Genesis 1

God's beautiful creation is ours to care for.  In Genesis 1:26 and 28, He commanded us to have dominion over all living things on the earth.  God gave us dominion, which means we have power over all living things on the earth.  I don't understand how it is such a common viewpoint of people of faith that people have not caused climate change.  It is the position of the holy scriptures that God has indeed given us that power to change the world.  What a terrible legacy that we have destroyed the land, tortured and poisoned its creatures, and even caused a climate that harms all the world.  Human greed has grabbed all it can to enrich itself without care for the creatures over which we have dominion.

The first chapter of Genesis causes so much debate.  So many people disbelieve that God could have created the heavens and earth and all it contains in 6 days.  They point to principles of population biology to make people believe in evolution instead of God's creation.  They point to the age of bones and stones to cast doubt over God's absolute power. I think the solution is easy--I think chapter one of Genesis covers geologic ages of the earth. I think there were populations of mankind before Adam and Eve were created.  I believe that those early populations of humanity lived in harmony with nature and followed God's commands to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.  I even believe that the Bible points this out in Genesis 2:4--These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created.  GENERATIONS.  This is evidence that chapter one covers GENERATIONS of the heavens and the earth.  I have a very simple belief that it is easy for an all-powerful God to create everything in 6 days and that all the evidence off the great age of this earth is also true.  These generations could be geological ages.

There are many other viewpoints of these first two chapters of the Bible.  Even the footnotes in my Bible say that mankind created in chapter one and Adam and Eve created in chapter two are two accounts of the same event. The Bible scholars here state that the creation of man in 2:7 is an elaboration of mankind's creation in 1:27, with the chapter one account emphasizing humanity's creation WITH authority and chapter two emphasizing humanity as UNDER authority.  There are so many layers of meaning of scripture, and everyone should study it for application to their own lives.  However, people of faith should not focus on things that cause division and spend their time arguing with unbelievers about creation. Second Timothy 3:16 says that scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness.  Debate is listed as one of the sins in Romans chapter one.  Arguing about creation with unbelievers is not profitable.  The entire point of scripture is to point out our sin, bring us back to God, and teach us to love God and to love each other.  

Debating over creation makes us overlook our responsibility.  Spending all your time in Genesis 1 and 2 trying to find things to debate with others makes you miss the commands given to us here.  Our responsibility is to be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.  I stumble over the word "subdue" but take it here to mean to keep the wilderness under control.  I choke at that, too, because I want to leave nature natural and worship the God of creation who made so many wonderful things.  I have no problem with replenishing the earth, though.  Whatever patch of ground we have before us, we need to replenish it and put more back into it than we take out of it.  I fail more than I succeed, but I am trying to regenerate my backyard and make it fruitful.  I am so committed to helping our earth be fruitful and multiply all the blessings God bestowed on it originally, before sin entered the earth.