2024-01-19
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Let me begin by giving the reference citations for Christ’s Atonement and its aftermath: His arrest and trial [LK 23: 1-25]; His crucifixion [LK 23: 26-43]; His death and burial [LK 23: 44-49 & 50-56]; His rising [LK 24: 1-14]; On the road to Emmaus [LK 24: 15-35]; Christ’s appearance to the disciples [LK 24: 36-49]; His Ascension [LK 24: 50-53].
The lessons discussed so far are: getting God’s perspective; coming closer to Him; our understanding of God; God judges all on a fair, equitable, and even standard; the consistency of His teaching throughout the Scriptures; faith in the supernatural qualities God has; the value of the gifts of the Holy Spirit; God’s benevolent use of His power; the benefits of truth and God’s omniscience. Today’s topic, assigned to me by the Holy Spirit, is failure to accept cultural differences, resulting in hatemongering and societal fracture. Today, I’m commanded to discuss the earth, its environment, and its living plants and animals.
GN 1: 9-13 depicts the part of creation that begins the subject at hand. “And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry ground ‘land’ and 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 kinds. And God saw that it was good.” After that He created day and night, phenomena that would allow plants to grow and marking time units like months and years. Picking up at GN 1: 20-23, God created all sizes and types of sea life and birds on the fifth day. His next creation was all kinds and types of living creatures—livestock, creatures that move along the ground, (live in trees) and wild animals [GN 1: 24-25]. GN 1: 26-27, “Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in our own image, in our likeness, so they may rule over the fish in the sea, birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and all the creatures that move along the ground.” [All the translations that are word for word use pleural pronouns for God. We understand this practice to mean His Trinitarian nature is reflected]. “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image to our likeness, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.’” All these living things were commanded to increase in number and fill the earth. In the case of mankind, they were put in charge to rule over and “subdue” all the other living creatures. Plants and animals were their as food and to produce nourishment for the soil and beauty for the environment. Since plants produce oxygen in photosynthesis (respiration in response to sunlight) and many have also become medicines in modern times, we humans consider them as God’s gift to other creatures, including mankind. Creation of plants, animals, and mankind were created on the sixth day.
Now we must look at the question: How well has mankind carried out his God-given responsibility? To answer that question, one has to look into their priorities, the advancement of technology, and their behavior toward protection of the environment and other people. Advances in technology are finally pushing mankind to realize the necessity of no longer being dependent on fossil fuels. This realization has come very recently in human history. Beforehand, air pollution, methods of manufacturing, methods of farming, mining, and design of conveyances using fossil fuels left the atmosphere of earth polluted. One of the most important stretches of land is the Amazon Jungle area of eastern Brazil. People have systematically cut this vegetation down, not attending to the fact that it is one of the greatest oxygen-producers and habitats for animals in the world. Once again, only recently has mankind begun to reforest what can be and design projects that serve the community while not destroying this great natural resource.
All over the world, mankind’s irresponsible habits have replaced ozone with carbon dioxide and other harmful aerosols, and allowed warming that has resulted in severe and damaging weather conditions. Animals, plants, and mankind are all impacted. Incursion into animal habitats leads to some leading (and bleeding) news stories, e.g. sharks moving toward inland that cause terrible bite incidents with humans, forest fires of grand proportions, floods, and the like. Australia’s precious animals that are so unique, were injured and killed in their horrific fires of 2015-2016. We mustn’t forget what God said after the original sin was committed [GN 3: 1-6]. GN 3: 15-17, tells us about the pain in childbirth and that and the curse over the ground that only through painful toil, will we eat food from it. Men will “rule over their wives.” It would be a long time before the wisdom of EPH 5 and 6 would be written; still all marriages don’t practice this wisdom.
PRAYER: O Most Holy Lord, we have much to learn from EPH 5: 22, 24-25, “Wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the Head of the church, His body of which He is the Savior. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” In the matter of taking responsibility over the earth, seas, plants, animals, and other people, You have commanded us to be good stewards over all these things. Good managers are kind, righteous, unselfish, and caring. They are team-builders who educate and keep their promises to get God’s task of taking care of the earth and everything on it. We pray that we can do what is necessary to carry out this important task. In the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded to write about our attitudes toward God’s acceptance, the status of our respect for the Lord, and what He says about this subject. There are some people who are unwilling to take on the responsibility of caring for plants and animals. They forget or disrespect PS 24: 1, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it; for He founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.” My heart breaks when an ad for the SPCA comes on showing neglected and abused animals. I regularly watch “The Incredible Dr. Pol,” “Dr. Oakley,” “Homeland Docs,” and “Critter Fixers” on TV, as these amazing veterinarians help injured and dying animals –most of them brought back to good health. Children who grow up taking care of animals make better, kinder, more caring adults. Those Nat-Geo Wild channel programs always remind me of our need to watch over our environment, ethics, and love for others. Remember Christ’s words in JN 13: 34-35, “A new command I give you: ‘Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know you are My disciples, if you love one another.” Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson, 2024. All Rights Reserved.
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