Genesis 1
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.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
I love the Genesis account of the Creation. I love how there are facts having to do with Science, which weren't "discovered" by scientists until centuries and a millennium later.
While many people have taken the verses about God giving man dominion over the earth and all that is in it, to mean license to rape the earth, I believe that we have been given a special task to be stewards of the beautiful planet God gave to us.
Being a good steward doesn't mean we have to give in to every bogus science claim about global warming, cooling and over population scares. Instead, I take it to mean we respect and be thankful for all the goodness of the earth that God gave us. We need to respect the animals- not because they are "our equals" as some environmentalists claim, but because God created them.
We need to respect trees and plants, not only because they are habitats for creatures, but because they sustain all life, feed life and are beautifully created.
There is a good feeling about recycling, and line drying laundry. Those who can afford or have a convenient way to have an environmentally friendly car are doing a good thing. There is nothing wrong with wanting to keep our planet healthy, but we need to keep things in a Biblical perspective, and keep the Lord God at the center. Without Him, we would not need a beautiful planet, because we wouldn't be here.
Some day, this earth as we know it won't be here anymore:
Jesus tells us that some day this heaven and earth will pass away:
Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
And John tells us that there will be a new heaven and a new earth as he saw:
Revelation 21
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
Some people would not like to hear passages such as these because many people, especially in the environmental movements, believe that man is the cause of earth's problems and it is only man who can save the earth. Through whatever social program which is popular and politically correct, others will be swayed and deceived into thinking we can make this planet perfect and a "heaven on earth" global village.
Bible believing Christians however, remember that this earth doesn't belong to us. It doesn't belong to the animals, the trees, the endangered swamp rat, spotted owl or any other. This earth belongs to the One who created it. It would do well for others to understand this as well on this earth day.
1Corinthians 10:26
for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.
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