Where is our role in God’s plan for the environment of the world? Are we friend or foe? Many view man as the total enemies to nature. On the other hand many view those who are concerned about our planet as enemies against man. As Children of God we must look to God for guidance. *How important is nature in God’s eyes? It is so important that God claimed that our primary job would be to protect and cultivate it. Genesis 1:24-31 24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so.25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said,"Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them,"Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion (rule) over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. To rule - to have power over or control, to manage So here God had established that man is the dominate priority. So in question of saving lives of people or saving lives of animals; people should have priority. Does that mean we ignore our surroundings and do nothing to protect them, NO. We are stewards of nature. We should protect and cultivate. Genesis 2:15 15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Man had not ate of the fruit yet and still we were instructed as our job to tend to it. It must have been a real joy to live in such beauty and tend to it. After God said - Genesis 3:17-19 17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it':"Cursed is the ground for your sake;In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground,For out of it you were taken; For dust you are,And to dust you shall return." So now our earth is a lot harder to tend to and protect now than before the fall of Adam, but that is still our mandate. It has not changed. God gives our environment high priority. All throughout the Bible God wants us to refer to nature for examples he would not do this if it wasn’t important. Psalm 32:8-9 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;I will guide you with My eye. 9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. NKJV He says in - Luke 19:40 40 But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." Nature and God are in tune with each other. Nature hears God’s commands and even will be praising God. Just as he made us to communicate with him nature also has that ability. Psalm 8:1 Psalm 8:3-8 Nature is precious in God’s sight. He set us over it to protect it. We are to have great respect for nature. Just as God has love for it so should we. Matthew 10:29-31 29 Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.  30 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.  31 So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.   We are more important than animals to God. At the same time he knows all that happened to even the sparrows. He shows that he cares for them. There is a joining of mankind and nature in praise throughout the Bible- Psalm 98:6-9 6 With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the King, Jehovah. 7 Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein; 8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together 9 Before Jehovah; for he cometh to judge the earth: He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. If we have God’s view instead of our own, than we would not be self centered.  Although we would like a clean environment we are to lazy or do not want to invest in taking steps to make it clean overall. When it comes to getting our primary substances from nature we must make sure that we are doing so in the best ways possible to keep it clean and protect nature. To ignore conservation and protection of our planet is to ignore our job. This is not an option from God, THIS IS A COMMAND FROM GOD TO PROTECT THE EARTH.  If we as Christians decide not to protect the earth we will be sinning against God. It seems like logic would dictate that we should be behind conservation of all our natural resources should be high on our priority list. On Energy - We have come a long way in precautions on petroleum. We can work with what we have and continue to add cleaner alternatives. Some of the alternatives impact the environment also. This goes back to consider your ways. Haggai 1:-7 Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways". •        Is it the cleanest way we can logically do it? •        Does it help our people? •        Does it hurt nature, and if so how can we avoid that? •        Is there some way we can restore the land from which we have drawn the resource? •        How much is enough? We must consider when we take, to leave  also for nature as         much as possible. This is stewardship. On Water - How can we make our water cleaner and yet still serve the people’s needs. •        What are needs versus wants? •        How can we conserve water? •        What will effect the ground water? •        How can I keep the water pure and still cultivate? •        What are my alternatives? On  Animals - Is there animal habitat that can preserved while still cultivating?            Animal stewardship involves feeding animals, land management, and also regulating the population to maintain a balance in provision with nature. Starvation is not the fruit of good stewardship. This may not be popular but a fact of nature. The goal is to have healthy animals who thrive in step with the natural resources thriving in balance. On Land -  Is there places we can preserve from even cultivation, and yet enjoy in some way. How can we dispose of refuge in a cleaner way? How can we make less refuge? How can we clean up our toxic dumps and things that we have done to our oceans? Is one animal becoming extinct higher than all the others in preservation? Because when you shut off water to fertile valleys to save tiny fish in the canals that may get caught in pump filters, you are in turn killing trees, and growth and wildlife that feed off of that fertile valley; which then becomes desolate. Many people are also effected, leaving no crops and become out of work. All to save a tiny fish that is going extinct. Does this make sense in God’s view do you think? God set man then nature in priority. Story on the fish link to:  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519818,00.html On the other hand when you can use one area just well as another, then use wisdom in  the use of the one that has the less impact on nature, to preserve nature. These are my thoughts but they align with God’s mandate for us to tend to the land and protect it. The Spiritual Realm of God and the Earth are so connected that as we see our self serving nature right now our earth suffers. God lifted his nations blessings off many nations who sinned. The atmosphere caused by sin corrodes and invades and God wars against this in the Heavenlies. This also effects out physical atmosphere. We choose God or Satan; the spirit of man is on self focus. That leads to our destruction in body, and soul, and environment.  Our ways impact the environment. We Have created our environment now that is showing us just our reflection in spirit. It is the fruit of lack of labor to protect. The Spirit of God gives Life and life more Abundantly. That should impact how we manage our land, our earth also. Consider Your Ways. God uses nature as a tools, just as he uses us as his vessels. He can use nature to produce Miracles in the Mist of Mayhem.  A call to wake up and listen. He did just that in Moses time and he can now. We will look at those Miracles in the next lesson as Moses stood up for God’s people.    Home                                                   American Christian