See Why Did God Allow 9/11?;
Trying to Gain God's Perspective on 9/11 (September 11th 2001);
9/11 - Ten Years On;
9/11 - Response and Aftermath in the light of ISIL, 2014;
Warning in the Light of the Pandemic;
9/11 - Twenty Years On ....
I also wrote something similar in verse form: Some Verses Calling For Repentance Among Western Christians.
Christians need to repent. Not only of the sins of others (as intercessors are sometimes called to do), but of their own sins. Not only their personal sins, which are always many in all of us, but of their sins in society which they do not recognise.
God is giving a warning to the powerful, successful Christians in America:
"Look after my planet.
Make it central to your purpose for being here.
Or else I will hold you responsible. Christians and non-Christians alike will be held responsible.
But especially Christians
because they are the ones who should be showing forth my heart.
Yet they have shown forth only one quarter of my heart."
How have we - how do we - not look after God's earth? By ignoring it. By assuming that it is there merely as a backdrop for human activity, and perhaps the drama of salvation. By putting priority onto activities that enhance personal fulfilment and achievement, activities that have as an indirect result the destruction of the earth.
For example, every mile we drive contributes to greenhouse gases, that puts extra energy into the atmosphere, making it more active and unstable - leading to floods, storms with increasing severity and frequency. And it is often the poor who suffer more than you wealthy.
It is a spiritual truth that when God gives power to someone - be it a person or a nation - then he expects them to use that power to the benefit of others and not to their own benefit. Read on, especially about Ezekiel 34 ...
"The nations were angry
And your wrath has come.
The time has come
- for judging the dead
- and for rewarding your servants the prophets, and the saints and those who reverence your name - both small and great -
- and for destroying those who destroy the earth."
Why so? All things are to be Christ's inheritance (Heb. 1:2). All things are to be summed up in Christ, and come together in him (Eph. 1:10, Col. 1:20). If we destroy Christ's inheritance - or allow it to be destroyed while we enjoy ourselves - then we are not truly loving the one we claim to love.
John 3:16 tells us what God so loved that he gave his only begotten Son. It was not human souls. It was not even human beings alone. It was "the world".
And what is God's plan? Romans 8 tells us clearly that those who are in Christ Jesus are no longer under condemnation and they receive the Holy Spirit, because of whom we can have a very intimate relationship with the Living God. It goes on to explain God's purposes. Woven into these purposes is a strong thread of future hope and resurrection and salvation for the whole of Creation, not for human beings along. Indeed, in the light of v.19, 21, etc. we who taste the first fruits of salvation are meant to be the mature 'sons' who, because they are like God in attitude of heart and in what they value (the real meaning of the Greek word for 'son' in v.19), will bring God's blessing and joy back to the very Creation itself. And the heart of God is to bless rather than ignore his Creation.
After all, the very purpose for which he created humankind in the first place was, according to Genesis 1:26-28, to steward Creation (the real meaning of 'radah') on behalf of God. We should rule it for its own good rather than for our own convenience and enjoyment.
This is clear from the fact that 'radah' is used in only a few places, and notably in Ezekiel 34, where God says,
"Woe to the shepherds of Israel
who only take care of themselves.
Should not the shepherds take care of the flock?
You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool,
and slaughter the choice animals
but you do not take care of the flock.
You have not strengthened the weak
or healed the sick or bound up the injured.
You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost.
You have ruled them harshly and brutally."
It is clear that the type of rulership that God requires from those whom he depends on to represent him should be that of a shepherd for his sheep: the shepherd rules the sheep not for his own sake or convenience, but for the sake of the sheep which he has authority over.
In the same way, according to Genesis 1:26-28, we have a mandate to rule the Creation not for our own sake or convenience, but for the sake to the Creation itself. Because God loves it.
But rule the Creation today just as the shepherds of Ezekiel 34 did: we "only take care of ourselves". We "eat the [food it provides], clothe ourselves with the [fabrics we make from it], and slaughter [any parts that suit us]". We "do not take care of the [Creation]". We do not "strengthen the weak". We do not "heal the sick [in Creation] nor bound up the injured [parts of Creation]". We do not bring back the [species nearing extinction] or search for the lost". We "rule [the Creation] harshly and brutally".
God's judgement starts with the household of God. That is a time-long spiritual truth. God's people should show forth God's character. We Christians are among the worst offenders against the Creation, by our focus on our personal satisfaction, personal salvation, personal fulfilment, personal growth. God will judge us as he judged the shepherds of Israel.
On the other hand, if we truly let the Holy Spirit rule every part of our lives, including letting the Holy Spirit transform our 'ways of seeing things' (which is what Romans 12:2 means), will have the fruit of the Spirit grow in us. This fruit, which we normally assume is to be felt by other human beings around us, is actually to be felt by the whole of God's Creation around us. Gal. 5:22,23 applied to the Creation goes like this:
"The fruit of the Spirit is:
- love - for God's Creation
- joy - in God's Creation
- peace - with God's Creation
- patience - with the speed at which God's Creation operates
- kindness - towards each animal or plant in God's Creation
- goodness - in our attitude towards God's Creation
- faithfulness - in our dealings with God's Creation, keeping covenant with it just as God keeps covenant with us
- gentleness - in our dealings with all God's Creation
- self-control - in our use of the resources afforded us by God's Creation"
Those who truly show this attitude towards God's Creation will be those whom the Creation looks forward with eager longing to see (and experience and feel the effects of) (Rom. 8:18). And so we will most beautify and prepare our Saviour's inheritance, and all things will end up related to Christ as head (Eph. 1:10), with great joy.
To send comments, queries, suggestions please send an email to:
- an email address made up as follows:
(I apologise that I have to make it a little complicated; it is because I don't want automated spamming systems to find the email and send junk that will swamp your genuine messages. Thank you for your understanding - as well as for your comments.
About This Page
This page, URL= 'http://abxn.org/discussion/ .html',
is on-going work, designed to stimulate discussion on various topics, as part of Andrew Basden's pages that open up various things from one of the Christian perspectives.
Contact details.
Copyright (c) Andrew Basden at all the dates below. But you may use this material subject to certain conditions.
Written on the Amiga with Protext in the style of classic HTML.
Created: 24 February 2001. Note: The updates listed here have not changed the main text. It is as it was written on that date. The updates have merely added links and introduction, or corrected the font etc.
Last updated: 1 January 2009 added .nav, .end, intro, link to usa. 8 May 2011 better intro. 5 September 2011 usa.10y. 10 September 2014 9-11-response, new .nav, .end. 7 July 2015 new .end. 20 February 2017 request dashes. 5 August 2020 corrected the 'small' tag on links at start; added a link to verse; new .end, .nav. Added note about not changing the text. 5 September 2021 9-11-20y; more See Alsos; heading.