Answers Bible Curriculum Second Edition Unit 2 Lesson 18
This week in Sunday school, we consider what Genesis 1 has to say about man acting as a ruler and steward of God’s creation. What should be our role, as Christians, in preserving and using the earth and its resources? What biblical principles should guide us in reacting to various environmental initiatives? And how should we respond to the issues of Global Warming and Climate Change?
Our main text for this lesson is Genesis 1:26-31.
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excellent all right well let’s get started then welcome to Sunday school thank you for your patience as we work through that issue we’re talking today about being stewards of God’s creation we’ve seen that God’s created the earth he created it in six days we talked about the age of the earth last time but what how is man to rule the earth what is his function as a steward that’s what I might talk about today so here’s our agenda Lord willing with the time we have left we’re gonna talk we’re gonna look first at the original charge given to man and women in Genesis 1 see how that relates to man’s rule and stewardship well second discuss biblical principles that we need to remember as Christians when we face environmental issues today and then third we’ll talk about that ever-present issue in today’s media global warming or climate change what does the Bible have to say about that how should we respond let’s pray now before we go forward but God we thank you for your word thank you how it gives us the light that shows us the path to walk even when it comes to the environment so I prayed should be able to help that you would help me to be able to explain this well and help those who listen take it seriously and to think about their own stewardship in Jesus name Amen okay please take your Bibles and turn to Genesis chapter 1 well we’re gonna look at that original charge from God to man and woman Genesis 1 verses 26 to 31 is what we’re gonna be reading we’ve read this section before but we’re gonna come at it with fresh eyes thinking specifically about man’s comissioned rule so starting in verse 26 in Genesis 1 then God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth 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 God said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth then God said behold I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed it shall be food for you and to every beast of the earth and every bird of the sky to everything that moves on the earth which has life I have given every green plant for food and it was so God saw all that he had made and behold it was very good and there was evening and there was morning the sixth day as I said we’ve looked at this passage before but let’s make some fresh observations there was the first thing that said about man in verse 26 he is made in the image of God he’s going to be made in the image of God notice also that when God creates man’s cup God creates mankind he defines man’s relationship to the animals notice the relationship man is to exercise rule over them and which animals coins in passage it’s all of them every living thing that moves every living creature notice what else man is given dominion over all the earth not just portion of it but all the earth God says and notice the different commands God gives to man and woman in this passage says be fruitful and multiply fill the earth it’s kind of like a blessing and a command mixed together so do the earth and rule over all the animals of the earth God also identifies a food source in this passage notice it’s plants we have the plants that you’ll seed and the trees that yields seed for whom are these plants food notice it is for both man and the animals as this would be food for you and it will be food for them and how does God describe this created order he’s inaugurated very good well it’s not some interpretation questions now what part of being made in God’s image is most emphasized in this passage something we talked about before what do you think it’s his rule God is a ruler and man is made an under ruler man is commissioned by God made by God to rule over the earth at man’s creation but what does it mean to rule well we can think about what the word rule itself means it means to have authority it means to lead means to direct the use of resources such a rule is man’s job man as God’s under ruler is going to have authority to decide what to do with what’s on the earth he’s the ruler notice also that God tells man to subdue the earth but what does it mean to subdue all the word subdue you has the idea of conquer make something subject to you take command over it this is also man’s job with the earth but to take command of something and to rule it well what are you going to need to acquire well you’re gonna need some resources to help you accomplish that task and you’re going to need some knowledge on how to do it therefore another thing that’s going to characterize man’s rule is that he will need to steady creation in order to know how to direct it and how to make the most use of it men will also likely need to gather resources in order to make tools to allow him to further direct and rule creation but man can’t no information or grab their resources like God can God can do so omnipotent li and from a distance how will man need to rule what’s gonna have to be direct it’s gonna be up close it’s gonna have to be with the man’s very hands on creation this will characterize his rule now Genesis 2 gives us more information about what commanding and subduing will look like for man look over Genesis 2 for just a second Genesis 2:15 this is describing the creation of man and when talking about Adam being placed in the Garden of Eden God reveals the durva the designed role for Adam what is Adam designed to do according to Genesis 2:15 he’s designed to cultivate the garden and keep it now these are poignant terms because they imply something about the future man’s role in the garden and on the earth in general is forward thinking it is an accountable rule it’s both those things it’s looking at the future and because God has given him this commission the man is responsible to God for how he does it you see as man exercise his authority over the earth he is going to conquer it but not for the purpose of merely exploiting and disposing of it rather man is to develop the creation even as he makes use of it and enjoys it man is accountable for maintaining and improving the creation for the future especially for his own descendants and we exceed this at the very beginning with Adam now there’s something else here in chapter 2 look down to verses 19 and 20 what task is Adam specifically given there if you notice this is where God has Adam named the animals or certain kinds of animals and have you ever wondered how Adam did this that he just pull names out of a hat actually it’s not too hard to imagine because we can see Adams thought process in naming when it comes to the creation of woman remember what Adam says whenever he sees woman when God brings her to him Adam says this is bone in my bone and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because he gives a reason because she was taken out of man so the name is not random it’s actually very descriptive of the creature the man observed the woman he studied the woman and he came up with an appropriate name for her had him likely did the same thing with all the animals just as texana miss do today with their crazy Latin names assuredly this work of steady and classification is part of man’s rule as well not just to the animals but of all the other things that are part of nature and even the very things that man creates man studies man classifies God endowed man with this intelligence to do so naming something by the way what is that a symbol of ownership Authority yeah some degree of authority and we see that in Genesis God names man and he also name certain parts of creation but for other things God leaves the naming to man and this is manifest of man’s delegated authority over the earth and its creatures as God’s vice Authority so we’re getting a more complete picture of what it means for man to rule the earth man and decides what to do with the earth with its animals and with its resources man gains mastery over various parts of creation through personal work and steady man develops and maintains the earth and its resources with his own future and multiplication in mind man observes and classifies the various parts of creation but man is accountable to God for how he rules creation I may notice that just as an aside all of these aspects of ruling require work we don’t want to miss the fact that Adam and Eve were created to work before the fall but this work for them was never frustrating or merely arduous it was enjoyable it was doable it was fulfilling it’s only later that work was cursed but even with the curse that comes upon work it is redeemed for the so that we can do all our work today even the ruling of creation with joy and do it as unto the Lord but back to our picture of ruling his man still ruling in these same ways that we’ve identified today well I would say the answer is yes our economy’s technologies and research and education and food and machines and refining they’re all examples of man exercising the Dominion that God gave man over the earth and its creatures these methods of ruling are actually glorifying to God since they are a fulfillment of his original charge but there is an important difference today in man’s exercising Dominion and how it was originally given in the garden and what is that great difference I think we know it’s sin it’s the curse that has come upon man and all the world even though man is still steward of the earth he now rules sinfully selfishly and recklessly moreover the ruling and development of creation is now painful and tedious the world itself is subject to corruption in every quarter and in some ways it resists man’s rule now we see the implications of this we see examples of this all over the world we have lands becoming overworked and unusable we have invasive species appearing and wreaking havoc on environments there’s competition there’s conflict there’s bloodshed even when it comes to the Earth’s limited resources man even tries to turn his fellow man into a resource through slavery pollution makes water unclean undrinkable there are natural disasters and many other things as a result many environmental and social movements have risen today to address these issues to counteract to combat these issues and we are daily urged to donate money or take part in these causes governments to have gotten involved in environmentalism through regulation and servation businesses – it’s become more popular for them to go green or at least have some environmental concern so what do we do now in a cursed world what should we do as Christians when it comes to ruling where stewarding they corrupted earth how should we interact with environmental issues today what would certainly clear from Genesis 1 is that the mandate to rule the earth well continues this was not abrogated the earth is still for man it’s still for us and we are still accountable to God for the way we use the way we develop and the way me we maintain the earth however there are certain promises that come from God that are important for us to remember when we consider various environmental issues and causes and I want to show you to those two promises the first one appears in Genesis 8 so please turn over there Genesis 8 verses 20 to the beginning of chapter 9 Genesis 8 this is right after the flood this is what God says to know after the great flood subsides from the earth so be around 2350 BC look what it says starting in verse 20 then Noah built an altar to Yahweh and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar he always smelled the soothing aroma and Yahweh said to himself I will never again curse the ground on account of man for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth and I will never again destroy every living thing as I have done while the earth remains seed time and harvest and cold and heat since summer and winter and day and night shall not cease and God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth the fear of you and the terror review will be on every piece of the earth and on every bird at the sky with everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea into your hand they are given every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you I give all to you as I gave the green plant now we’ll stop there now some quick observations on this passage notice what promises God makes to Noah and his family he says I’m never gonna curse the ground again on account of man I’ll never destroy the whole earth with water again he says as I have done and I will always uphold the Earth’s natural cycles of seasons and days while the earth remains now what are the conditions that God gives for these promises do you see them this is one of those trick questions there are no conditions right because it says actually one of the reasons given is that man is evil from his youth hardly seems like a condition no these promises are given in spite of man’s evil not if man just proves himself to do better there are no conditions for these promises notice that one command from Genesis one is nonetheless repeated here be fruitful and multiply and notice that man is given a new level of authority man is given the authority to eat animals they are given to man just as the plants were so this is an important passage when it comes to thinking about the environment God promises despite man’s rule despite man’s evil and miss rule of the earth – nonetheless preserve the earth and its cycles while the earth remains and he promises never again to destroy the earth with water now someone might say alright this passage promises that God won’t destroy the earth but maybe we can still destroy the earth and will nullify his promises to preserve the earth but this cannot be we won’t be the ones to destroy the earth because God has already promised in another place how the earth will be destroyed and how will that be and will be with fire and this we see clearly in the second passage I want us to look at it second Peter chapter 3 let’s look at two verses there second Peter 3 verses 7 and 10 second Peter 3 I’ll read the two verses verse seven but by his word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men now verse 10 but the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up how interesting God says the earth is reserved to be destroyed in a certain way the earth will not be destroyed by an alien invasion the melting of the ice caps or giant asteroid God Himself will destroy the earth with fire on the allotted day of judgment and according to revelation 20 that would be at the end of Christ Millennial Kingdom and the final satanic rebellion so these two promises are important to keep in mind when it comes to thinking about the environment on the one hand we have God’s promise that he will preserve the earth on the other hand we have God’s promise that he will destroy the earth but only on in a day ordained day now a lot of these promises does this mean it doesn’t matter what we do with the earth let me just go ahead and trash it because it’s gonna stick around until God destroys it is that what we should do well of course stop because though the earth won’t pass away until God say so so so we can sure make the earth or certain parts of it a lot worse for ourselves you know I don’t know about you but I’d like to live in a world where I don’t have to put on a mask just to go outside in my smoggy City or I’d like to live in a world where I don’t have to be careful not to like my tap water on fire due to the chemicals that are in such reckless abuse of the earth’s resources would not only be unwise it would actually be a violation of the Genesis 1 mandate we are accountable for how we rule the earth and polluting it to the extreme would bring the condemnation of God now does that mean on the flipside we should go as green as possible not necessarily acting wisely as rulers of a cursed earth means that we’re often gonna find ourselves in the situation that Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verses 1 to 8 describes now let me read those verses to you you don’t have to turn there please yesyes 3 1 2 a Solomon says there’s an appointed time for everything and there’s a time for every event under heaven a time to give birth and a time to die a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted time to kill and a time to heal a time to tear down and a time to build up a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones a time to embrace and a time to shun embracing a time to search and a time to give up his loss a time to keep and a time to throw away a time to tear apart and the time to sew together a time to be silent and a time to speak a time to love and a time to hate a time for war a time for peace good rule of the earth will mean that sometimes it’s best to cut down the trees but other times it’s best to leave the trees or even to plant more sometimes it will be better to use fossil fuels and sometimes be better not to we’re gonna have to we’re gonna have to act differently depending on the situation now how will we know what is best in each situation situations change their correct answer is going to be different how do we know what the correct answer is well aside from what I’ve already shared up to this point in the class let me share with you four more principles from the scriptures that will help us decide what is the right way to steward the earth in a given situation four principles from the Scriptures four stewarding the earth number one the gospel of Jesus Christ is always of first importance we are not on earth ultimately to preserve the environment to fix governments or and all social ills we’re here to proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ the earth and everyone on it will ultimately perish but each person’s soul is eternal we are to reach those souls we are first and foremost about making disciples that is our commission we help the environment where we can we help social issues where we can but we can’t and we can’t afford to embrace every environmental and social initiative our time our energy our money are limited both individually and as a church and those resources must go chiefly towards the multiplication of the gospel the spread of the salvation message so number one the gospel salvation is always primary this will help us decide through environmental issues number two you must remember that man is the most important part of creation there are some environmentalists who see mankind as the ultimate problem they say we need to keep these forests pristine for the sake of the animals for the sake of the plants just think of how much the ecosystem has been disturbed by man moving into the area well this reasoning fails to consider what we’ve read in Genesis one man is told to fill the earth and subdue it the whole earth has been put under man’s authority for him to direct to live in and use we were not made to serve the animals or the plants but to act as stewards of them now again this doesn’t mean that we treat animals cruelly or callously or that we just devastate environments and drive scores and species to extinction but it does mean we have to correctly arrange our priorities when it comes to valuing the parts recreation man is the most important part furthermore while it is part of some religions especially in Asia to treat the earth or nature as a sentient being to be honored or feared we must remember it is not nature that we are accountable to it is God Exodus 20 10 commandments which I know calabrese been going through lately these Commandments remind us that we have no other God except the Otway we are to fear and serve Him not mother earth not the local River God not the precious Jaguars and not the giant redwoods we are stewards accountable to the Creator not nature not created things and Romans 1 also emphasizes this concept so number 1 the Gospels ultimate priority number 2 man is the most important part of creation number 3 serving your fellow man means wisely taking care of the earth and its resources this is where we can affirm a number of environmental initiatives consider what Philippians chapter 2 verses 3 to 5 says Philippians 2 verses 3 to 5 says do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves do not merely look out for your own personal interest but also for the interests of others have his attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus abuse of the earth and its resources will make life worse for everyone for example if you over fish you may make a killing in the short run financially but in the long run everyone including you will suffer so Christians must not act this way in fact we will actually be witnesses of the gospel and how we care for our fellow man in our environmental choices I like what one brother once said in a discussion about global warming he said environmental questions must be addressed with one the ring in mind we have to ask how will I be loving or hating my neighbor by pursuing this initiative or not now again Gospels first priority but we are still considering our fellowmen even when it comes to the environment this is not for the sake of Mother Earth this is for the sake of our neighbor that’s our third principle and here’s the fourth one I’d like to bring to your attention Christians must obey the government’s environmental mandates governments are a gift from God they purr they protect us from living in a world of anarchy but governments are imperfect and their environmental policies are no exception however we have to remember the excitation the command given to us by God in Romans 13 and 1st Peter 2 we are commanded as believers to submit for the lord’s sake to the governing authorities they are put in place by God and so by submitting to them you actually obey and please God moreover obeying the government prevents us from unnecessarily suffering governmental wrath penalties which would only hamper our ability to make disciples a bank government keeps our consciousness clean and it silences the talk of foolish men who oppose Christ they can’t blame us for disobeying government if our rulers then decide that we have to install special filters on our cars or that we have to pay some pollution tax that’s okay we can submit to that we don’t need to grumble against God’s sovereignty we don’t listen we don’t disobey God’s representatives for the Lord’s sake we show honor to the government imperfect as it is and it’s environmentally oriented laws now if there’s a bad law in our government in our society we have certain avenues for effecting change but that’s not the ultimate priority the ultimate priority is the gospel so we want to remember these four principles the Gospels ultimate importance man is the most important part of creation love your neighbour is going to mean taking care of you and we are to obey the government’s environmental policies now what about the big issue though in today’s media global warming what should Christians do when it comes to climate change how does that interact with our priority of the gospel we of course could take a long time to talk about this issue but you just say a few things there’s a lot of misinformation when it comes to global warming climate change so let me give you three quick facts that we should remember regarding climate change that we know how to act wisely in response first climate change is technically real I know climate change global warming it’s often spoken by maybe groups or people that we think of as being very anti God and we say oh you know they’re always talking about climate change I’m sure it’s made up well actually it’s not this is according to a very let me say this way according to a very credible a widely recognized steady the average global surface temperature has increased by one point two degrees Fahrenheit since 1880 this is well recognized conservative evangelical groups recognize this Answers in Genesis recognizes this we don’t have to deny this the world is getting warmer the question is is it a big deal well that depends on your worldview if you happen to have a secularist naturalist evolutionary worldview then you may believe that the earth is 4.5 billion years old it was created by random chance therefore temperatures on the earth are assumed to have very gradually changed over millions of years a temperature increase over the last century then would be a very rapid and serious development it could be the beginning of the end I mean it’s only a miracle that life originated here in the first place and it was under very precise conditions if those conditions change even a little bit we might all be doomed well we’re warming is a big deal if that’s your worldview but if you believe the truth if you understand that God made a young earth and it is resilient and maintained by God this temperature change is not nearly as concerning I’m not saying it’s not concerning at all but certainly the situation is not as dire as it might appear so first we should remember that climate change is technically real a second thing we should remember though is that climate change is not well understood – despite the impression we get from the media today scientists don’t have a firm grasp on climate change or what causes it we know greenhouse gases carbon dioxide we know that they’re involved but are they in effect or are they a cause they may be correlated but does that mean causation and how much are they in influence if they are a cause we know solar activity and other factors also play a role in climate but why or how much is not currently known well over the data that we do have scientists do have for figuring out these questions is extremely limited so assumptions are gonna play a very pivotal role in quote-unquote findings that’s why we see a huge variance in predictions about the effects of global warming on the earth there is good reason to believe based on some historical observations of the last two thousand years that the earth goes through cycles of warming and cooling it could be that the global warming we’re experiencing is just another part of the Earth’s natural cycles and that it’s gonna happen regardless of what we do but we don’t know we don’t really know more research is needed so this is another thing we need to remember people will like to make dogmatic statements about global warming climate change but we just don’t know very much about it it’s gonna take more study number three though and this is what makes it the hard this is what makes it hard the climate change debate is very emotionally politically and financially charged as you could guess there’s a great deal of money at stake in the question of climate change and environmental organizations fossil fuel companies they’re often more interested in seeing their interests supported rather than arriving at real answers about climate change additionally they’re reporting on global warming is full of cherry-picked data emotional manipulation browbeating recency bias that is you just remember what happened recently you don’t remember though the longer trends and other obvious logical fallacies bottom line we should be very cautious with what we see reported in the media about climate change and from both sides don’t just say oh you know it’s always the liberals they’re always they’re always skewing the information well remember that those who are against who downplay climate change many of them have a reason for doing so they have a bias so we want to be cautious we don’t want to be naive and where we do see information reported we want it we want to check it want to see if it really is reliable information so those are just three facts to remember when it comes to global warming and climate change it is a difficult issue it’s one that’s we’re gonna see continue to unfold as we get more information about our earth about our world but we do thank the Lord for his promises and we do thank the Lord that we have his sure word there’s a lot of things that are unsure when it comes to the environment and climate change but we know that the Lord is short and that his word is trustworthy as we navigate the various and difficult environmental questions today we can stand on the promises and principles of God’s Word but it all does come down to stewardship the world is for our use but we are accountable to God for how we use it now before we finish today let’s take a look at a few further application questions here’s my first one here Christians are often seen as anti environmentalist why is this the case what do you think yes D okay hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm mm-hmm yeah I think those are both useful things you shared Steve that’s useful clarification between the terms climate change and global warming global warming is a piece of climate change we can understand climate change you talk about changes in general what global warming talks about specifically temperature’s rising but sometimes those terms are used one term is used when talking about the other so they are it is useful to have that distinction but your other point is also I think apps and that is that because we have a different focus than most the world many through saying Steve considered that this world will last forever they expect it to last forever but we have this perspective that says no it’s coming to an end they they think therefore based on how we use the resources that we must be an environmentalist and to be to be true some Christians do have an anti environmentalist perspective they go too far and in understanding the earth being in a sense disposable and they do treat the earth in an improper way but I think most of it comes down to misunderstanding when you’re all about the gospel and when you consider man the most important priority of creation this is just going to this is going to be incomprehensible to many environmentalists they will say oh well surely you don’t care about the earth of course stewarding its resources and it’s just the nature of our age that even if you disagree with somebody a little bit they assume that you are a mortal enemy you don’t sign it for my cause it must be because you hate the earth and you don’t care about the environment but we understand that we just want to be ready for that role you want to say something hmm right yeah mm-hmm mm-hmm right yeah I think you bring up some good points for just to repeat them real quickly you talk about how environmentalists will often put animals in the environment above man and they’ll be so so zealous to get rid of things like fossil fuels that they don’t consider the implications of how man will suffer because of that and this is why I say the answer for what will be the best way to steward the earth is going to be different depending on the circumstance maybe it does make sense in the United States with our more advanced infrastructure and technology for us to go more green because we can do that with with less consequences but in in developing countries maybe that’s gonna it’s not going to be reasonable that’s gonna cause some extreme suffering so that’s why I think you’re right Roy to say what in having a more balanced perspective when you’re when you’re trying to consider your fellow man rather than specifically the animals we care about the animals but man is just more important that’s gonna mean that you have a more balanced view towards the environment that you’re you will sometimes do what you can to protect the environment and sometimes allow the environment to suffer a little bit in order that man may may develop and again this perspective is going to be very hard for many people that will to understand when you’re Pro human but also Pro environment people can’t people can’t understand that they think you must be either one or the other but biblically we wait in a sense are both let me get to another question and hopefully you can already see the answer to this question what are the dangers of becoming too involved in environmental causes as a church yes yeah that’s it right the biggest danger of becoming involved in environmental causes is that it will be a diversion from and a replacement of the gospel of forgiveness of sins through Christ and instead instead of the gospel it will be about saving the planet we will divert important resources to a less important goal and we know that this this has happened unfortunately many evangelical Christians have taken up the green movement like the social gospel as a primary if not the primary cause that the church should embrace now again there is a there is a place for us as Christians to care about the environments and even to to care about social causes but our ultimate priority is making disciples if we try and add another priority it’s always going to result in the diminishment of making disciples it’s been try and always results in the same effect just why we want to be on guard we don’t want to be diverted from our main mission another question as we encounter people who have genuine fears about the threats of global warming how can we use the Scriptures to share the truth of the matter with them hopefully you can see the answer to this – it’s basically bringing them through what we’ve talked about today we want to show them that God God is the Creator he has great power he has promised to sustain the creation until the consummation of Christ but we should show them that they should fear the sure future judgment of God much more than they fear global warming and in a sense they should fear the greater global warming because we know that the earth is going to be consumed in fire we want them to fear so that they can embrace the rescue we want to show them to you that Christ is the one who can bring them through the coming judgement just as the ark brought Noah and his family through one other question here new media is constantly presenting messages that promote the worship of creation rather than the Creator how do we guard ourselves against this false influence again I think the answer is somewhat simple it is to test what we hear we want to sift what’s given to us via news outlets or even conversations with what the scripture says and that means that we’re gonna have to know the Scriptures now to study the Scriptures you have to meditate on the scriptures so that we know what the truth is and we’re not easily led astray from what is reported or what is or what is spoken to us because we know that this is going to continue to be an ongoing influence the that perspective of idolizing creation it’s going to continue it’s part of our society but we want to be on guard against it we want to want to make sure that we’re standing on the scripture or we’re always analyzing what we see through the lens of Scripture I guess one other question to ask based on today’s topic I don’t have it listed here but it’s to consider your own stewardship consider your family stewardship you are a steward you are an under Rule er as part of the many under rulers that God has allowed to be on the earth how is your stewardship before God again I’m not saying that if you fail to recycle a piece of paper that you’ve committed sin and you need to repent but consider consider your stewardship based on the principles that we’ve looked at today are you loving your neighbor with how you treat the environment and many of those other things we’ve discussed do you have the gospel as a top priority or how you have you jumped on the bandwagon of those who worship creation and fail to have a proper stewardship I hope you’ll think about that today if you have other questions about this topic please email me you can talk further about that but this is the this is basically our last lesson on creation itself we’ve had eight lessons on creation it’s been a glorious steady we’ve seen how God has just been so good in making a very good creation you truly Majesty on display but the created world did not remain the way God made it it became tainted not everything stayed good because sin entered the world so next time we’re gonna begin to look at the second sea of the seven seas of history corruption the fall of man it’s a sin so I hope it be there next week when we talk about that as closing prayer Oh Lord God we recognize that this stewardship is a serious thing that you’ve given us it is a great privilege Todd you have you have given us aid a very exalted place as rulers of creation and it is one in which we are accountable to you and one in which we must take seriously as we consider our fellow man and as we consider that the great beauty and resources that you’re given on the earth what do we know that this earth is cursed and there’s there is a reckless abuse of it that takes place all around us but we want to stand on a biblical position not really following one side or the other so grant us wisdom according to your word as to how to act and I pray God that you would use us as a testimony the world won’t understand it but as they see our love for our fellow man and our devotion to you may they be convicted and may they give us opportunity to share with them the gospel of hope so that they might be saved the much greater concern than merely a polluted in mind I praise you blessed Calvary and those listening today as they continue to worship in Jesus name Amen thank you all glad we could get that sound and she worked out see you all next week