April 22nd will be the thirty-ninth observance of Earth Day. As many people around the world will take time to focus on many of the benefits this planet provides us and our need to responsibly care for the planet, I would also like to take this opportunity to praise the planet.
I am thankful for the science of the planet that first of all gives us the law of gravity. Even though the rotational spin of the earth should throw us off of the earth’s surface, we can depend on that fact that we can stand and move about securely, knowing that the law of gravity is uniformly in effect.
I am thankful for the four seasons and their predictable characteristics. (I suppose you could include Frankie Valli with this.)
I am thankful that when a farmer plants a seed of corn into the ground this spring that come autumn he will harvest corn. That corn seed will ALWAYS produce corn - not wheat, carrots, or a whale. We can depend on the science of genetics.
I am thankful for the consistent process of the water cycle. Additionally, the ocean currents help to moderate planet temperatures.
I am thankful for the consistency in the properties of light. This not only affects sunlight on the earth, but also such related uses as electricity and radio.
I am thankful for the complexity of the human body and the fact that organs function similarly from person to person.
Yet, some people think that all of this uniformity, predictability, and complexity on this planet just happened! Cataclysmically, way back in time this happened and out of absolute randomness all of this has developed into what we have today. Does this really make any logical sense? To think that all of this just happened is to believe that an explosion at a print shop would result in an exhaustive dictionary of the English language or that a pile of minerals would purposefully combine unaided to form a top of the line General Motors product.
There was a Creator that started all of this. He continues to be intimately involved in His creation. He gave us the planet for our use. We are not here as servants to the planet. We need to be wise as caretakers of the planet. Jesus Christ gives us life, not this planet.
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Great post!
ReplyDeleteI like your presentation of the necessity of God in the next to last paragraph. I wince sometimes I see Christians broaching the topic of creation because we tend to pick fights and draw battle lines that aren't necessary to our views. One need not (logically)be "anti-evolution" to be pro-creation (not procreation :)) as the case can still be made that there needed to be some Initiator/Designer/Current Guider in the process, our faith accepting it to be the One True God. Not to say that evolution is not false, but that we don't need to attack it (alienating the masses) to put forward the theological truth that God was behind creation.
I, personally, am leaning toward a non-literal seven day creation, but assume that you would probably be in the literal 7-day camp. Either way, I just think that the lines you have drawn in your argument are the exact appropriate lines that serve the most benefit to the cause of our faith and theology. We don't need to pick fights that don't gain us theological footing. Now the 7th Day Adventists have to pick that fight, or their theology is out the window...
As for your last paragraph, "we are not here as servants to the planet (instead servants of Christ)"...are those necessarily separate? Romans 8:18-21 seems to speak of Christ redeeming all of creation in his work on the cross, ultimately culminating in the New Heaven and New Earth. If Christ sought to make "all things new", shouldn't we, as his body and continuers of his work continue that process?
I'm not a tree-hugger, but I wonder if Christians would care more about the environment and reconciling God's creation if that drum hadn't been beaten so hard by the liberal agenda. Allen told me the other day that caring for the environment was "embracing the liberal agenda". I wish it wasn't. It seems like Christians should care more for God's creation than those who don't value the creator.
Anyways...love your post. Good balance.
I have got to print your post and frame it! I think this is the first concept we have agreed upon! Although I don't think I have personally resolved the literal 7 day creation. Regardless, at the end of each day, they were declared as complete. (I do think the fossil record may have been part of the original creation just to drive the libs bonkers.) I do believe that we have a responsibility as christians to drive our cars in an efficient manner, shut off unneeded lights, etc.
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