The Nature Of The Earth

God’s command to “fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion” (Gen 1:28) by tilling the earth shows that man’s capacity to dominate the earth lies within himself, transforming it to his own needs.

These can be simple activities such as turning off the water while brushing your teeth or simply walking to work. We can also be more mindful about how much trash we make in a week and to always recycle. Although no amount of recycling will forestall the end that God has planned for the earth, we are still called to preserve earth’s natural resources to the best of our capability. Psalm 24:1 (New International Version) states, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” This passage teaches us that although God gives people the power to utilize elements of the environment, God is still the ultimate owner of all of his creations. Therefore, we are called to respect his creations because they are not ours but God’s.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Gen 1:1-2). Paul states in Romans 1:20 that Gods invisible attributes, eternal power, and divine nature are clearly understood by the visible things that God has made in this world. God’s redeemed, should show a concern for the care of nature. Nature suffers because it is a casualty of sin, not because it is naturally evil. The world should anticipate a time when God shall deliver creation from the wrath of sin (8:19, 21). Nature “waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed” (8:19). 133

Historically, Christians primary focus has been on heaven and the afterlife and little focus has been placed on the health of the environment. In recent years, there has been a new movement surface called Creation Care or Evangelical Environmentalism. This movement stems from scriptures in the Bible saying that man is to keep and maintain creation. “The Lord God took the man and put him in

The book of Genesis records the creation of the world and everything in it, as well the early relationship between God and humanity. God creates man, Adam, “from the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7) and places him in a paradise on Earth called the garden of Eden, where he also places the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From the man, God creates a woman and tells them that they “may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil [they] shall not eat, for in the day that [they] eat of it [they] shall die (Genesis 2:16). Despite this warning, the woman, Eve, is eventually tempted to eat the fruit of the treat and convinces Adam to do the same, causing them to be cast out of the garden. Although Adam and Eve do have free will to do what they

And livestock. He then created human beings in his own image. He gave them dominion over all of the creatures in the waters and sky, as well as all of the animals. He also tells humans that he has given them all of the plants and the trees for food. After creating everything, God, recognizes verbally, that they are good. This shows readers that God is a good God. The second chapter of Genesis is very similar in that all of the same things are created. When God created man Genesis chapter two states that “He breathed the breath of life into Man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” (Genesis 2:7). God put man into the Garden of Eden.Here in the Garden of Eden is the first mention of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God states that man can eat from any tree except that specific one. Genesis 2 also states that man was made to work the land, proving that work was not a consequence of sin. God also created woman from man when he realized that man was not fit to be alone. He tells them to reproduce, this proves that sex was not intended to be shameful, rather a gift to be cherished when done within a covenant. This is how the earth and everything on it came into existence according to the

I believe that we need to think of the Earth as a gift and a home. We must take care of our Earth but our personal health must come before Earth’s. Lastly, our decision making should be guided by the Bible and my common sense. Our Earth is truly a gift and it is a good gift from God. Genesis 1:31 states, “God saw all that we made, and it was very good”. We need to change the way that we look at the Earth. Normally if we get a really nice gift we treasure it and do our best to protect it. This is the same mindset that we need to have about our land. Secondly, we do need to recognize that we have dominion over the Earth. God created us to take care of the Earth. In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and then he created man to be stewards of it. It is important not to get to crazy and do things to harm the Earth but we must also remain healthy. Humans come before the land and they always should. Lastly, when living on Earth we must make good decisions. These decisions should be based on what our teachings tell us and our common sense. It is just common sense that cutting down a tree or throwing a wrapper out the yard will harm the Earth. This semester I have learned so much, and thought deeply about many topics. I know that the Earth is a gift and we are so blessed to have this beautiful creation to live in. The many field trips that we went on made me realize many things about our Earth that I didn’t realize. Specifically the wastewater treatment we went on made me realize how much waste we produce and it makes me feel like we are hurting our Earth. Too often people don’t think about the things that they are doing to our Earth. Psalm 8:6 states, “You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet”. The Bible states many times in context that we are to care for the Earth we have been

The issue of Deforestation has been high on the global environmental agenda for many years, and remains a serious problem today. In the tropics and many other parts of the world, nations continue to lose the valuable biodiversity, soil and water conservation, and climate regulation that natural forests provide. Christianity can only address this matter by continuing to combine an acceptance of the command to people to ‘multiply and replenish the earth’ (Genesis 1:28) with a balancing injunction to act as stewards of the environment. Charities such as Christian Ecology Link and World Vision work to increase awareness of the current ecological crisis and encourage adherents to live sustainably and make ‘green’ consumption choices.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. After having created everything on Earth, He made man. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”(NIV Genesis 2:15). Thus, He made Eve from the rib of Adam. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge but the evil serpent, who was craftier than them, tricked Eve into eating the fruit. Eve later convinced Adam after having argued with him and he gave in. Both were punished by God for having gone against His word and would suffer the consequences of it. “So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After He drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden a cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:23-24).

Yet in "Adam and Eve" God is in the process of putting the Earth in its full form. God creates the land, the seas, and everything included in the land and seas like vegetation and animal life. After all of this, God first creates Adam: God "formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" (3). He then creates Eve: "he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man" (4).

The article God’s Climate Plan addresses several different reasons for David Jenkins way of thinking. The first reason is by taking oil and coal from the earth in large quantities and excessively burning these resources people are disturbing the natural balance of the planet.

Genesis, the author tells us that: "The earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the

Christian voice is correcting them or proclaiming the biblical model of man’s relationship to nature which: is unique and superior to the dominant free-market and environmentalist models. . According to Gardner and Stern (1996), in that place are exclusive approaches that have power to be implemented in companionships search to defend the environment. One like approach may take a closer look at holy and regarding duties beliefs and the effects of these beliefs on the environment. The idea to create values and beliefs in environmental issues are important components of having a safer and enjoyable world for its people and the world they live in. Christian and non-Christian, at hand, must see the environment and the shortcoming of business by reason of a proper conversion to an act or purpose of and preservation of the wealth the planet has to support life. Christians as the Bible originate directing the eye to what has to be published by word force in reference to human natures dependence and bounden duty to the nature and its resources. As Christians we should do what ever it takes to make sure this earth glorify God. If we are careless about science and economics — not caring about how they work and what they describe, creation’s economy will suffer (Christians Research Institute).

Despite many Christians, such as Patriarch Batholomew from the Greek Orthodox church who states that ‘For humans to contaminate the Earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life, with poisonous substances. These are sins’ in an attempt to encourage prioritising environmental protection, climate skeptic Calvin Beisner states that “the Bible teaches that earth and all its subsystems… are the product of a God who is an infinitely wise designer”, reflecting that his personal interpretation of God’s revelation has led to his understanding of the Earth being intelligently design, so that humankind could not potentially destroy it, consequently leading to him not placing priority on the protection of the environment.

In six days God created the universe, the earth, and every living thing on it. This includes human beings, who were made in Gods own image. God created Adam and Eve to have an unobstructed relationship with him, He placed them in a paradise called the Garden of Eden and gave them freedom to live in friendship and trust with him. God saw that everything he created was good and He rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). God left Adam and Eve in the garden with specific instructions: they are NOT to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, they rebel and sin enters the world after a serpent tricks Eve into questioning God’s love and motives. In her gullible innocence, she ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3). Eve shared the fruit with Adam and they spiritually and physically die. This was catastrophic to Gods Order and led to the condemnation of all human