Q) Reflect critically on the distress of the whole creation in the light of the redeemed

earth and strive for ecological wholeness?

Submitted by: Blesson Abraham submitted to: Rin John Sir

Distress of the whole creation

One of the most profound New Testament expressions of God’s plan for the natural
world is in Romans 8:19-23. It powerfully depicts the apocalyptic expectation that at the end
of history God will reverse the damage from the fall not only to humanity, but even to nature
itself. It is true that most early Jewish and Christian apocalypses have a dualistic or two age
view of history. Apocalypses view the present age or world as corrupted by sin and in sharp
contrast with the future perfect world or age of glory and righteousness whereas most early
Jewish apocalypses view the present material world as damaged by sin, but not fallen or
inherently evil. Furthermore, they look forward not to the eventual destruction of the material
world, but to its eschatological perfection and liberation from the damage caused by sin.
Many Jewish writers often express an ecological concern for nature by stressing that the
natural world was created by God and is under God’s control. Nature is a victim of human
and angelic sin and cries out in suffering, and in the coming new age, the natural world will
be redeemed and transformed to a state of great glory.

The present corruption of nature is a result of the Fall of Adam and Eve, and the
eschatological redemption of nature will free it from corruption and transform it to freedom
and glory and also most Jewish apocalypses have an eschatological hope that God will
intervene to remove evil and radically transform the whole cosmos into a perfect new world.
Paul vividly depicts the present suffering of nature due to the fall. Although the natural world
is not itself fallen or disobedient to God, Adam’s sin brought the created order into bondage
to death, decay, corruption, and futility. Genesis 3:17-19, which describes the curse on the
ground due to the original human sin. When God pronounced the curse after the Fall, God
subjected creation to futility and simultaneously gave hope of its eventual redemption
through a descendant of Eve. The reason Adam’s sin affected nature is that God gave
humanity dominion over nature (Genesis 1:26-28). Since Adam was accountable to God to
rule the earth and to tend the garden as a vice regent under God, his sin affected the natural
world for which he was responsible. Thus, nature became frustrated in its purposes and can
no longer be all it was created to be.

Ecological problems
When God created the earth, plants, animals, and other aspects of the material
creation, God declared them “good.” But the Fall of humanity damaged creation so it does
not function completely as originally designed. The original task God gave the first humans
was to care for creation. God gave humanity “dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
Dominion over and care of nature is a major aspect of what it means that humans were
created in God’s image. God delegated to Adam and Eve the task of tending the Garden of
Eden to make changes in it and also to keep or watch over it. This suggests that part of the
human dominion over the earth is to make sure that the natural world does not suffer harm.
At the least, this means that humans should not cause harm to nature. The human dominion
over the earth does not provide an excuse for the abuse of the earth. Human sins throughout
history also harm nature. For example, habits of selfish and unbridled consumption directly
and indirectly harm the environment and diminish the finite resources of the planet God
entrusted to the care of humanity. Nature continues to groan because of the short sighted and
selfish acts of the human race.

Some Harmful activities:

Environmental pollution: God created water and air in its pure content but human activities
made it harmful to use. Pollution occurs as a result of technology mismanagement and lack of
control measures. Air pollution, water and noise pollution are the key components of an
environment that has been continually polluted as a result of technology. Emission of large
quantity of gases such as CO2 in the air by large industries causes air pollution which in turn
has degraded environment immensely. Again, disposal of waste into the rivers and water
systems by industries and other institutions is an environmental hazard through water
pollution. Similarly, a lot of noise pollution from weapons testing and usage, industries in
their routine production processes and automobiles is causative of environmental
degradation.

Depletion of natural resources : Development and usage of technology is contributing to

increase industrial activity that requires raw material from natural resources such as coal,
timber and wild animals. Farming activities such as burning of bushes, deforestation and
usage of chemicals to enhance soil fertility is an environmental exploitive. As well extensive
mining of gold, diamond and other minerals is an activity that is contributing towards
depletion of resources at an alarming rate. Overexploitation of fossil fuel and other resources
ceases to be beneficial and becomes an environmental threat.

Ecological Imbalance: Ecological systems imbalances and disruptions result from

technological advancements in the modern world. Collapse of ecological life and extinction
of organisms from their natural habitats is a direct result of technology. Wildlife extinction
from their natural habitat to create more space for farming activities and home for increasing
population is an evidence of how technology causes ecological imbalances. Human embark
of activities such as deforestation, extensive farming activities, environmental pollution
which lead to changes in the natural lifecycles that maintain ecosystem

There are many other activities of human which caused harm to earth. In agricultural
sectors, in life of wild animals and other beings, in climate changes and natural disasters etc
all of these occurred as the selfish act of human beings.

Redemption of Human kind, redeemed earth and ecological wholeness

Romans 8:19-22 personifies nature in order to more vividly describe the impact of sin
on nature and the future redemption of creation. Paul describes this suffering of the natural
world in the context of great eschatological hope for both believers and nature: “The whole
creation has been groaning in labor pains until now” (v. 22). The suffering of creation is like
birth pangs leading to a glorious new world, rather than the death pangs of a dying creation.
Throughout Scripture the metaphor of birth pangs points to an intense and prolonged pain
that leads to a joyous and positive outcome. This bipolar metaphor combines extended,
intense pain with a better state of affairs in the future. Creation eagerly awaits “the revealing
of the children of God”, because at that time the natural world will be “set free from its
slavery to corruption” and will be transformed to share in “the freedom of the glory of the
children of God”.

Thus, the redemption that Christ brings will have cosmic consequences. At the
Second Coming of Christ when God’s people are resurrected and glorified, the natural order
will be restored to its proper operation, so that it fulfills the purpose for which it was created.
God will transform the existing creation, rather than create a brand new world from scratch.
Paul’s vision for redemption has a cosmic scope and is not limited merely to the salvation of
individual humans or even to the Church as the new community of redeemed humanity.

Romans 8:19-23 suggests that the church needs to broaden its understanding of
redemption in Christ. God’s plan for redemption is not just for individual human souls or
even the corporate redemption of a new community, although these are both essential aspects
of redemption. God plans to restore the whole creation to its proper operation, which was lost
when the first humans disobeyed God. “Through him [i.e. Christ] God was pleased to
reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the
blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20). Since God’s plan for redemption is cosmic, as believers
grows more like Christ, their actions should have a positive impact not only on other people
but also on the whole of God’s creation. God’s priority is on human redemption, but since
humanity is God’s agent in caring for nature, when humanity is restored to a right
relationship with God, the rest of creation will also be restored to God’s intended operation.

Bibliography

 Hahne, Harry alan. “The whole Creation Has Been Groaning”. Center for Christian
Ethics as Baylor University,
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.baylor.edu/c
ontent/services/document.php/ .
 Christian Reflection, “ The whole Creation Has Been Groaning”. Center for Christian
ethics as Baylor university,
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.baylor.edu/c
ontent/services/document.php/ .