that’s not really going to edify anybody. And also, don’t give a planted question that you already know the answer to, but you just want me to talk about. Give me an honest question and an edifying question, and I think that will serve everyone best.
Send those to me by Thursday of this week. Uh, I can’t remember what date that is, but send it to me by Thursday and that way I can see if I can include it in my lesson. Okay. Any questions about the Q&A?
23rd.
Yeah, I sorry. I I as soon as I read that in my notes, I’m like, I think that’s wrong. Okay, so the 23rd, February 23rd. Send it to me by Thursday, February 23rd.
Any other questions? Let me know afterwards. But again, thank you for being part of this series. Let’s close in prayer.
Lord, we are so grateful for your word because if we didn’t have it, we could be just as much panicked as the rest of the world when we say, “Oh no, what about the ozone layer? Oh no, what about overpopulation? Oh no, what about climate change?” We don’t have to be that way, God, because you’ve given promises in your word. Because we know that you reign and that you will fundamentally maintain the earth. Yet, we are stewards. You have made us stewards, which is an exalted position, God. We don’t want to um treat that lightly.
We want to be good stewards of this earth, of its resources, and we want to serve our fellow man in the way we do that. So, how help us to do that? Well, help us to be witnesses of the world, witnesses to the world, of Christ, and how we do that, even in showing what is the greatest priority. It’s not the environment, it’s people. Or rather, it’s God. And thereby, it’s people made in the image of God. The world’s going to misunderstand. We know that God, but we want to be found faithful before you.
Help us to do that in Jesus name. Amen.
You’re welcome. Thank you.