Caring for God's Creation

by Ephraim Arriesgado

Kawasan Falls (Level 2)
Photo Credit: Ephraim Arriesgado

As a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we talked and discussed about the topic, "Creation Care", in our Sabbath School on February 25, 2012.


And I am impressed to write about my feelings toward caring for the creation which God made for us to "dress and keep" (Genesis 2:15).



How should we as a people living in this planet Earth relate to God's creation?


First, let us know that, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).


By His Word, He created everything- the sun, moon, stars, animals, plants, trees, mountains, birds, and fishes.


And then, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Genesis 1:26).


He made man- you and me, male and female. He made man to become stewards, yes stewards, of His creation.


By that, the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church made this official statement. 


“Seventh-day Adventists believe that humankind was created in the image of God, thus representing God as His stewards, to rule the natural environment in a faithful and fruitful way.


“Unfortunately, corruption and exploitation have been brought into the management of the human domain of responsibility. Increasingly men and women have been involved in a megalomaniacal destruction of the earth’s resources, resulting in widespread suffering, environmental disarray, and the threat of climate change. While scientific research needs to continue, it is clear from the accumulated evidence that the increasing emission of destructive gasses, the depletion of the protective mantle of ozone, the massive destruction of the American forests, and the so-called greenhouse effect, are all threatening the earth’s ecosystem.


“These problems are largely due to human selfishness and the egocentric pursuit of getting more and more through ever-increasing production, unlimited consumption and depletion of nonrenewable resources. The ecological crisis is rooted in humankind’s greed and refusal to practice good and faithful stewardship within the divine boundaries of creation. “Seventh-day Adventists advocate a simple, wholesome lifestyle, where people do not step on the treadmill of unbridled consumerism, goods-getting, and production of waste. We call for respect of creation, restraint in the use of the world’s resources, reevaluation of one’s needs, and reaffirmation of the dignity of created life.”—Adventist  Administrative Committee (ADCOM), released at General Conference Session in Utrecht, the Netherlands, June 29–July 8, 1995.


We (as Klement '09) should always remember that, we are not here to exploit and manipulate the environment. God created us for a special purpose of protecting, preserving, and caring for our environment which is God's wonderful and marvelous creation.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge" (Psalm 19:1 and 2).

"O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens" (Psalm 8:1).

We are God's steward of creation!