Living Environmentally Friendly

Week 1

Environment Matters

Jonathan A. Buckland

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The great initiative of God was the creative week of God! God, who is perfect and holy, exampled initiative in the beginning by creating the world out of nothing! God was not given a blank canvas for his masterpiece, but rather, God created the canvas as well as the masterpiece.

A. In The Beginning was God

1. God began creation with Purpose in Mind!

2. Stephen Covey’s principle – “begin with the end in mind”

3. An artist does not begin painting unless they have a picture of the end result in their mind. An engineer will not build until they have a clear picture of the finished product on paper. God did not create the universe arbitrarily and randomly, but He proved initiative as He developed the world with a specific purpose in mind.

B. God’s Creation

1. Walk through God’s creation the first 5 days, everything that God created was to build on his earlier creation.

2. Day 1- God created light and darkness.

Day 2- God created the sky and water

Day 3- God created the dry land and seas, as well as grass, herbs and trees

Day 4- God created the Sun, Moon and Stars which created days, seasons and years.

Day 5- God created the Fish and Birds

We can’t fully comprehend the world God created. Even today, scientists are still discovering things we do not know that have been since the creation. I believe this just shows the majesty and splendor of God! David tries to describe creation in Psalm 104 and does a pretty good job with it.

Psalm 104:5-35 5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. 6 You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. 7 But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; 8 they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. 9 You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth. 10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. 11 They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. 13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work. 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth: 15 wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. 16 The trees of the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. 17 There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers. 18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the hyrax. 19 He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. 20 You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. 21 The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. 22 The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. 23 Then people go out to their work, to their labor until evening. 24 How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small. 26 There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. 27 All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. 28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. 29 When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. 30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. 31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works— 32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. 35 But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Praise the LORD, my soul. Praise the LORD. r

C. God Purpose Revealed

1. The crowning moment of God’s creation was when He reached down to the dust of the ground and formed and fashioned mankind.

Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

2. God saw his purpose (creation) and said that it was very good!

3. The atmosphere, the water, the ground, the vegetation, the fruit, the animals….. everything that God had created was good, yet none of this was the purpose of creation! The purpose of Creation was to create humanity so God could have relationship with mankind.

4. The purpose of God spending 5 days of the first week developing environment was simply because God new His purpose(mankind) would not prevail without the proper environment! There are some dreams and visions God has given to you that have never come to pass because you have not placed those dreams and visions in an environment that would allow them to prevail.

5. God had to create air for man to breathe, water for man to drink, food for man to eat, the sun for man to be warmed, the moon and darkness for man to sleep and be rested…… environment was necessary for purpose to prevail!

Conclusion –

There is something that psychologists call Nature vs. Nurture. The argument of Nature vs. Nurture is that our natural inclinations are part of who we become, yet just about anybody would agree that how we have been nurtured by the environment we have been raised in plays a significant role in our potential as well. The scripture teaches us that we are born into sin, meaning we have a sinful nature. Yet God has a purpose for each one of us that He desires to fulfill with our lives. The choices we make, the people we spend time with, the places we go all effect the environment of our world. Just like there is a physical environment around us, there is a spiritual environment that God desires for you to nurture in your life so that the ultimate purpose of God will be revealed and thrive through you. In this series we are going to be discussing aspects of Living Environmentally Friendly…. Spiritually that is. I hope you are ready to prepare a place for God to nurture purpose in your life!