Presenting a Biblical response by concerned former Seventh-day Adventists to the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide.

This website is NOT connected to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The offical Seventh-day Adventist Church website is linked here.

HOME | 2012 | FIRST QUARTER | WEEK 8 | DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7

BibleStudiesForAdventistsHead

Commentary on "Creation Care"

DANA KENDALL

 

Day 4: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - Creation Care

 

Summary

Today, the author makes the point that caring for creation is one way to love our neighbor. This is definitely the case. Our consumer behavior and the extent to which we pollute the earth here in the U.S. has far-reaching effects around the world, often harming the poorest individuals in developing countries. The World Health Organization has determined that the pollutants put into the air by Western countries are probably (not certainly) causing major, natural disasters (e.g., flooding). (Source). Often floods disproportionately affect the most poverty-stricken communities that are in low-lying areas of developing countries. We saw this phenomenon in the U.S. with Hurricane Katrina in 2005. There is no doubt that greed and injustice directly and negatively affect those with whom we share the planet.

The author continues to talk about how God asked Adam to care for and protect the earth (See Gen. 2:15). Then, she states:

“What reason could we have for believing that this principle has changed? In fact, if this is what Adam was called to do in a world before sin entered, how much more important would good stewardship of the world be after it has been damaged by sin?”

 

Observations

See Monday’s commentary for my thoughts on the underlying implicit notion that is conveyed in this lesson. The assumption is that if we do a few things differently, we can fix the earth that has been damaged by sin. This is largely a fallacy because not only has the earth has been damaged by sin but so have we! Back to Romans 1-3: humanity is in much worse shape than the animals, trees, and atmosphere. We are no longer qualified or able to care for the earth because we are naturally dead in sin and transgressions. I think many Christians identify with an idealistic desire to make the world better. However, any worthy endeavor (e.g., social justice or environmental work) should always be undertaken in light of the Biblical worldview of the effects of sin on humanity. We are sinners, not because we do bad things, but because we were born (see Romans 3; Psalm 51). This is difficult to stomach—it is so unfair, especially to our Western, enlightenment thinking. We feel like we should have had a choice in this matter, but the Bible is clear that we did not have a choice. The only choice we have is to suppress the truth in unrighteousness and remain under God’s wrath (Romans 1). Salvation is all about Jesus, Who gives us new life. When Jesus and the sufficiency of His work is properly proclaimed, He transforms people from the inside out, and they finally have the choice to love Him and their neighbor. This is the only hope for realizing the objectives that really matter. So, instead of focusing on the environment and what we should and should not be doing; how about proclaiming the truth—that we are all dead in our sins, with no choice but to sin and be under God’s wrath. God could have left us that way, but He did not. Read Ephesians 1-2. Here’s an excerpt:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:1-7)

BUT GOD! The most beautiful words in all of history. Embrace them; relish them.

 

GO TO DAY 5

 

Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised January 24, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.

The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.

 

Official Adventist Resources

Standard Edition Study Guide Week 8

Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 8

Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Wk 8

SSNET Study Guide Week 8

Search the Complete Published Ellen G. White Writings

 

Please Support This Project

ONLINE DONATIONS

egw20121
quarterly20121