Food for Thought (2/16/16)

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, so they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (Genesis 1:26)

Today we are continuing our discussion of being “stewards of creation.” The New International Version of Genesis 1:26 uses the word “rule” to describe the human relationship with the rest of creation; I’ve also seen other translations use the word “dominion.” According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the synonyms “rule” and “dominion” mean, “the exercise of authority or control.” These words come with a negative connotation in present day, they imply superiority and absolute power over another.

I don’t think God wanted us to dominate the planet He graced us with, I think He wanted us to be caretakers of His other children (the animals, plants, etc). Now this may be a logical fallacy, but I’m willing to throw logic out the window for just a moment.

God created us in His likeness, right? God is our caretaker, right? Therefore, shouldn’t we be caretakers of creation?

For those of you who are wondering, the answer to all of the questions above is YES! We are created in the image of God to be the caretakers of His beautiful world! So what does that mean for us? Tomorrow we will explore what it means to be caretakers, for now here is some food for thought…

What does it mean to you to be a caretaker of creation? How can humanity care for creation in a way that is pleasing to God?

As always, feel free to leave comments below! Have a blessed (and rainy, for those of us at Messiah) day!

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