The Restoration of All Things
May 7, 2008
Greg Pitchford is a fisheries biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. He lives in Chillicothe, Missouri with his wife Donna and daughters Abbey, Anna, and Rebecca.
This post originally appeared in Creation Care magazine, issue 35 (Spring 2008).
I recently lectured at a university about an ecological restoration project on a stream I am working on. It was not one of my better performances. I spoke about the elements of biological integrity (water quality, physical habitat, biotic interactions, flow regime, and energy sources) and how the stream was compromised in all five areas. I told them that any restoration efforts that did not address all five areas would not achieve a balanced, diverse community that reflected what was historically there. The longer I spoke, the more depressed I became. After the talk, though I was with some of the best and brightest of the next generation, I could sense frustration and cynicism.
I had no hope to offer them. I felt constrained by the state agency logo on my shirt. I wanted to look into the fresh faces of those with a passion for biology, and tell them about the hope for humanity and the restoration of all things. The word “restoration” would have gotten their attention. Restoration is a huge word for us biologists concerned about Creation. We love to be involved in wetland restoration, stream restoration, prairie restoration, etc. The reality of the Fall can make people frustrated and cynical. The reality of God’s redemption and restoration of creation can give hope.
I don’t know that I was ever formally taught about the future of the world. But somehow I absorbed the idea that this world was temporary. It would one day be destroyed, and Christians would find eternal happiness in Heaven. This spiritual existence honestly didn’t sound that interesting. My picture of it would swing back and forth between sitting on a cloud playing a harp and living in a city that looked a lot like a Trinity Broadcasting Network television set.
It was only after a crisis of belief that I began to explore what the Scriptures say about the world and its future. The Scriptures told me that God created this world and said it is good. I knew this world was good, and so did every student in that lecture hall. We instinctively know that watching a bird, eating fresh bread, or swimming in an Ozark stream is a good gift. They would also agree with the Scriptures that this world is broken. They didn’t need some middle-aged biologist giving them a lecture on the impacts of the Fall. Aldo Leopold wrote that one of the hazards of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. We often feel overwhelmed in a world that is “groaning” and waiting for Christ’s return (Romans 1:8). The students needed to hear what I needed to hear—that God has come to redeem and restore creation on our behalf. (Thanks Tim Keller for that definition of the gospel!)
When I got home from the lecture, I found a newsletter from my friend Margie Haack. Her words were like a balm to me after a disappointing day. (Her article is reprinted on pages 6-10.)
She wrote about being surrounded by misuse and destruction of creation. She expressed her frustration with the apparent futility of her efforts to be a good steward. Then she reminded me of God’s ultimate restoration plan. That one day the world would be restored. When all of nature and human culture will be purified and brought completely under Christ’s reign.
Not that long ago, I would have been confused by her hope for the world. One of the greatest gifts ever given to me was the loan of a small book by Wim Rietkerk entitled The Future Great Planet Earth: Good News About the Future of This Earth According to The Bible. Rietkerk explained that the Scripture has a high view of the created world. It is “real, good, and therefore a sphere of God’s continual interest and involvement.” It was comforting to realize, God is interested in the same world I am! But what about all that talk about the world being destroyed?
Rietkerk’s handling of II Peter 3:10 explained that the original language that Peter used says the earth will not be destroyed by fire, but discovered. The translators’ notes in the New King James Version and New American Standard clarify this. Steven Bouma-Prediger expands on this notion. “. . . after a refiners fire of purification (vs. 7), the earth will be found, not burned up. The earth will be discovered, not destroyed . . . Thus the text rightly redeemed speaks of a basic continuity of this world with the next. Creation is not ephemeral and unimportant—some waystation until the eschaton—but rather our home, now and always.” By examining the original texts, Rietkerk pointed out that the new (kainos) heaven and new earth spoken of in II Peter 3:13 is a renewed world. It’s worth noting that the world was not destroyed by the fl ood (II Peter 3:6), but renewed by it. Suddenly, Romans 8:19-22 began to make sense. Creation doesn’t eagerly await its annihilation, but its redemption! This interpretation should not have surprised me. I have seen prairie habitat renewed by fire, and wetlands renewed by floods.
People with a burden for Creation need a message of hope. Our friends and colleagues in the environmental field are often very conflicted people whose material worldview offers no justification for their environmental concerns and little hope for the world about which they are passionate.
The dedicated ecologist and the evangelist share the same frustrations. Both groups tell people about the wages of sin to crowds who don’t want to hear it. However, the materialist has no gospel to offer themselves or the crowds. This often leads to a denial of their responsibilities or burnout. The historic Christian worldview offers a strong foundation for environmental stewardship.
I appreciated Rietkerk’s view of the continuity of our present and future existence. His section entitled “The Scaffolding” should be read by Christians everywhere who struggle to see value in their feeble attempts at bringing reconciliation to the world whether it be evangelism, social ministry, or environmental stewardship. The author reminds us that before Jesus completed the work of feeding the 5,000 he told the disciples “You yourselves give them something to eat.” After they gave him all they had, a tiny offering of five loaves and two fish, he provided the miraculous work (Matthew 14:16-20). Rietkerk goes on to say: “So there is a challenging and important relationship between the works we are called to do now in order to save nature. . .and the future renewal of the earth. God does not need our works to accomplish that; he could do it without us. But he will use our work and he will certainly rebuke us if we have not produced the work he expected. He will ask for them and he will make them the core of a renewed world.”
Those are welcome words of encouragement to any Christian trying to serve God in their particular calling.
Related article: Margie Haack’s article “The Joy of Bees” appeared in the same issue of Creation Care.
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[...] article: Greg Pitchford’s “The Restoration of All Things” appeared in the same issue of Creation [...]