"The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein." (Ps 24:1)
"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease." (Gen 8:22)
There are many movements today regarding environmentalism and "saving the earth". From the onset, I would like to clarify that I do regard some of the these movements to be quite beneficial to our standard of living, and it is undoubtable that we live in a nicer and cleaner place because of some of these initiatives. Compare our cities to other places in the world, and it is great to have cleaner air to breathe and cleaner streets to walk upon.
However, many of these movements also have a tremendous fear of the earth somehow dying or changing. These fears are packaged into theories with great warnings that we have to urgently spend lots of money on research, or put a tremendous tax burden upon ourselves to change our behaviors. In addition, we hamstring our lives by preventing our country to use some of the natural resources that we do have.
Now, again to clarify, the non-Christians of the world can believe whatever they want. They do not believe in God, and they don't subscribe to the Bible as holy. That is understandable. However, what about Christians? What does the Bible say to us?
Above in the referenced passages, we see that the Lord created the earth from His wisdom. He spoke and the earth was created. In fact, we see that the Lord owns the earth - it is not ours, it is not owned by Satan. The earth is the Lord's and all of us who are in it.
After the flood in Genesis, the Lord also promised that the earth would always function normally. There would be no great changes that would disturb the working of the earth. Consequently, we do not need to fear climate changes. Yes, there will be some fluctuations in the patterns of weather, but we do not need to extrapolate those changes to means that in 20 years we will all die and be underwater. The Lord is in control.
Science is great. We have many great conveniences that are born out of scientific work and they seem to increase in wonder on a daily basis. It is the job of scientists to also have theories of how things work - but until they are proven through consistent experimentation, they are simply theories.
As Christians, we often clash with the theories, but I don't believe we clash with scientific facts. What we have in addition to theories is the word of God and the presence of God. Christians have a relationship with God and know that He is real because He interacts and counsels us. We are never alone. However, He is also our Lord and as our Lord, we follow Him unquestionably. Part of that Lordship is to take His word as truth. For if we do not do that, we would be foolish to say that we believe in the God of the Bible, but we discard the truths of the Bible given by the same God.
At the same time, when confronted with a scientific theory versus a Biblical promise, what do we acknowledge? It must be the Biblical promise. God is bigger than anything we can do to the earth. God is bigger than the universe because He created it all. If the Lord assures us that the earth will function normally, we will be fine. Carbon dioxide or comets falling from the sky - neither of them will change God's promise to regulate this planet for life. That is truth for a Christian and we need to rest in Him always.
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your assurances through Your Word. Man's wisdom can create grand theories borne out of our fears, but You have promised that the earth will be regulated as long as it exists. The date and time for the end of the earth is likewise not in our hands, but in Yours because You own the earth. It is no one's decision to end the earth - not world leaders, not our actions here on earth, and certainly not Satan's. You and You alone will choose the date and time for the end. Father God, thank You that You always do what You promise and that we can rest even as the world around us panics. Let us carry Your peace with us at all times. In Jesus' name, AMEN.
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