It seems highly unlikely that last week’s presidential debate caused any voter to abandon one candidate for the other. Both sides largely believe “their guy” won the debate underscoring the growing divide between two party platforms that offer as great a contrast as night and day.
Speaking of night and day, the issue of climate change was addressed by the moderator. Specifically, the president was asked: “What do you believe about the science of climate change and what will you do in the next four years to confront it?”
Of course the phrase “the science of climate change” suggests incontrovertible facts supporting man’s influence upon the earth and his ability to control it. Indeed, the moderator’s follow-up question implied as much: “[Do] you believe that human pollution, gas, greenhouse gas emissions, contributes to the global warming of this planet?”
Whatever one’s political views on climate change, evangelical Christians seek to establish their beliefs upon the plain, straightforward teaching of the Bible.
While the Bible teaches that man is to be a good steward of God’s creation (Genesis 1:28) and will be punished for harming it (Revelation 11:18), the belief that most, if not all, climate change is manmade takes the argument to a new level.
In some sense, our conclusions about climate change indicate what we really believe about God. The belief that all climate change is manmade seems to suggest that either there is no God or that God is somehow incapable of intervening in response to supposed manmade causation.
Yet the Bible portrays a God who is there and who is active in His creation:
He sends and withholds rain at times He specifically determines (Genesis 7:7; Deuteronomy 28:23-24).
He causes prolonged darkness to fall upon a land (Exodus 10:21-22).
He causes a storm to rise upon the sea (Jonah 1:4) and speaks a word to still the raging waters (Mark 4:39).
Writing about our Lord’s creative activity, the Apostle Paul asserts that, “all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17-18).”
All of these Scriptures demonstrate that the God of the Bible is in control of His creation. If man does anything at all, he does so only with the consent and approval of a sovereign God.
Decades before climate change became such a popular political topic, esteemed Bible scholar A.W. Pink opined wisely:
“When faced with droughts and famines, the scientists (so-called) and other wiseacres prate about planetary disturbances, sun-spots, the recurring of astronomical cycles, etc., but the Christian looks beyond all secondary causes and discerns the Maker of this world directing all its affairs.”
AW Pink, Studies In The Scriptures, Vol. 9
And therein lays the greatest source of comfort: God is bigger than man. He is in control of all things. He is working out a perfect plan in and through His creation, a plan that includes our humbly coming to Him and receiving by faith His Son, Jesus Christ.
What About You?
- How much influence do you believe man has upon creation?
- Is God in control of devastating hurricanes and tornadoes? How does the Bible inform our understanding of God’s sovereignty in these events?
- In what ways can man be a good steward of the environment?
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