So it’s amazing to read in the opening book of the Bible, written thousands of years ago, about God telling the first people he created to ‘be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it’ (Genesis 1:28 New International Version). It was also God’s intention for humankind to rule over the earth and all the creatures in it.
But is today’s world how God planned it to be? While in many ways we are similar to other creatures, we all know that we are not the same. Something sets us apart. We have an ability to consider and communicate issues which go above and beyond the little world we each live in. We have the potential to choose what is best rather than what is to our own personal advantage. We have these faculties because we are created in God’s image (see Genesis 1:27).
The Bible also describes God as being pure and perfect. In the beginning, humankind was a perfect reflection of what God is like. But then something happened which resulted in that image of God in us being spoilt. Instead of feeling responsible to him for all he had given them and living to please him, the first human beings rebelled and decided to follow their own selfish impulses.
Humankind does indeed fill the earth and has subdued it. But sadly, through selfishness and greed, we have spoilt so much of what God made us responsible for. We have polluted the land, the sea, the air we breathe and even outer space. We have caused the extinction and near-extinction of so many wonderful creatures. We have acquired the capability to destroy ourselves and the world. Sometimes it seems we are in danger of doing so.
Our only hope lies in us restoring our right relationship with our Creator.
War Cry UK & Ireland July 2013
Photo credit: War Cry pictures
