ORIGINS: Small Group Bible Study

Stewardship & the Environment

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28 KJV)

Lesson Ten

God gave us the earth to take care of, not to destroy.

Photo credits: Hannah Goldstein

Jesus, Provider & Sustainer

Sharing Studying Praying Witnessing

Intro...
1. Welcome God's presence. 2. Share the BEST and WORST thing that happened to you this week. If a need for prayer is expressed take time to pray for that individual and need on the spot.

Key text...

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28 KJV)

Scripture Passages...
Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15; Exodus 20:13; Kings 9:19; Psalm 50; 103:22; Ecclesiastes 7:16-18; Isaiah 51:6; Jeremiah 31:3, 3134; Matthew 22:39; 28:1820; Romans 6:14; 8:22; Ephesians 1:21; Revelation 4:11; 11:18.

Todays World...

Read carefully Genesis 1:26. Foreign Policy magazine lists Lester Brown as number 78 in

its Top 100 Global Thinkers for 2011.

The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers, Foreign Policy, http://www.foreignpolicy.com /2011globalthinkers (accessed December 13, 2011).

His recent book, World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse, outlines Plan B for turning around the looming environmental crisis and saving civilization. While environmental activitists take seriously the responsibility to care for the earth, their perspectives vary about who is in control. Some acknowledge the Creator God. Some see divinity in nature itself. Read Psalm 50:10 and Revelation 4:11 While many environmentalists view man as just another species struggling to survive, the Bible reveals that we are God's children, entrusted by Him to care for the earth. Read and assess carefully Genesis 2:15. Lester Brown and others point out that a crisis looms. Brown urges a plan that he believes could prevent this crisis if only humanity would cooperate. But if they do not, will we be doomed to extinction? According to the Bible, the script doesnt end that way. Carefully read and analyse Isaiah 51:6 and Romans 8:22. The One who created the earth has revealed the final chapter. Earths story will end with a new beginning, and the sin that destroyed our planet will be no more. Gods faithful children may be just as serious as Lester Brown about caring for the earth, but their reason for

doing so is different. Theyre keeping a trust with the earths Sovereign, and they trust Him for the outcome.

Lesson Impact... Quotes...

Briefly share what points stood out for you in the lesson or how the lesson study has influenced you.

The environment is everything that isnt me.

Albert Einstein

We make the world we live in and shape our own environment.

Orison Swett Marden

The whole earth is a living icon of the face of God. I do not worship matter. I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, who willed to take His abode in matter, who worked out my salvation through matter. Never will I cease honoring the matter which wrought my salvation! I honor it, but not as God. Because of this I salute all remaining matter with reverence, because God has filled it with his grace and power. Through it my salvation has come to me.
John of Damascus

Love all of Gods creation, the whole of it and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of Gods light! Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will soon perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.
Fydor Doestoyevski

It was Descartes and Bacon, not the author of Genesis, who propagated the view that man can do as he pleases to nature with impunity.
E Ashby

Questions...
Why does care for the environment matter? Isnt God going to remake the world anyway? How do we share in Gods creation as stewards? In what way does the appreciation of nature improve our relationship with God? What do we say about ourselves by destroying our environment? What should a Christian do?

To Dress & To Keep It...

Read again read Genesis 1:26-28. What stands out to you from this verse as a possible principle of what our attitude to our environment should be? The verb to bless (barak) has two meanings: to bless and to (cause to) kneel.
Jeff A. Benner, Bless-barak, Ancient Hebrew Research Center, http://www.ancienthebrew.org/27_bless.html (accessed December 6, 2011).

The former gives an action, while the latter gives both an action and a desired effect. Applying either meaning indicates that Adam and Eves creation was a gift from God

that necessitated a proper reaction. Kneeling was a ritual expression of the willing surrender of the life of the worshipper to God.
ngel Manuel Rodrguez, Postures for Prayer, Biblical Research Institute, http://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/Biblequestions/Postures%20for %20Prayer.htm (accessed December 5, 2011).

In several cases, Gods commands to someone are predicated by a personal encounter or gift of love to that person. Carefully read Exodus 20:13 and Jeremiah 31:3, 3134). God commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful, to multiply, and to replenish and subdue the earth. In doing so, they would enjoy the privilege of participating in [earths] creation, and the increase of humanitys social circle through procreation.
Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . , 1st ed. (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 1988), p. 73. ngel Manuel Rodrguez, Spanning the Abyss: How the Atonement Brings God and Humanity Together (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 2008), p. 36.

The final command to subdue can pose some trouble if taken out of biblical context. Typically, to subdue means to overcome or bring under control. However, in this context, to subdue grants humans the right to utilize . . . the vast resources of the earth from agriculture to mining and even scientific discovery. This implies that our proper use of the earths assets will benefit both present and subsequent generations.
The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1st ed., p. 217.

Read Genesis 1:28 again and also Revelation 11:18. What link do you see between these verses and being a stewardship?

In the Bible, dominion can be seen in several contexts: (1) Gods rule over His creation (Psalm 103:22); (2) Political rule (1 Kings 9:19); (3) Enslavement to sin (Romans 6:14); and, (4) power and lordship (Ephesians 1:21). God intended that humanity would rule over creation. We were to become Gods representative or viceroy over this planet.
The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1st ed., p. 217.

God also gave us the responsibility to manage His creation and to protect it against pollution.
The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1st ed., p. 216.

This is such an awesome responsibility that judgment will be meted out to those who destroy the earth. Read Ecclesiastes 7:16-18. What fundamental principle can we glean from this passage? Our care of the world should be balanced. We must not be so earth conscious that we forget our responsibilities to our fellow human beings (Matthew 22:39; 28:1820). In the same vein, we should not neglect our Godgiven responsibility to dress and keep the earth He has given us (Genesis 2:15).

The Book of Nature...

Wherever we turn, we hear the voice of God and behold His handiwork. From the solemn roll of the deep-toned

thunder and old oceans ceaseless roar, to the glad songs that make the forests vocal with melody, natures ten thousand voices speak His praise. In earth and sea and sky, with their marvelous tint and color, varying in gorgeous contrast or blended in harmony, we behold His glory. The everlasting hills tell of His power. The trees that wave their green banners in the sunlight, and the flowers in their delicate beauty, point to their Creator. The living green that carpets the brown earth tells of Gods care for the humblest of His creatures. The caves of the sea and the depths of the earth reveal His treasures. He who placed the pearls in the ocean and the amethyst and chrysolite among the rocks is a lover of the beautiful. The sun rising in the heavens is a representative of Him who is the life and light of all that He has made. All the brightness and beauty that adorn the earth and light up the heavens speak of God.
Ellen G. White, Child Guidance, p. 53.

God gave Adam and Eve employment. Eden was the school for our first parents, and God was their instructor. They learned how to till the soil and to care for the things which the Lord had planted. They did not regard labor as degrading, but as a great blessing. Industry was a pleasure to Adam and Eve. The fall of Adam changed the order of things; the earth was cursed: but the decree that man should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, was not given as a curse. Through faith and hope, labor was to be a blessing to the descendants of Adam and Eve. God never meant that man should have nothing to do.
Ellen G. White, Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 314.

How Owns It All...?

Read again Genesis 1:26-28 and Psalm 50.

What facts stand out to you? And how do these passages act as governance in the attitude that we should foster whilst living upon this earth? One of the ways the theory of evolution fails as a theory of origins is what we can see happening in life processes. God clearly designed these processes for productive sustentation rather than depletive exploitation. The theme of fruitfulness and reproduction is one of the clearest themes in the Creation account. It does not suggest that we avoid using resources, because God gave them to us to use for our good. Gods loving nature, however, would engender the kind of responsible, constructive use of resources that would sustain them for future use.

Recommended Reading...
The Ministry of Healing, pp. 315-316, Ellen G. White.
https://egwwritings.org/

Recommended Viewing...
Watch to Walter Veith's Total Transformation series
Co-Dependence.

For other materials by Walter Veith and the Amazing

Discoveries team visit: http://amazingdiscoveries.org/

Break into twos or threes and pray for one anothers needs, as well as for your friends and family...

LESSONS ON FAITH
LESSON #10: DEPENDING ON GOD (Living by Faith)

Living by Faith

LESSONS ON FAITH
LESSON #10: DEPENDING ON GOD (Living by Faith)
"Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1. Since faith is the depending upon the word of God only, for what that word says, being justified by faith is simply being accounted righteous by depending upon the word only. And since the word is the word of God, dependence upon the word only is dependence upon God only, in the word. Justification by faith, then, is justification--being accounted righteous by dependence upon God only, and upon him only because he has promised. We are all altogether sinners--sinful and ungodly. We are, therefore, all subject to the judgment of God. Rom. 3:9-19. Yet for all of us there is escape from the judgment of God. But the only way of escape from the judgment of God is to trust in God. When David had sinned in numbering the people and so had incurred the exemplary judgement of God, the Lord gave him his choice as to whether there should be seven years' famine or he should flee three months before his enemies or there should be three days' pestilence. But David would not choose at all. He deferred it all to the Lord, for Him to choose, saying, "Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great." 2 Sam. 24:11-14. When depending upon God alone, in His word, for righteousness, we have peace with God, because thus we really obtain righteousness and "the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance

forever." Isa. 32:17. When depending upon God alone in His word, for righteousness we have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ, because "He is our peace, who hath made both" God and man "one," "having abolished in his flesh the enmity" "for to make in himself of twainof God and man--"one new man, so making peace." Eph. 2:14,15. Further: when depending upon God alone, in His word, for righteousness, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, because God has "made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself . . . whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreproachable in his sight: IF ye continue in the faith"--if you continue to depend only upon God alone is His word. Col. 1:20-23. When He has made the way so plain, the justification so complete, and the peace so sure to all, and asks all people only to receive it all by simply accepting it from him and depending upon him for it, why should not every soul on earth be thus justified and have the peace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ? This is "what the Scripture means when urging upon us the necessity of exercising faith." Are you exercising faith? Are you justified by faith?

Have you righteousness by faith? Have you peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ? "Have faith in God." Mark 11:22.

First published in the Review & Herald, Feb. 14, 1899 By A. T. Jones & E. J. Waggoner