The Environment in a Fallen World

Last time we talked about the environment in Genesis 1 and 2 – at the beginning of creation, in a perfect world. But we all know that the world didn’t stay that way. So let’s move on to Genesis 3.

The basic history – the first man and woman rebelled against the Creator. And so God Himself placed His creation under a curse. Let’s see what God said…

To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 3:16-19

Notice what happens here. God’s purpose continues, but it is now under a curse. What has changed?

• Purpose: “Be fruitful and multiply” – but now “in pain you shall bring forth children”
• Purpose: “subdue [the earth], and have dominion” but now there is “enmity” (Gen 3:15 – speaking of the serpent, but this is part of the conflict between humans and their environment) and “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life … By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread”
• Purpose: “fill the earth” but now, all will die (return to dust)
• Purpose: Humans were in the garden to “work it and keep it” – but now they would be expelled from Eden (Gen 3:23-24)

There is another major worldwide change that we need to look at – the Flood. Here’s what God tells the new “first family”:

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 dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood…”

Genesis 9:1-4

Here’s a change – now people were allowed to eat meat as well as plants. It’s not wrong to kill an animal and eat it. But killing a human is entirely different. Why?

…And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.
And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.

Genesis 9:5-7

Murder and justice. And once again it is confirmed that we are to fill the earth. Later in the chapter, we learn that we can have families, confident that God is not about to send another worldwide flood.

So, we have some instructions. We also know that there is an even more basic purpose in the creation, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism correctly states: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Romans 11:36

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

So we need to keep some of these basics in mind as we look to see what else the Bible has to say about the environment. And I have to admit, I found some things that surprised me.

Let’s actually start at the end. We know that the creation is under a curse. But what does the end of our current history look like?

In Romans chapter 8, Paul is teaching that, although we’re already redeemed, we still suffer in this present world.

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. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Romans 8:20-23

Redemption is coming, glory and freedom, not just for us as believers, but for all of creation.

Let’s see what the Apostle Peter has to say. In his second epistle, Peter is talking about those who mock believers, denying that the final judgement is coming.

For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
…
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3:5-7,11-13

And so, how will God renew His universe? He’s going to destroy it, and remake it. The final destruction of fire doesn’t appear to come from humans, but from the hand of God. And so in Revelation 21 we read “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…” (Rev 21:1).

All of this is temporary. The shirt I’m wearing is temporary too. But I’m still going to wash it and take care of it. But I understand that it has a temporary purpose.

In the meantime, God has promised to sustain the basic cycles of the earth. Yahweh says in Genesis 8:22, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

Think about this carefully, because I’ve heard some confusion about this. This promise of God is not saying that the earth will never get warmer or cooler, or become polluted, or that there will never be any natural disasters, or that a species will never become extinct. This verse does not say that there will be no consequences if we do not care for the earth.

However, it does promise that God will sustain the general cycles of the earth and care for humanity in general. We don’t fear complete environmental destruction from human activity. We know how history will end.

Two important facts from Scripture: (1) God tells us to care for the earth. (2) God Himself cares for the earth, and also judges the earth, as its Sovereign King.

How exactly are we to care for the earth? Actually, the Bible gives us some very helpful guidance. We’ll dive into some specifics next time…