The context of those Genesis 1 verses is significant.
Before God gives humans these commands, he says, “Let us make human beings in
our image and likeness.” (Verse
26) The nature of humanity’s dominion or rule over the earth is in direct
connection with being created in God’s image. In other words, to know what kind
of subduing and ruling humans were to do, we must first see what kind of
subduing and ruling God does. What is the nature of God’s dominion? Biblical
perspective provides the following picture.
First, when Jesus came on the scene, he revealed
a God who rules creation with intimate knowledge
and caring beyond the stereotypical image. Jesus made the
statement, “Two sparrows cost only a penny, but not even one of them can die
without your heavenly Father knowing it.” (Matthew
10:29)
Apparently, God attends the funeral of every
fallen bird. God pays tribute to each road kill. Why? Because, as biblical
perspective reveals, it’s all God’s creation. And creation is special to God.
There’s an intimacy of tenderness and concern with all creation. So if human
beings are going to rule and subdue the earth in God’s image, that is the same
intimate care and concern they must bring to the task.
Here’s the way one author describes it: “There
seems to be a relationship of real intimacy between the Creator and his
creation. We get the impression that God loves the world of nature and cares
for it with a tenderness and concern that we might expect in a gardener caring
for his prize roses.” (Cottrell, p. 127)
What a profound metaphor to use in describing
God’s relationship to creation. Have you ever watched a gardener who is
passionate about roses care for them? There isn’t any part of the rose plant’s
existence that isn’t meaningful and attended to by the gardener. The “subduing”
and “ruling” involves deferential treatment and profound care and respect,
admiration not exploitation.
Second, Jesus further defined God’s rule and
dominion with this radical description: “You know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over
them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be
your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-just as the Son of
Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom
for many.” (Matthew
20:25-28, NIV)
What does this tell us about the way God rules?
God’s mandate is that the one who rules is the
one who serves. Ruling is defined by the
way one serves the needs of those within the domain of the ruler. And Jesus
gave that ultimate description of service when He gave up his life for the ones
He came to serve. In an act of unselfishness, of pure compassion and mercy, He
sacrificed His own self-interest for the sake of empowering the best in others.
This certainly suggests significant implications
for what God had in mind when he gave human beings the responsibility of
stewarding creation on his behalf. Instead of treading upon creation in order
to serve ourselves and our own egotistical needs through acts of greed and
gratification, we work to live in balance and mutual service to all of
creation. We pay intentional attention to how we can serve our environment so
that it, too, can become all that God originally intended it to be.
So actions like reducing consumption, recycling,
renewing natural resources, limiting deforestation—all of which upset our
sensitive ecosystems—are not simply policy choices of liberal environmentalists
and tree-huggers. They’re responsible choices by people given a mandate from
the Creator God to steward and manage the planet in ways that serve rather than
destroy.
That’s why God continues his job description for
human beings by adding, “The Lord God put humans in the garden of Eden to care
for it and work it.” (Genesis
2:15). The Hebrew phrase can accurately be translated, “to serve and
preserve it.”
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