Examining the Issue
For anyone who has been paying attention over the last decade or so, the rise in climate change awareness has been increasing. Many people are pushing for more and more ways to reduce humanity's carbon footprint. Despite the furver of their many predictions of global warming or climate change, experts have repeatedly been proven false. One of the more famous examples was Al Gore’s citing of research that said man-made global warming would cause the North Pole to be ice-free. There are many such examples, but for now, it is essential to point out that the most effective lies have a grain of truth. This is why the myth of climate change continues to grow in popularity. As Christians, we need to look at every issue from the context of scripture and see what it says about it.
A Grain of Truth
One thing that we see when examining the sculpture is that humanity has been given the authority and responsibility to care for the earth. Genesis 1:28 tells us that when man was created, he was given the responsibility of dominion over the whole earth. His job is to fill the earth and subdue it. He is given dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth. The plants of the field are given to him as food. In summary, man is to care for and rule the earth as God’s representative. We must care for what God has given to us. So when someone comes along and says that humanity is failing in this role, it is easy to believe. This is especially true when we think about these things in the context of Genesis 3. Humanity has fallen into sin, and even the ground is corrupted by this sin.
The Problem
Where climate change and global warming fail is when it goes beyond calling for people to be responsible for making it out as if humanity is capable of destroying what God has created. Scripture teaches that it is Christ who upholds all of creation. For example, Colossians 1:17 says, “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (ESV). Hebrews 1:3 states, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Simply put, the world will continue for as long as the Lord wants it to and not a moment shorter or longer. This world will have an end, but it will not be because of how much diesel is burned or how many oil wells are drilled. The end will come when Christ returns in judgment.
Foundations in Genesis
The focus of this devotional over the past few weeks or so has been on seeing how every important topic has its foundations in the first twelve chapters of Genesis. This continues to be true for how Christians think about the climate. After the flood, the Lord makes a new covenant with Noah. The central part of this covenant is that the Lord will never again flood the whole earth, but it is not the only thing covered by the covenant. Genesis 8:22 says, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” I do not know about you, but the text seems pretty clear that nothing humanity does will change the climate.
Engaging Culture
Something that Christians have performed relatively poorly in over the last couple of decades is how we engage the culture. There are many reasons for this. Things like a view of the end of all things is just around the corner, and all we need to do is hang on for a little longer. The goal here is not to go through a list of reasons for how we got to this point but a call for Christians to engage the culture faithfully and graciously. For us to engage faithfully, it first means that we need to engage. We cannot sit on the sidelines and simply expect things to all workout. Indeed, everything will work out because God is sovereign, but we are still responsible for obeying all that Christ has commanded. Faithfully means being faithful to God and his word. Graciously implies that we are not arrogant. We share the truth with the world out of love for the people around us.
Summing it Up
Like every other topic we cover in this devotional, this is just an introduction. As Christians, we must diligently constantly renew our minds in the Scripture. Rather than relying on the world to determine what is true, we must start with the Scripture. It must shape our worldview on everything. Climate change is just one of those issues. It is a particularly pertinent issue for our day, so it is more important for Christians to understand and be ready to answer the culture with the reasons for our hope and faith. We must remember that this is Christ's world in everything we do. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the sovereign Lord of all creation. Rather than laying back and waiting, this should give us the boldness to act as he has commanded us to do. So go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to obey all that he has commanded.
Soli Deo Gloria
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