Created to rule
This week is on Psalm 8:3-8:
I like the perspective these verses create. How is it that God, who created the infinite universe, which we still struggle to measure and explore, somehow gave us authority over the earth and the other creatures in it? Especially since there are bigger and more powerful eternal creatures he created who might seem like better fits for the job? For that matter, in a universe that vast, why should he even notice us?
People are the only creatures on earth who impose total order on their surroundings. We control the light, the temperature, the scents, the plants, the animals and insects, and the flow of water, wherever we go. We've taken wild animals like cows and horses and sheep and goats, and turned them into our servants, changing their characteristics from how they were when we found them. We selectively breed fruits and vegetables for increased yield, increased tastiness, or other things we want. We've trained birds to deliver messages for us, dogs to guide the blind around town, horses to carry us around, worms to make thread for clothing, and so on. What other animal does that? Every place on earth at this point which can support human life has human life on it. And in all of the places people live, they rule their environment on some level. The more advanced a civilisation, the more complete its control over its environment.
There was a big movement in the 20th century, and even in the 21st, to let nature rule itself. It portrayed mankind as a trespasser in a world belonging to other creatures. But that denies the obvious circumstances of our position in the world. It's not rule of the earth that is wrong, but misrule. We have the right to change anything we wish, because the authority is ours. But we are also given the responsibility to care for things, making productive changes, not destructive ones.
You're reading this message because we even rule over the electrons. We tamed metal, and then electricity, and then the electromagnetic spectrum, rare earth elements, and all sorts of things I can't imagine, in order to make them do our will and allow us to communicate with each other globally. If we were simply given natural resources, or intelligence, that wouldn't necessarily have happened, but with the creative mandate to rule, given to us by God, it was inevitable.
But why us? Why not the dolphins, or the monkeys, or crows, or angels? Why mankind with their bad track record and obvious flaws? It goes back to Genesis when God created us in his image, breathing his life into us. We were always chosen. God's love for us persists despite our flaws. His connection to us doesn't compel him to love us, but rather his love compels him to offer connection.
How many of us have seen creative parents give their kids creative toys without mandating exactly how they'll play with them? What fun would blocks be if you could only build a certain building? And what fun would crayons be if you could only colour certain pictures according to a predestined colour scheme? You give things like that because sometimes you just want to see what your creation does when left to its own free will. There's nothing we can break that God can't fix. There's no way we can hurt ourselves that God can't heal. Why not just give us the keys and see what happens? Especially if you're God and you can already see that things turn out fine in the end.
We are extraordinarily lucky. We are luckier than any of the other creations of God. We are more favoured, and more empowered, than anything else we know. It's because of God's great love for us that we have this opportunity. When you see the things we have created for our comfort and whatever science has discovered, be thankful to God for giving us the authority to make changes, and the ability to learn and take part in his creation.
When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,
and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place,
Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them?
Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them,
and make them a little less than the heavenly beings?
You grant mankind honor and majesty;
you appoint them to rule over your creation;
you have placed everything under their authority,
including all the sheep and cattle,
as well as the wild animals,
the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea
and everything that moves through the currents of the seas.
I like the perspective these verses create. How is it that God, who created the infinite universe, which we still struggle to measure and explore, somehow gave us authority over the earth and the other creatures in it? Especially since there are bigger and more powerful eternal creatures he created who might seem like better fits for the job? For that matter, in a universe that vast, why should he even notice us?
People are the only creatures on earth who impose total order on their surroundings. We control the light, the temperature, the scents, the plants, the animals and insects, and the flow of water, wherever we go. We've taken wild animals like cows and horses and sheep and goats, and turned them into our servants, changing their characteristics from how they were when we found them. We selectively breed fruits and vegetables for increased yield, increased tastiness, or other things we want. We've trained birds to deliver messages for us, dogs to guide the blind around town, horses to carry us around, worms to make thread for clothing, and so on. What other animal does that? Every place on earth at this point which can support human life has human life on it. And in all of the places people live, they rule their environment on some level. The more advanced a civilisation, the more complete its control over its environment.
There was a big movement in the 20th century, and even in the 21st, to let nature rule itself. It portrayed mankind as a trespasser in a world belonging to other creatures. But that denies the obvious circumstances of our position in the world. It's not rule of the earth that is wrong, but misrule. We have the right to change anything we wish, because the authority is ours. But we are also given the responsibility to care for things, making productive changes, not destructive ones.
You're reading this message because we even rule over the electrons. We tamed metal, and then electricity, and then the electromagnetic spectrum, rare earth elements, and all sorts of things I can't imagine, in order to make them do our will and allow us to communicate with each other globally. If we were simply given natural resources, or intelligence, that wouldn't necessarily have happened, but with the creative mandate to rule, given to us by God, it was inevitable.
But why us? Why not the dolphins, or the monkeys, or crows, or angels? Why mankind with their bad track record and obvious flaws? It goes back to Genesis when God created us in his image, breathing his life into us. We were always chosen. God's love for us persists despite our flaws. His connection to us doesn't compel him to love us, but rather his love compels him to offer connection.
How many of us have seen creative parents give their kids creative toys without mandating exactly how they'll play with them? What fun would blocks be if you could only build a certain building? And what fun would crayons be if you could only colour certain pictures according to a predestined colour scheme? You give things like that because sometimes you just want to see what your creation does when left to its own free will. There's nothing we can break that God can't fix. There's no way we can hurt ourselves that God can't heal. Why not just give us the keys and see what happens? Especially if you're God and you can already see that things turn out fine in the end.
We are extraordinarily lucky. We are luckier than any of the other creations of God. We are more favoured, and more empowered, than anything else we know. It's because of God's great love for us that we have this opportunity. When you see the things we have created for our comfort and whatever science has discovered, be thankful to God for giving us the authority to make changes, and the ability to learn and take part in his creation.
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