Part 5 Sonship and the Land
Fatherhood & Sonship
Sonship and the Land
Bruce Billington
Introduction
From Genesis 1 in the Bible, It is clear that God intended this world to be our home. In the beginning the earth was in chaos, meaning it was not fit for human habitation but then God shaped it into an environment that was perfect as a home for human beings and in fact for all living things.
The fall alienated us from the land and altered the whole function of it, including its cooperation with us. After the flood further changes took place, which added further to the degree of hostility between the animals, the land and us.
Without God bringing the creation to a much-subjected state (which is actually a place of bondage), it would be completely inhospitable to us. We would not have been able to work it at all and would not be able to extract any food or resources from it.
Despite this, it is wrong to suggest that it must now remain this way (i.e., in its fallen state) until the Lord returns. Romans 8 teaches that the true call of sons and daughters of God, is to rise up now, in the power granted to us by the Holy Spirit and begin to bring creation back to its rightful place.
Dealing With The Objections
It is both a myth and heresy to claim that this earth is bound only for destruction. This belief is responsible for so much harm. The church has relinquished much of the responsibility for this beautiful planet that God has made.
The Creation Destroyed Myth
2 Peter 3:10-11 (NIV).
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?
(My underlining).
The NIV does a good job of getting this right by translating the Greek word “luo” as “laid bare” rather than “destroyed”, as most translations do. Luo – means being reduced to its inherent or essential elements – not eradicated.
It is a refining fire that does not destroy the substance, but it takes everything away that is not an expression of God. It is referring to purging the dross of human sin from the earth, rather than the destruction of the earth itself.
As a result, we can see that this new heaven and earth, described in Revelation 21:1-4, as also prophesied in Isaiah, is the result of a renewal of creation – not a replacement of it.
Isaiah 11 gives a wonderful picture of this, reflecting the state of peaceful coexistence creation returns to. Christ did not die to redeem only human beings – He died to redeem the whole created order, (as evident by the use of the word “cosmos” in John 3:16).
The return of Christ is about restoration, not destruction and Hebrews 6 tells us that we are to bring an expression of the life of the age to come into the here and now. The whole of creation longs for this to happen, in this present age (Romans 8:19).
Where Are We At Today and Why?
The world today is in both an ecological and an economic crisis. On the ecological front we have such issues as pollution; increasing soil infertility; the alarming rise of cancer and other diseases; the declining Artic and Antarctic ice-shelves; and the increase in natural disasters just to name a few.
On the economic front, we have every major world economy in debt and the so-called affluent people still living way beyond their means. Most of us would agree that the planet has suffered considerable damage from elements of corruption, greed and the rampant spirit of human consumption and existentialism that is prevalent in many of the world’s systems.
We are called to bring redemption to this. Albert Einstein wisely said, “the knowledge required to create the problem is insufficient to solve it.” What we have, is a Biblical crisis that can only be solved from a Biblical perspective. The problem stems from the fact that God intended the creation to be stewarded by way of partnership between Himself and His people. This is the Divine design and nothing short of it can produce what the planet requires to function in a state of good health and release its intended abundance. The fact that proper Biblical stewardship is not taking place is the reason for the problems, which is made clear in Romans 8.
The prophet Ezekiel gave some timeless insight, that we all need to be aware of.
Ezekiel 14
Ezekiel chapter 14 begins with the city elders and Ezekiel having a discussion. Ezekiel confronts the elders with Israel’s idolatry and warns them of God’s coming judgment if they don’t repent. He then points out that whenever people are out of harmony with God, they inevitably become out of harmony with the whole created order, resulting in the created order becoming less and less cooperative towards them.
The chapter describes four main areas that become affected in this way. They are:-
- Famine – V13
“If a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast,”
The land will no longer release its produce for either man or beast.
- Wild Beasts – V15
“If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts,”
The warning given here is that the land will return to a wasteland and become depopulated and a home only for wild beasts.
Jeremiah 51:37 – “Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.”
- War – V17
“Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,”
War, as well as ravishing humanity, also ravishes the land. The land is commonly pillaged, shelled, contaminated, or overrun and often seized by those who know nothing about how to care for it.
- Plagues – V19
“Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it,’
There are many things we can call plagues today. We could describe the proliferation of such parasites; the rise of many common pests that seem to be developing an immunity to attempts to eradicate them (the reoccurring rabbit problem that has driven some farmers off the land in Australia is an example here).
Ezekiel warned us of these things over two and a half thousand years ago! God’s Word does not return to Him void. Fortunately, God’s judgement is always redemptive and there is a comforting ending to the chapter we are looking at that we should now consider.
There Are Survivors – V22-23
God promises that survivors will be left in the land, as indeed there are in most places today. But these people Ezekiel is talking about are not just passive survivors, they are survivors who have been given a mandate from God. They are going to bring great comfort to the inhabitants, which will ensure these catastrophes are not in vain.
They will bring the land (and the people) back to the place God had originally intended for them. How are they going to do this? Not just by speech or by assuring them everything is okay. They are going to bring comfort by their conduct and actions.
They will be people like the sons of Issachar, who understood the times, with knowledge of what needed to be done (1 Chronicles 12:32).
Under the New Covenant, these will be people who are full of the Holy Spirit and who will bring creative solutions on how, (in harmony with God’s word and His ways), to bring the land back to the place it cries out to be.
In Summary
The Bible makes it clear that the responsible stewardship of creation is not only an expression of the character of our God; it is the role He entrusted to those made in His image.
God’s ever-expanding universe was offered to his children such that they might always be captivated by its profound complexity, its fierce beauty, and its fragile balance. We were designed to love what God loves, and we were commissioned to seek the stars.
Sandra Richter – Stewards of Eden.
Isaiah 58:12 – “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.”
God bless you.
Bruce Billington