<\/p>\n
\nGod formed earth for mankind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For thus says Yahweh, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it; He established it and did not create it a formless place, but formed it to be inhabited),<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2003\u2003\u2003\u2003\u201cI am Yahweh, and there is none else.\u201d (Isaiah 45:18)<\/p>\n
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Then God<\/span> said, \u201cLet Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.\u201d (Genesis 1:26)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n God formed earth for mankind, to use, to tend and keep, to exercise dominion over, to enjoy, and to glorify God with.<\/p>\n The modern environmental movement is about more than just protecting earth\u2019s creatures and resources (something we must do as good stewards of God<\/span>\u2019s creation)\u2014it\u2019s an inversion of God<\/span>\u2019s design. This movement puts the creation<\/span> in dominion over man\u2014the opposite of what God<\/span> instructed. God<\/span> formed earth for mankind, to use, to tend and keep, to exercise dominion over, to enjoy, and to glorify God<\/span> with.<\/p>\n The heavens are the heavens of Yahweh,
<\/p>\n But today\u2019s environmentalism says humans are a blight, a disease, on this planet and we need to start removing ourselves for the betterment of everything else. Consider this quote from a new study that claims we need to halve the world population, taking it from 8 billion to less than 4 billion, by 2200:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The authors argued that data shows population growth leads to a decline in wildlife abundance, an increase in CO2 emissions, an increase in energy consumption, a greater ecological footprint, greater freshwater use, mineral extraction, plastics production, and pesticide use.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cGlobal environmental problems are caused by people, nothing else. The more of us there are, the greater our overall economic demands and the greater the associated environmental problems,\u201d the authors asserted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n They draw the conclusion, therefore, that \u201cin the long run, population growth itself is unsustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n According to these researchers, humans are the ultimate problem and the only sustainable solution is for us to get ourselves out of the way by continuing to decrease the global fertility rate (which is only at 2.2, barely above replacement level) through providing more \u201creproductive health services\u201d (by that they surely mean abortion [murdering children in the womb] and birth control) and \u201cimproving girls\u2019 educational opportunities, especially in poorer countries.\u201d<\/p>\n This kind of thinking regarding humanity has been around for a very long time, but it\u2019s important to note that none, none<\/em>, of the dire predictions of these alarmists have come true<\/strong> in decades past. And that\u2019s partly because these researchers view mankind as primarily consumers, not as producers.<\/p>\n Part of having dominion over this planet is that we don\u2019t just endlessly consume\u2014we \u201ctame\u201d the world for our good and God<\/span>\u2019s glory. In other words, we put ourselves to work on how to solve problems\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. and history shows humans are good at coming up with solutions! As the population grows and new problems arise, humans have invented new technologies to cope with the problems or to solve them. People are doing that right now!<\/p>\n Here are some examples one of our staff members shared with me:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/ul>\n The great threat to humanity is not that there will be too many people. The problem is the looming population collapse!<\/p>\n Yes, humanity is very good at using our God-given intellect and creativity to solve the problems facing our world, and we will continue to do so. The great threat to humanity is not that there will be too many people. The problem is the looming population collapse! As fertility rates continue to plummet around the world, the population ages, the workforce shrinks, and the economy suffers or even collapses. A LifeSite News article on this new study put it this way, with a quote from other researchers on this coming collapse:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cEven if below-replacement fertility is sustained only for a few centuries, the size of the global population could become very small.\u201d\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. This means that a whole slew of harmful effects to society will follow population decline, likely including a decline in basic services and infrastructure; unemployment; a decline in innovation; insufficient end-of-life care for the elderly; and a decline in mental health.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Even the World Economic Forum (WEF) has admitted that the effects of population collapse will be \u201csevere.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n As mankind increasingly ignores God\u2019s command (which He has never revoked) to \u201cbe fruitful and multiply,\u201d a command which came in tandem with his command to have dominion, humanity will suffer. God\u2019s instructions to the first human couple were to both have children and<\/em> take dominion. As a whole, humanity can\u2019t ignore either part of God<\/span>\u2019s design for us without serious consequences.<\/p>\n But environmentalists don\u2019t just get their view of mankind wrong, they also have a wrong view of God<\/span>. Many of them are either atheists, who do not believe God<\/span> exists, or pantheists, who think that God<\/span> is in everything or that God<\/span> is nature (or \u201cMother Nature\u201d). The result is that they worship the creature, rather than the Creator, and are reduced to foolishness (just read Romans 1).<\/p>\n The biblical God\u2014the only true God\u2014is a generous God who specifically designed earth to be inhabited by humans.<\/strong> Yes, it\u2019s a fallen creation<\/span>; it\u2019s groaning; it\u2019s filled with \u201cthorns and thistles.\u201d Having dominion is hard work now, but God<\/span> has still provided generously for our needs through His creation<\/span>. Wise stewardship, creativity, and thankfulness to God<\/span> are what are needed to solve our environmental crises, not a severe reduction in the population of those who bear that Creator\u2019s image!<\/p>\n Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
This item was written with the assistance of AiG\u2019s research team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" God formed earth for mankind.
For thus says Yahweh, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it; He established it and did not create it a formless place, but formed it to be inhabited),
\u2003\u2003\u2003\u2003\u201cI am Yahweh, and there is none else.\u201d (Isaiah 45:18)
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1643,1819,2526,488],"class_list":["post-31409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jesus","tag-cut","tag-human","tag-population","tag-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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But the earth He has given to the sons of men. (Psalm 115:16)<\/p>\n
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Ken
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