PODCAST
Stewards of Creation
April 4th, 2016
Genesis 9:1-17
Adam and Eve related to God before they did each other. That makes sense since they were formed by divine action and animated by divine breath. They bore the indelible imprint of God’s image. As such, they reflected God’s life-giving characteristics. So God gave them the responsibility to care for creation infused with divine glory. Their own actions were to be as life-giving in stewarding creation as God had been in creating everything.
When Noah stepped off the ark onto land following the flood, God told him to “be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (v. 1). This echoed what God told Adam, so in a sense Noah was a second Adam. God reiterated the mandate that Noah serve as a custodian of creation. God punctuated Noah’s commission with a rainbow. This vivid sign pointed beyond God’s promise to the very presence of a merciful God who upholds life.
And God calls those created in the divine image to embody God’s attributes that offer life to a dying world.
Author: Keith Schwanz
