Lesson 2: Humanity’s Task (Genesis 1:16-31 and especially 2: 15-17)
Although the ancient stories felt all parts of creation were good and worked together according to God’s design, they focused especially on the relationship between the divine and the human.
In the second creation story, the human was to till and care for the garden. In the first, he was to operate as God’s agent in caring for the other parts of the creation.
Sadly, having dominion over the other parts of creation has been interpreted too often as being able to do anything you want. Everything is supposedly at humanity’s disposal.
Overlooked is the gist of both stories that present humans operating as God’s helpers and according to the design by which God made creation. In the first story, we are clearly God’s stewards who act on God’s behalf and according to God’s values as caretakers not exploiters of the earth.
The second story tries to acknowledge this agency by observing humans should not eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In other words, God determines what is good and evil, not humans.
One of the major debates today is whether Christians should work to overcome climate change. From the perspective of the two Genesis creation stories, there is no question at all. Humans are to respect and care for every part of creation, no matter what the situation. There is no need for science to reveal a need. It is just a natural part of living according to the goodness of God’s creation.
Humanity is to respect and care for all. The common good does not refer to just the human community, but every part of God’s creation We do not abuse our waste anything. The extinction of any species is of major concern, something we try to avoid.
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