In his first commission to us in Genesis 1, God gave us two interconnected orders. The first was to be fruitful and multiply. We have done quite well with that part, with our world population now over eight billion. The second was to rule over and tend to his creation. We don’t often do as well with that one. However, the Church has an opportunity to lead the way in stewarding creation and, in doing so, point others to their Creator.

While Earth Day gains momentum globally, Christians have largely avoided engagement with the secular community. Yet, as Christians, we should be the first to take action, as God gives us responsibility to tend and care for all of Creation (Genesis 2:15).

“Blessing, as the biblical writers conceive it, is a kind of ecological phenomenon; it connects God and the creatures in a complex of interlocking relationships,” writes biblical scholar Ellen Davis. As Christians, we believe that our Triune Lord creates, redeems, and sustains all of Creation.

God’s first choice for where humankind should live was a garden. The soil in the Garden of Eden was completely fertile and every kind of flower, tree and plant imaginable grew in perfect conditions.

It’s easy to compare the Old and New Testaments and think of missionary activity – the outward-focused spreading of faith in the God of the universe – as something new and unprecedented until Jesus’ time. After all, there is little evidence that Israelites traveled very far outside the Promised Land except as prisoners of war. However, a closer look at the Hebrew Bible shows that God had threaded mission as a constant theme throughout his word, and even into the very fabric of Creation.