And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ (Acts 17:26-28)

The Christian And Global Warming

There are a lot of worried people who fret about the condition of the world leading to an apocalyptic end of life on earth. Global warming is the hot topic of political debate, community concern, and deep fears in the hearts of many scared individuals. This phenomenon is defined as “a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants.” All of this comes from the human impact on the planet through the waste of industry, technology, and pollution. There is a belief among many that in time man will destroy the earth and all life will die. Because of the lifestyle of humanity, the pollutants will slowly erode the protective coating surrounding the earth and the Sun will become so hot the Earth’s oceans will boil. At this point, life on earth will be rendered impossible and the end of all life will come. The good news is (as suggested by some) this may not happen for another billion years or so. On the other hand, some worry that by 2035 or 2050 (or some future date) man will have depleted enough of the global footprint that all life will be endangered with rising oceans, famines, limited freshwater, and economic disaster.

One of the joys of being a Christian is having a source to find answers to everything that involves the story of man. The Bible does talk about the two main questions of global warming: what is the impact and can man destroy the world? To answer the first question we have to be reminded of what Paul told the Athenians two thousand years ago. God is the one that determines the habitations and boundaries of all men. The root of error in human wisdom is to assume humanity as the power to change the course of the stars and to impact the earth in such a manner to (in a figure) knock the world off its axis. Man is not in charge of the world. By the authority of God, he has been given dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. He can subdue the earth but he cannot destroy it.

The limitation of man to destroy the world is found in the only time every living being on earth was destroyed (except for eight people) it was brought about by the Creator. God looked at the heart of men and saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord prepared Noah and his family to be saved from the destruction but then through the power of God alone, all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air were destroyed from the earth. God did that – not man. After the flood, Noah and his family left the ark where Noah built an altar to the Lord. Smelling the sacrifice, God promised to never destroy the earth as He had done. And then He made a promise: while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night SHALL NOT CEASE. The diligent student of the Bible knows that when God makes a promise that promise will be kept without exception.

Since God promised the world will continue with seasons and day and night, why should anyone believe that global warming is going to change that? The scientists who put forth the destructive theories of global warming will not believe the world was created by God. They accept the false notion that man came from slim in some primordial world of chaos. The word of God means nothing to them. Global warming can happen as much as global cooling. The earth goes through cycles throughout history. There are ways that man can impact his environment and he must be a responsible caretaker of the world, but man can’t destroy the world and bring life on earth to an end. There is no nuclear bomb or strain of a virus that will destroy all life. Can man kill millions with a bomb? Yes. Is it possible for evil tyrants to develop a virus that kills millions of innocent souls? Yes. Can man destroy all life on earth? No. First, God will not allow it and second, the Lord has left that task to Himself.

The earth will come to an end one day. It will not be through global warming, world wars, and man-made plagues. Jesus, the Son of God, described the end of the world when He returns with His holy angels as a time of total destruction. Every scripture in the Bible that speaks about the end of the world describes the destruction is by the hand of God. The world is held together by the word of God and the world will be destroyed by the same word. This world is reserved for fire until the day of judgment when ungodly people will be destroyed. Every man must be a good steward of his planet and should take every care to nurture the world gifted to him by the Almighty. At the end of the day, the power of God will destroy the world – not man. There is no way man will have the ability and/or the power to effect such a change on the earth to destroy it. That is in the mind of God. And that is the joy of being a Christian. The answers are found in His word.