This has added more carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, which in turn has caused global average temperatures to have risen to around 1C above the 19th Century average, and they are projected to rise at least a further 1-2C by the end of this century unless worldwide action is taken.

The purpose of this blog post isn’t to go into great detail on the science of climate change (some general details can be found here) or indeed on the tricky political situation of trying to get hundreds of nations to all agree to measures which may well not be popular in the short term.

Let’s just say for now that without a coordinated and concerted global effort to dramatically cut CO2 output, there is a real threat of catastrophic changes happening to our established way of life.

We’ve already seen in the past decade an increase in extreme weather events across the world such as extreme temperatures, droughts and wildfires on one hand, and then severe storms, flooding and crop destruction as a result of that on the other hand.

Whilst to a certain extent, these sorts of events have been happening throughout history, the evidence points to this happening a lot more regularly in the past 20 years, threatening the eventual loss of some low-lying places to rising sea levels, as well as the loss of entire ecosystems.

Christian principles about the home we all share

The most important thing to say is that Christadelphians are all agreed in our belief that the future of mankind is on this planet. God’s plan and purpose is fixed on what happens here, and we all have a part to play, however small, in filling the earth with God’s glory. Clearly, this is primarily a spiritual act, but the physical acts we do also have a bearing on how much the world in its current state glorifies the creator.

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory!

Isaiah 72 v 18-19

Right from the origin story of both humanity and the planet itself in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we read that God intended mankind to look after their home. We also get a warning in Revelation, the last book of the Bible, that God doesn’t look kindly on those who cause destruction to the world.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Genesis 2 v 15

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was…for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

Revelation 11 v 17-18

Many Christians believe that God’s ultimate plan for mankind is centred in heaven rather than on earth. Some actually expect God to destroy the earth at some future time!

It could therefore be easy to lessen just how much our world actually matters.

It’s important to state that I’m sure most Christians wouldn’t want to deliberately mistreat the world purely as a result of that belief, but there is an inherent danger of perhaps taking less care of something if we don’t think it necessarily has much of a long term future in God’s eyes anyway.

Christadelphians believe that Jesus will one day return to earth from heaven, and that the resurrection of humans will be on earth, not in heaven. Planet Earth, therefore, is the focus of God’s plan.

“…why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Acts 1 v 11

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Daniel 12 v 2

Furthermore, the promise at this time is that eventually the hardships of mortal life will be done away with.

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21 v 3-4

Essentially, whilst we may expect many difficulties to come on earth both now and in the future, we don’t believe that God will allow Earth to become uninhabitable, he will intervene when the time is right to bring about a restoration likened to the Garden of Eden, and this is a sure hope for those who look forward to return of Jesus.

That’s all well and good, but what about now?

This promised future time promised to those who respond to God’s call for salvation is both exciting and reassuring, it gives us hope as we see so much destruction, suffering and hopelessness all around us. That is especially the case as so often we see worldwide political efforts to make the world a better place fall very far short of being a success.

Yet, as much as it feels like the time for Jesus to return is getting close, we cannot just abandon all efforts to be good custodians of the world we live in. As individuals, we might feel like what we do in the here and now can’t make any noticeable difference, and yet those of us who have a faith in God to restore the world in the future, also have a responsibility to at least try to treat our home now with the respect deserved.

Small things we can do include reducing the amount we throw away and ensuring we make an effort to recycle more.

• Can we buy more local goods to avoid so much shipping around the world?
• Can we travel less, especially by plane?
• Can we do more of our local travel using less polluting forms of transport such as cycling, walking and public transport?
• Can we change our car to a smaller and less polluting model?
• Can we get more energy efficient devices at home, or install solar panels to generate more of our own clean energy?
• Can we consider eating less meat? Even if we all pledged to eat 1 less meat meal per week, then this would collectively have a big impact on the climate.
• Can we plant more trees in our gardens?

We will all have things we can do well, as well as things we will struggle with, for all sorts of reasons.

And the purpose of this blog isn’t to make anyone feel guilty.

But if we can all make a few small changes then collectively this makes a significant difference.

Finally, just as Christians encourage each other to be better people through prayer and setting an example for others to follow, we likewise should aim to live our lives in a way that shows that we do care for this planet and want to ensure that it will still be a good home for future generations yet to be born.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13 v 34-35

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I don’t know about you, but I got really confused about Covid advice! Every
announcement seemed to contradict the last one.

The truth is, nobody really knows how to deal with something that we have
never seen before. The government and scientists are doing their best to
make sense of a world that has changed beyond recognition.

Planning ahead? Forget it! If you travelled to Spain recently, you were at the
sharp end of that problem… the situation really does change minute by
minute.

How does that make you feel?

Confused, insecure, maybe a bit scared?

But God knows exactly what is happening and what will happen next. He knew about all this long before the first person got sick.

“…I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done…”

Isaiah 46: 9-10

A lesson from history

Back in around 600BC, a man called Jeremiah was at rock bottom. He was in a besieged city, and he knew that soon it would be destroyed. God had told him to pass this information on to the rulers, but they saw him as a traitor and put him in jail. Yet God was able to assure him that although his nation would be taken captive, they would eventually come back and rebuild the city.

“I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul….Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.”

Jeremiah 32: 41-42

Hope for the future

Jeremiah did not live to see this happen, but he knew that God would not
break His promise, and Jeremiah himself will see the ultimate fulfilment when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this earth. Death is not the end for people who trust in God – He will raise them to life in a world where these worries will no longer be a problem.

That is what keeps me positive in these uncertain times.

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Human Nature Hasn’t Changed

It’s true that all our lives have been changed by technology. The smartphone has only been around for just over a decade but it’s already reshaped society. But underneath it all human nature hasn’t changed. We still have our frustrations and disappointments, our yearnings and desires for something better, and our weaknesses and failings.

The Bible has the most powerful account there is of the positives and negatives of human nature. It explains why we are the way we are – the problems like greed, exploitation and excess that are still part of society – and it tells us what we can do about it, how we can find relief and comfort in our shortcomings, and how we can grow and be better.

It gives us a yardstick by which we can make judgements and learn how we ought to live. Most of us have a sense that we’d like to be more than we currently are and the Bible shows us how. It provides wonderful guidance and direction for everyday life.

The Human Story

Second, the Bible provides a historical context for our lives. It explains the human story – the path that human history has followed right up to the current affairs of today. The background to the tensions in the Middle East, for instance is all explained, and the Bible describes how future events in Jerusalem will unfold and will ultimately broaden out to affect the whole world.

Our lives are part of a bigger story of God’s unfolding purpose which the Bible explains. We are part of a larger narrative that God is working out, and to understand something of that is a wonderful blessing.

Roadmap for the Future

That introduces the third point. The Bible gives a roadmap for the future. People often ask what the world is coming to and where society is headed. Well we don’t need to be uncertain about that. The Bible clearly and powerfully answers that question.

The world we see around us today is not the world that God is planning. He’s planning something far, far better in his kingdom which is to come. Life today is just a stepping stone towards that wonderful time.

There is a real and exciting hope for the future, but that future impacts the way we might want to live today. Now is the time to prepare, to live a life which is real and fulfilling and which calls forth from us the best that we can be.

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• What is the world coming to?
• Is there more to life than this?
• What is the meaning of life?
• Why should I believe in a God I cannot see?
• Has science disproved the Bible?
• Why does God allow suffering?
• Has Christianity caused wars?

If they are, read on for a sample answer, or visit www.lifes-big-questions.org.

Is this all there is to life?

Is there more to life than:

• buying the “latest”?
• socialising?
• holding down a stressful job?
• getting older?
• an uncertain future?

For some of us, life can be good, but most of us have problems.  Many of us are uncertain about our long term future.  So we should ask the question “Is this all there is?”  Is there anywhere we can look for an answer? Will we have good reason to believe it?

We will explore whether there is such a source of information. We shall look for good reasons for trust when it tells us about our long term future.  We need a source of information that we can trust to tell us about our long term future.

Why bother about our long term future?

When our short term future is threatened by illness or accident, most of us seek help from someone we trust.

When anyone is seriously ill or injured, we call an ambulance to get help to the person as soon as we can.  Ambulances are given priority on the road and everyone co-operates in assisting the ambulance to get to its destination quickly.

Our long term future is uncertain. So we need urgent help from a source of information we can trust. The Bible is just such a trustworthy source of information. There is much evidence to convince us that the Bible comes from a power greater than ourselves and that its message can be trusted. We will look at some of this evidence.

The Bible contains unlikely accurate predictions

We can only predict the future based on what has happened in the past.  The Bible, on the other hand, predicted that the Jews would be generally unpopular and have a history unlike any other nation.

These predictions are:

• clear and direct
• known to have been written before the event
• written by people who had no influence to make them come true
• fulfilled by people who were not aware they were doing so

These highly unlikely predictions have proved 100% accurate!

The Bible contains a law ahead of its time

The Bible contains a system of law given to the early Israelites that was thousands of years ahead of its time!

Compared with the practices of other nations, the Bible’s advice on community health was remarkable.  It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that most European countries discovered and adopted ideas found in this 3000 year old law. If we had taken the Bible’s advice earlier on sewage disposal and hygiene, many lives would have been saved.

There are parts of this civil law which are even ahead of our time. The Bible law forbad rich Jews from charging interest on loans to their poor Jewish neighbours – preventing the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer.

The Bible is supported by archaeology

About 200 years ago, many of the places and people found in the Bible were not known to be mentioned anywhere else. Critics said that the Bible was myth and legend. But in the last 200 years, names from the Bible have leapt to life with the discovery of palace walls, stones, coins and cylinders, like the one in the picture, mentioning Biblical names and records of Biblical events.

Why is the Bible worth reading?

The Bible has a consistent message:

• The Bible is made up of 66 individual books written down by a variety of people.
• There is no other book in the world written down by so many different authors spread over a period of 1,500 years that has such a consistent message.

The Bible does not conflict with scientific facts:

• Wherever they look, scientists find that our world is made up of distinct animals and species.
• There are no observable facts to support major development of species.

This agrees with the Bible record that our world was made fully functional.

So, what about our long term future?

The Bible tells us:

• that our Creator is concerned about people
• we have a caring Creator who has a rescue plan for our planet
• that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, as part of His plan

The rescue plan

We seem increasingly incapable of running this planet ourselves. So a worldwide government headed by a wise caring ruler is planned. Jesus Christ will return to the earth to implement this plan.

The plan involves sorting out our world’s problems including war, famine, pollution and the problem we all face – death.

On a personal level, the Bible tells us that we can be involved in this plan. If we die before Jesus comes, we can be raised from the dead.

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