God Recycles, So Should We

“And God saw that it was good.” 

This famous phrase from Genesis 1 is the first glimpse we get into the attitude and intentions that God has toward his creation. God saw and sees everything which he created as good. This includes the earth and all living things in it, as well as mankind as the prime jewel of creation.

All that God does is done so in kindness (Psalm 145:17). He is not an angry God holding a magnifying glass over his people. He gets angry when the good things which he made are perverted by sin.

In Genesis 3 we read that sin intrudes into the created order and in turn a curse is brought upon the good creation. From then until this very day, God is separated from all things affected by sin. Though sin has invaded “all things under the sun,” this world and everything in it still share the same purpose, to display the nature of the one who made them.  

In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve a mission which included taking care of God’s “stuff.” He made them stewards of His creation. Throughout the Old and New Testaments we read that the people of God were always meant to represent God to the world as well as take care of his stuff (Isaiah 61:6, 1 Peter 2:9). 

This calling is a glimpse of eternity, as this has been and will always be God’s intention for his world. In fact, Christians affirm this in the Lord’s Prayer when we ask for God to bring his kingdom to us here on earth (Matthew 6:10). The endgame of the biblical storyline is not one that ends with God throwing away this world but rather, through the blood of Jesus Christ which conquers the power of sin, God redeems it (Revelation 21 and 22). He renews it. He recycles it.

So, if God is about renewal and the redemption of his creation, why should our intentions should be any different?

Christians have far too long shown the culture around us a poor example of what it looks like to be good stewards of God’s creation. God does not “junk” his stuff, and neither should we. 

We should be the people who cherish God’s stuff the most!  This “stuff” includes relationships, the earth, money, time...everything we are given. Instead of wasting the stuff of this life, may we who affirm the biblical teachings about God be the people who take care of the stuff we have with the greatest appreciation, all for the glory of the one it truly belongs to. 

May our view of him affect the things we throw away, the things we save, and the things we recycle. In doing this, we participate with him in bringing his will “on earth as it is in heaven.”