The Mandate to Restore the Earth – Nathan Shaw
God is green. He loves the earth (Genesis 1). There is a new generation rising with a restoration mandate that will even impact the earth. There are two types of green—one is demonically inspired, the other comes from the heart of Creator God. One is motivated by a bitterness that will give way to unbridled rage. The other is motivated by a love that will bring an incredible, supernatural peace. The difference between the two will become increasingly obvious in the days ahead.
In similar manner James contrasts two types of wisdom. One is described as earthly, unspiritual, demonic, and comes from below. The other is heavenly, and comes from above. Concerning earthly wisdom James says this: “If you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice” (James 3:14-16 LEB).
In contrast James describes heavenly wisdom by saying, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good behavior his works, with the humility of wisdom…the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, nonjudgmental, without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace among those who make peace” (James 3:13, 17-18 LEB). The wisdom from below releases every evil practice. The wisdom from above releases God's righteousness, a righteousness that is both attractive and compelling.
In Eden heaven and earth were intricately connected. Sin and rebellion caused a disconnect. Earthly green seeks to restore the earth without God. It achieves this by focusing on the actions of humankind—some actions lead to pollution, others do not. Heavenly green, on the other hand, doesn’t ignore the importance of actions, but focuses more on the heart of humankind. It understands that the greatest pollution of the earth comes because of our independence from God. Put simply, earthly green operates independent of God; heavenly green operates dependent on God. The earth responds to the messengers from both camps. Sin pollutes the earth. Righteousness restores the earth. The physical creation responds negatively to sin and positively to righteousness (see for example Leviticus 18:26-28, Isaiah 24:4-6, 55:12, Psalm 96:11-13, 98:7-9).
At a recent United Nations Climate Summit two very different appeals were presented. One was an emotional appeal from 16 year old Greta Thunberg. The other was a letter signed by various scientists from around the world. Greta’s appeal called for immediate action to curb the present climate emergency. The scientists letter laid out reasons why they believe there is no climate emergency. The letter supports positive action based on good science but believes that declaring a climate emergency is an overreaction. What can we learn from this situation?
Firstly, I believe many like Greta are going to be used by God to champion His heart for the earth. At the moment many are operating more from anger than love. Paul was zealous for God but his zeal was misdirected. In fact, his hatred and anger was so great he was actually endorsing and approving the killing of Christians (Acts 22:4, 26:10). After God encountered him he became a messenger of love (1 Corinthians 13, Ephesians 3). Likewise, God will encounter some of the most zealous and the most angry from this generation and transform them into messengers of love. We can judge them or we can call them into their God appointed mandate.
Secondly, God has given us a responsibility to be wise stewards of the earth. There are significant ways that we are polluting the earth and there are things we can do to prevent that. In this context emotional appeals that are given in the right spirit can lead to positive outcomes. However, the science behind human induced climate change is still controversial and emotional appeals can easily blind us to well reasoned science. God gave us inquiring minds and the ability to think and reason. It is a good thing to question, examine and re-examine (Proverbs 25:2). Truth is our friend, not our enemy. Emotional appeals should be based on solid, not speculative, science. A dogmatic person has stopped learning. A humble person remains open to examine and learn.
There are two reasons why the earth is decaying. The first reason is sin. Sin produces decay and death. Righteousness produces life. But there is a second reason. God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). When they were driven from Eden they didn’t lose the call to take dominion, but they did lose much of their authority to fulfill that call. Only in Jesus is that authority fully restored (Matthew 28:18).
Jesus’ earthly ministry was marked by dramatic physical healings. He went on to declare that His disciples would do even greater works than He did (John 14:12). Greater works include restoring the earth. Under the Old Covenant God used Elisha to neutralize poison (2 Kings 4:38-44). Certainly neutralizing pollution isn’t beyond God's ability. When the Creator manifests in and through His people, the earth is restored. We can expect nothing less. Afterall, not only is Jesus the resurrection and the life—He also lives inside of us (John 11:25)!
The healing of human hearts is a crucial aspect for the healing of the earth. Firstly our hearts need to be aligned with our heavenly Creator. When human hearts are healed their relationship with the earth is also healed. Only then can humanity’s full authority over the earth be realized. God is raising up a generation with a mandate for restoration. They will be attractive and compelling because God's righteousness is attractive and complelling. Even the earth will respond to them.
© 2019 Nathan Shaw.
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