What the Bible says about Sustainability

April 2002

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (In the Torah, the Jewish Old Testament scriptures, the verb "create" only has God as its subject. Humans never create). Genesis 1:1

Then God said: let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over all the creatures and the whole earth. So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. (Note the repetition for emphasis)

God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and increase; fill the earth and master it. Rule over the animals. Genesis 1:26-28

God saw all that He had made, and found it very good. Genesis 1:31

In the middle of the Garden of Eden, God planted two special trees: the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Genesis 2:9

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to care for it. And the Lord God commanded the man: "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Genesis 2:15-17

Later, Satan, in the form of a serpent, said to the woman, "You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil."

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it. Then their eyes were opened, and they perceived that they were naked… And they hid from the Lord God. When God called, the man answered: I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. Genesis 3:4-10

So the Lord God cursed the serpent because he had deceived the woman. Genesis 3:14

To Adam He said: Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you. By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food. Genesis 3:17-19

The heaven and the earth are the Lords, the world and all it holds, for the Lord established them. North and south - God created them. Psalm 89:11-13

Fast forward now to about 2,000 years ago to Jesus' time.

Before there was any beginning, the Word (Jesus) had been with God, and the Word had been God. He was already in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word became what He was not before, a physical human being, and He lived among mankind… And His first followers beheld His glory, the glory of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3, 14

God the Father, so loved the cosmos (the whole world, including all things) that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in and trusts in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

Jesus said: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I shall give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest for you psyche (soul), for my yoke is easy and the burden I'll give you is light. Matthew 11: 28-30

Jesus said of Himself: I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35

I am the light of the world. He who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12

I am the gate for the sheep. He who enters through me will be saved. John 10:7

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11

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