Articles
Stop Damning Creation with a Lie!
If you ask your neighbors who are not ornithologists or bird watchers,
how many species live in watching distance from their home in rural USA?
They might say five or six, they suppose. The reality is they may only be
off by 50 or 60 species if the property has both shaded and sunny areas and
a diversity of trees and shrubs. In the past dozen years I have seen several
species increase, while dozens and dozens of them have decreased so far that
for practical purposes, these species may just as well be extinct.
A few of them would include the Indigo Bunting, the Cedar Waxwing, the
Eastern Bluebird, various Nuthatches, quite a few Woodpecker species,
Baltimore Orioles, Orchard Orioles, White Crowned and White Throated
Sparrows, Kinglets, Barn Owls, Sparrow Hawks, Barn Swallows, Tree Swallows
and Purple Martins, the plethora of hummingbird quantities, Bob White Quail,
and a variety of Warblers. If given a little time I could add many more to
this list yet my yard, with all this reduction in bird species is still a
small piece of paradise for the birds and the watchers. Of course if the
decline continues at its current rate, there will be no birds or as the
scripture says, “No flesh saved.”
I do what I can to encourage everything except house sparrows, starlings and
grackles, because I love birds, mammals, sea creatures and even human
beings. I have no shame or reluctance about making sure the birds in winter
receive the nourishment they crave or that the shrubs and flowers I plant
provide nectar for the hummingbirds. As I said, I love these creatures, and
as I mentioned even the ones that tend to be the most destructive,
specifically those who cut down trees and bushes during nesting season where
eggs and fledglings can be killed or exposed to danger and those who allow
their precious cats to feed on the bird population. Satan is called the
Destroyer and those who follow his ways are his brothers according to the
scriptures.
Before this message goes any further, we need to put down a misunderstood,
misinterpreted and misused section of Romans Chapter One. Pastors do badly
enough when they insinuate that animals do not have a mind, emotion or a
will. It is commonly taught in this area that animals couldn’t go to Heaven
because they do not have a soul. A soul is composed entirely of the mind,
the emotion and the will. Anyone who really knows animals realizes that they
clearly possess all three. Some so called spiritual teachers say, “People
are different because God breathed in to humans, the breath of life.”
(Genesis 2:7) When Adam became a living “soul,” the word used to describe
that was nephesh. This word means a breathing creature including the
animals. Look it up in the Strong’s Concordance. If we read on to Genesis
6:17 it indicates that animals and humans have received the breath of life,
not just man. We quote it here, “And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of
waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life,
from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.” Genesis
7:15 reiterates the point, “And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and
two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life.” Not only is it true that
all creatures have a soul, therefore, they can go to Heaven, but they also
have received, along with us, the breath of life.
I am very concerned that so many Christian expositors try to convince those
who are already Christians that they can go into a fallen state because they
profess to believe that we all need to know we can mistakenly love the
creatures more than God. God is not competing with a squirrel, a rabbit or
even a dove. This is worse than comparing apples and oranges. Christians
glorify God, but they merely care about animals and reassure them of God’s
love. Also, Christians try to draw as near as they can to the Heavenly
Father. Romans 1:21 makes it clear that Paul is addressing those who knew
God (past tense), they did not glorify God, neither were thankful; but
became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. This
is the sort of person he is addressing with our key scripture, Romans 1:25.
Many Christians believe that if you care about creation and all the
creatures in it, their damnation does not lurk far behind. The truth is far
different than that. I am referring to verse 1:25 of Romans along with the
rest of the chapter. These scriptures imply that both male and female
homosexuality is the result of replacing the honoring and worship of God
with a lie, and worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator
who is blessed for ever. Here are some accurate translations that get across
the real meaning.
The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of
the Bible into the English language preceding the King James Translation by
51 years. Translating Romans 1:25 it says, “Which turned the truth of God
into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature, forsaking the Creator
which is blessed forever, Amen.” A key phrase in this translation is
“forsaking the Creator.” Real Christians don’t forsake the Creator; they
honor Him and are thankful daily for all the blessings that He is to their
lives. Just forsaking the Creator is a very dangerous pastime. Worshippers
of God would rather suffer great loss than failing to honor God and worship
Him. They might adore many creatures but this does not mean they worship
them, or their mates or anyone other than the Creator. This entire section
of Romans deals primarily with the fact that what we do unto others, will
also be done again unto us. If we sow disrespect, God may disrespect us and
if we worship anything other than God we stand to lose greatly. When we sow
bad seed we harvest bad things. I do not know of one Christian who worships
the Creation instead of the Creator.
Another translation that conveys the true meaning of this text is God’s Word
Translation and it says, “These people have exchanged God’s truth for a lie.
So they have become ungodly and serve what is created rather than the
Creator who is blessed forever. Amen!” Most intelligent Christians strive to
be godly not ungodly. If Christians can see it they would never exchange
truth for a lie. They would never exchange the Creator for what is created.
Just because we protect an endangered plant or animal does not mean that we
have exchanged plants or animals for Almighty God. We would have to be crazy
to consider such a thing. There is no comparison!
The only people I know of who would do such a thing are called animists.
Animism is used in particular as a term for the religion of indigenous
tribal people especially prior to the development and/or infiltration of
civilization. Animism is practiced by many neo-pagan people or people who
believe in no god but treat animals or even non-living things such as
statues or totems to commit all their prayers to instead of the True and
Living God. They often teach that there is no difference between physical
and spiritual beings. There is much more complexity and refinement to
animism than I have addressed here, but animism is not practiced by those
who know the Creator. Whether we feed a bird, transplant endangered plants
that are in the way of construction, or only place unwanted pets in a
no-kill shelter does not mean and is not suppose to mean that in any way we
have forsaken the eternal God who made all things.
A third bible translation, The Good News Bible, says from Romans 1:25, “They
exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has
created instead of the Creator Himself, who is to be praised forever! Amen.”
If you are counting we are now going to our fourth translation of the Holy
Scripture. The Message Bible which I love says, “And all this because they
traded the true God for a fake god, and worshipped the god they made instead
of the God who made them – the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh
yes!” No Christian thinks about or worships a fake god or worships a god
they made rather than the God who made them. They are not under any curse
due to such a stupid failure. The scripture says that some people knew God
and did not honor Him or want Him in their life. They got their wish but
they do not know, apparently what life without God is like.
Our fifth translation of the bible is called the New Living Translation.
“They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshipped and served
the things God created instead of the Creator Himself, who is worthy of
eternal praise! Amen.” I have faith that there are a lot of Amen’s out there
for that one. I pray there are no readers who have traded the truth of God
for a lie, or any who have worshipped what God created instead of the
Creator Himself. He alone is worthy of eternal praise, and if we have a
personal relationship with Him, we know that. Again I say, this was not
written to people who exalt our Lord Jesus Christ and that does not matter
if we are a Christian environmentalist or a Christian animal rights person.
God is both!
This scripture and this chapter is designed to warn people who would dismiss
God and pray to a mummy, a hippo, a certain phase of the moon, a stone dog
or to a god like Molech who was no god in reality, but a place to dispose of
living baby boys and girls. All worship that is not of the true God who made
Heaven and earth and all that is therein is an act of disregard for the one
who died for our sins and gave us His life to dwell within. To worship
anything less than Him is a display of our ignorance. Anyone can fall into
any sin including homosexuality. God loves you and He can forgive your sin,
my sin and everyone’s sin if only they will repent which means turn fully
back to Him. We were created to please Him and not to go our own way.
After salvation, transformation is the next step. We are transformed as our
mind is renewed according to what the scripture really says. It doesn’t
matter whether some tyrannical government forbids us to share the gospel or
makes the worst crimes lawful. Ultimately, it is God, our Creator to whom we
must answer. Loving the creatures and the creation will not offend the
faithful God who has reconciled all things unto himself; by him, I say,
whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (See Colossians 1:20)