by Brett Jacobsen

 

 

 

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: (Prov 1:7)

 

 

 

Due to humanism having a temporal stranglehold on much of the media, politics and science, the widespread explanation for the increase in natural disasters and climate variations is mans’ physical actions. Of course this is the best answer that unregenerate, fallen man can come up with as “the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14).

 

Now don’t get me wrong, I do think we need to pollute less and generally look after the planet in a more biblical manner. After all we are redeemed in Christ so therefore we are reinstated as custodians of God’s great garden… even though that garden looks considerably less Edenic in many places.

 

The point is that we the church need to stop being fed humanistic speculation from the fallen world and begin to show them the answer to probably the biggest concern in the modern world- “climate change” and its effects.

 

Sadly, the church’s primary explanation has been at the other end of the pendulum’s sway. The pessimillenniest propagators of wayward theology and fear exploitation have heralded the increase of earthly turmoil as the dawn of the great tribulation. By dislodging the Olivet discourse (Matt 24, Mark 13, Luke 21), Revelation and other eschatological passages out of their clear context they have managed to convince a large portion of gullible Christians into believing their hype. (Feel free to comment/polemicise accordingly below this article).

 

In this article we will explore a more biblically sound explanation for the worldly cataclysm.

 

 

The Land Still Mourns

 

Firstly we will take a look at a principle that God has instilled in His creation: the land responds to either the righteousness or corruption which man outworks in its midst. We see this in the Old Testament church- Israel in Jeremiah’s time:

 

Righteous are you, O LORD, when I plead with you: yet let me talk with you of your judgments: Wherefore does the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? 2 You have planted them, yes, they have taken root: they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit: you are near in their mouth, and far from their reins. 3 But you, O LORD, know me: you have seen me, and tried my heart toward you: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. 4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end. (Jer 12:1-4)

 

Because of the wickedness and treachery in the land, it was mourning under the curse. God made His creation to be responsive to the level of righteousness, or lack thereof, which was in operation at any given time. In this case “the herbs of the field [did] wither” and “the beasts [were] consumed” “and the birds”, presumably by drought.

 

Something more potent though, than the general sin of man, is when the spiritual guardians of the earth- God’s covenant community are negligent in their walk with Him and become desolate. Jeremiah continues:

 

Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourns to me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man lays it to heart. (Jer 12:10-11)

 

Now, just like in Jeremiah’s time, when the church in any given location is spiritually becoming a desolate wilderness, creation responds accordingly. (This is always due to faulty leadership destroying God’s vineyard). We have been good at sitting back and blaming the world but this responsibility sits squarely in our lap. Spiritual desolation and subsequent upheaval causes terrestrial desolation and upheaval.

 

Here in Australia we have had prolonged drought followed by flooding and bushfires. We narrowly escaped the 2004 tsunami which destroyed many towns, villages and lives, especially in South East Asia. While we like to blame child prostitution in Asia or just believe the humanists in their carbon condemnation, we cannot side slip around this one. The spiritual desolation of the church, brought on by Dark Age tradition, institutionalism and human reliance, holds the most culpability. We stand in the way of restoration for both man and his land.

 

 

The Whole Creation Groans

 

Now let us consider further ‘why’ there is upheaval throughout the globe:

 

For the earnest expectation [apokaradokia- intense anticipation] of the creation waits for the manifestation [apokalupsis- revelation] of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. (Rom 8:19-22)

 

 

There is an intense anticipation throughout God’s creation for the redemptive deliverance of Christ’s cross to have its fuller manifestation. While this redemption will never be 100% on earth (there’s always wheat and tares), there will be a time when His redemption will be so widespread that even the elements will experience a great degree of “[deliverance] from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God”. When we walk in our inheritance in Christ we should intensely anticipate that even the creation around us will be redeemed and blessed. If the fall not only cursed man but also creation then of course why do many just think of Christ’s redemption as forgiveness of sin for man?

 

Where is your faith at with this truth?

 

All the way back when Paul wrote Romans he said that “the whole creation groans and travails in pain together”. This creational groaning and travailing is the primary reason for creations upheaval. Whether drought and famine, earthquakes, tsunamis, heatwaves and bushfires, floods or other earthly turmoil, it is all due to creation looking to be delivered from the burden of the curse. It is creation anticipating the birth of a fuller measure of Christ’s redemption. Yes there is judgement involved, but the main reason is birth pains.

 

Today we see an exponential increase in many of these earthly birth pains. There were many in Jesus’ time and there were many in the 1st century apostles’ time. This was because of the birthing of the New Covenant and a worthy measure of sons of God being manifest in the earth. The birthing of righteousness always brings travail upon the land. Surely today we live in equally powerful times of reformation and Kingdom growth. So called “natural disasters” have sky rocketed off the charts. Because of this, we shouldn’t be looking for the great tribulation but rather anticipating the greatest reformation and subsequent Kingdom influx the world has ever seen.

 

I can hear the Lord echoing His words to this generation “can you not discern the signs of the times?” (Matt 16:3). Woe to us if we continue to miss what God is doing, woe to us if we are influenced by humanistic ‘secular science’, what a tragedy if God’s people miss the greatest opportunity to bring the world up to speed with the sovereign plans of God.

 

 

Solving the Planet’s problems

 

The answer to all this is not man perfecting mankind, whether by less carbon emissions or planting more trees (both of which should happen anyway). If creation is still groaning and travailing in pain waiting “for the opokalupsis- revelation of the sons of God” then therein lies the remedy. Let us cooperate with Holy Spirit as He reveals Christ throughout the earth. May we allow Christ in us to bring “many sons to glory” and therefore relieve creation’s travail (Heb 2:10). If we give creation what it is anticipating the birth pains will surely subside.

 

In order to do this we will have to change our ways from pragmatic busyness to biblical principles applied in a Spirit-led fashion. Rather than continuing to choose the quick fix of instant but unenduring results, we need to revert back to producing “sons of God” like the early church did:

 

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Rom 8:14)

 

The reformation that God is thrusting His church into is all about Spirit-led Christianity all day, every day, everywhere for everyone. This reformation, when it has taken hold, will produce the greatest measure of mature “sons of God” that has ever been seen. It is going to hurt though. Every thing that can be shaken: tangible religion, religious architecture, institutions and other Christian trinkets will be brought undone. As more Spirit-led sons of God are revealed the trappings of carnal Christianity will also be manifest. So, is it any wonder that earthly birth pains are getting more and often when God is reforming His church for the greatest triumph the Kingdom of Christ has seen yet. 

 

 

 

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Is 11:9)

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 2:19 pm and is filed under Brett Jacobsen's teaching, Eschatology (How it ends), Other Biblical Topics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.