Where Do We Come From?Sample

Created with a Mission

“And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” (Genesis 1:28)

When God created the first humans, He gave them the task to fill the earth and rule over it. They were to rule over the fish, the birds, and every different kind of animal. In Genesis 2, this task is phrased a little differently: the man was to “work and keep” the garden in which God put him. This clarifies that the “ruling” was not meant to be destructive. Man was appointed as a kind of gardener, to take care of God’s creation and cultivate it. For example, he had the task to name the animals. So, right from the beginning, man was given responsibility and a goal in life.

Thousands of years later, man’s influence on creation is impossible to overlook. But it’s not just positive! This is partly because creation itself has changed—the ground is cursed because humanity rebelled against God (we’ll read more about that later). But I believe we still have the responsibility to take care of creation as best we can. Can you name some examples of good care and also some examples where we humans have failed to “work and keep” the earth? What can you do yourself to take responsibility in this respect?