Participants:
Series Code: TCR
Program Code: TCR180005B
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00:02 Welcome back to The Creator Revealed.
00:03 Today, we've been talking about the beautiful relationships 00:07 that exist between God's creatures, and plants, 00:10 and organisms, and ecology. 00:13 And we see that it isn't all about struggle 00:17 and competition, is it? 00:18 No. 00:19 Actually, I would say my observation 00:22 is that life itself could not exist 00:24 unless there was this beautiful cooperation 00:28 that we observed between interdependent organisms. 00:32 In fact, I find that myself to be possibly or arguably 00:37 the most beautiful thing about the creation, 00:40 everything seems to need to work together 00:44 in a beautiful way for life itself to exist. 00:48 There's a sermon in that. 00:50 There probably is. 00:52 God wants from us isn't it? 00:53 On the subject of sermons, 00:56 during the break we were talking about how, 00:58 you know, people have this idea that somehow or other, 01:01 people with PhDs in theology is stuffy 01:03 and things like that. 01:05 But we're just delighted 01:07 right now to have Dr. Jo Ann Davidson with us, 01:10 somebody who is definitely not stuffy. 01:14 Dr. Davidson is a Professor of Systematic Theology 01:19 at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary 01:22 at my alma mater, Andrews University. 01:25 Praise God. 01:26 Thank you so much for joining us, Dr. Davidson. 01:29 Oh, I'm glad to be invited when you talk about. 01:31 This subject is one of my favorite. 01:33 Exactly. 01:34 I mean, who doesn't love ecology, 01:37 especially, when we're coming at it from the perspective 01:40 that the Bible gives us on nature and the creation. 01:46 And I like that you talked about how this cooperation 01:50 must be there. 01:51 I mean, it's there. 01:52 And you as a biologist could have added 01:55 down to the cellular level even what is, 01:58 how all works together. 01:59 How individual cells have parts that work together, 02:02 cells work together and it just no matter 02:04 where you look, 02:05 there's wonderful cooperation. 02:08 And interestingly enough, we as human beings, 02:11 we instinctively know that there is something 02:14 wrong going on 02:15 when we see a breakdown of that cooperation, 02:19 things like cancer, 02:21 that's a breakdown of cooperation between cells. 02:27 And I believe, we naturally wince 02:30 when we see these sort of terrible things 02:33 that do occasionally occur in nature, 02:35 like lions killing gazelles and stuff. 02:38 We know in our hearts that that's just not the way 02:43 it's supposed to be. 02:45 The creation is broken in some profound way. 02:51 Oh, yes. 02:52 And, you know, 02:53 when people think about heaven, 02:55 they think about golden streets and playing harps on a cloud 02:58 but when God describes heaven in Isaiah 11, 03:01 He describes all of this cruelty being erased away. 03:06 The lions gonna lie down with the lamb 03:08 and the goat with the leopard 03:10 and a little kid can put his hand in a cobra's hole. 03:13 And then it says the reason why this is gonna happen 03:16 is because the world will be full of the knowledge of God 03:19 as the waters covered sea. 03:21 And so God is looking forward to this day too. 03:25 Someday His dreams for this planet 03:27 are gonna come true and He's looking for... 03:30 It's such a glorious thing. 03:33 And it's not just that these are kind of empty, 03:36 unfounded promises, 03:38 or something that we see out there. 03:43 These are things that we can see foreshadowing's 03:46 of already in the creation 03:48 as we look at these beautiful cooperative relationships. 03:52 And even occasionally, we see beautiful things 03:55 between human beings and creatures 03:57 that you wouldn't expect... 03:59 I think about those occasional stories 04:00 that you hear about lions that bond in some way 04:03 with human beings and it's such a... 04:06 Heartwarming. Yes. 04:07 It's a heart-warming and beautiful thing to see. 04:10 However, there is an argument that I've heard made 04:14 that goes basically like this. 04:16 If Jesus is coming again, 04:19 if there's going to be a new creation, 04:21 and if this old creation is broken, 04:27 why should we care about it, 04:30 why worry about taking care of nature at all and, 04:34 you know, being conservationists 04:36 or something like that. 04:37 This earth is going to be destroyed by fire 04:41 when Jesus comes, why should we worry about it? 04:47 Oh, that's a question I hear so much. 04:49 But I'm thinking then the people aren't aware 04:51 of the message of Scripture because before sin, 04:55 Adam and Eve were given a job to tend and to care 04:58 for the garden and there wasn't... 05:01 That was a privilege and a joy. 05:03 And why aren't we thinking 05:05 we need to work with that special instruction 05:08 even now, even though things are broken? 05:10 Why are we thinking of caring and tending 05:13 for this great place that God made? 05:15 I find it interesting in Psalm 98 and other places. 05:18 But it's very clear in Psalm 98 05:20 "All nature," it says, 05:22 "the rivers are clapping their hands, 05:24 the hills are joyful together, and all nature's rejoicing." 05:27 And then it gives the reason why, 05:29 it says because God is going to come to judge the world, 05:33 and judge the earth, and the people's with equity, 05:36 and it includes both the earth and the people's, 05:39 then God's gonna judge and He's gonna hold us 05:41 responsible for not caring for this great place 05:45 that He gave us. 05:46 In the Book of Revelation as the Bible closes, 05:48 I think it refers back to that. 05:50 Because in Revelation Chapter 7, 05:51 it talks about the angels holding back the winds 05:55 of strife from the earth and the sea and the trees 05:58 and finally, the elders around the throne say, 06:02 "It's time that you destroy those 06:04 who destroy the earth." 06:06 And heaven is watching and seeing if we appreciate 06:09 this great nest that God has given us. 06:12 Don't you think that part of the reason, 06:15 Dr. Davidson, that God gave us when He gave us dominion 06:20 we were to learn to rule in covenantal love 06:24 as He does with us? 06:26 It was all about our character development, 06:29 don't you think? 06:30 Oh, yes. 06:31 And if we're created in God's image, 06:33 we should think it'd be a natural thing 06:34 that we want to reflect God's loving concern 06:38 for this or like He does. 06:39 Yes. 06:41 I mean, that's what it partly means to be created 06:42 in His image. 06:43 Amen. Yeah. 06:45 You know, in thinking about this myself, 06:49 what the analogy that I would draw 06:51 is something like this. 06:53 You know, if you go to the Louvre in Paris, 06:57 there are lots of fabulous works of art there, 06:59 but the Venus de Milo is there. 07:01 Now when you think about it, 07:03 the Venus de Milo is an old broken statue, right? 07:08 But it is still so fabulously beautiful. 07:12 If I went into the Louvre with a hammer 07:14 and smash the Venus de Milo into pieces, 07:17 I mean, wouldn't any reasonable rational person, 07:20 anybody with a soul be horrified at that? 07:25 And yet, you know, it's surely... 07:28 If we go and just destroy 07:33 this wonderful work of art 07:37 that God created, 07:40 it says something profoundly evil about ourselves. 07:46 There's something wrong with us if we actually feel it, 07:51 that's okay. 07:53 And, you know, I think the ancients were 07:55 more in tune to creation than we are. 07:57 I love that passage in Job, the oldest book in the Bible. 07:59 Where Job says, the animals, if you watch, will teach you, 08:03 and they'll help you learn about God. 08:04 And I think that's really important. 08:07 If we turn away and don't care for this earth, 08:09 we're gonna lose a lot of lessons 08:10 that God is trying to show us how wonderful He is, 08:13 and what He's given us. 08:15 Nature itself praises God and it can teach us 08:18 how wonderful the Creator is. 08:21 So as a theologian 08:23 and obviously a lover of nature itself, 08:28 tell me this in from your perspective, 08:33 what do you see out there that you consider 08:35 to be the most beautiful thing that teaches us the most 08:40 about God and His nature? 08:44 I heard one person describe it this way, 08:47 which I've taken to be my own that said, 08:48 every animal can teach us a character quality 08:52 that God wants us to have. 08:54 And we can't look at each other anymore, 08:56 we can't see Jesus but every animal display 08:58 some character quality God wants us to have. 09:01 And at that time, we had a beloved dog 09:03 who's recently died but... 09:05 You know, dogs can show you what forgiveness is like, 09:07 they never hold a grudge, they never hold a grudge, 09:10 and they always want to be with you 09:12 and are always having a forgiving spirit no matter. 09:15 And I got to thinking about that what qualities 09:18 do animals display that God wants me to have? 09:22 You know, when you said that my initial thought was, 09:25 "Oh, no, that's ridiculous. Insects what can..." 09:28 And then I thought, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard." 09:32 Yeah, so it's there, it's amazing. 09:36 Yeah, so that's a really deep point. 09:39 And my favorite Old Testament description 09:41 of this is in 1 Kings 4 when it talks about Solomon 09:44 being the wisest man in the earth 09:46 and if people from all around the world 09:48 came to see and listen to Solomon's wisdom. 09:51 And then it says what he talked about. 09:52 It says he talked about trees, about flowers, 09:55 about the animals. 09:56 And people came from all around the world 09:58 to learn the Wisdom of Solomon. 10:00 What does he talk about? 10:01 Wonders of creation. There we go. 10:03 Well, thank you so much for joining us, Dr. Davidson. 10:06 I could talk about these things 10:09 probably for the rest of my life. 10:11 It is a wonderful topic. Yeah. 10:13 You know, a thought occurred to me 10:15 is after Jesus did the miracle with a fish and the loaves, 10:19 He told His disciples to gather together 10:25 the remnants of what was left, He never wasted anything. 10:30 And if we waste our resources that God has given us, 10:34 if we aren't taking good care of it, 10:37 I think we're not following in the footsteps of Jesus. 10:40 I have to agree with you. 10:42 You know, there's something ugly 10:43 about wanton wastefulness and something beautiful 10:49 actually about conserving what God has given to us 10:54 in such unbelievable abundance in this world. 11:00 I'm just amazed 11:02 at the gratuitous beauty these glorious relationships 11:08 and just the abundance of resources 11:11 that we have to support our lives 11:15 and the lives of other creatures. 11:18 And that's something that we need to keep in mind, 11:20 it's not just for us, it's for everything. 11:23 Remember the first angel's message says, 11:27 "Worship the Creator." 11:29 When we worship God in the beauty of His holiness, 11:32 we will be appreciating what He has done for us. 11:37 Thank you for joining us. |
Revised 2019-03-14