---THE CLIMATE CHANGE CONFLICT
--[Keeping Cool Over Global Warming] /-JAKE HEBERT / ICR

--Conclusion /-[March 2019] ~~

~~~IN addition to scientific reasons, Christians have theological reasons to believe God created the Earth to be stable. Despite the denials of secular scientists, there is overwhelming evidence that God created life on Earth and that this life did not originate through some evolutionary process. The evidence of design is so strong that even skeptics acknowledge that living things look designed for a purpose, even though they insist that this is merely an illusion. As Scripture states:

'For since the creation of the world His [God's] invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."- (Romans 1:20)

Scripture makes it clear that God created the entire universe, including the Earth, Moon, and Sun (Genesis 1). Since an all-knowing, all powerful, loving Creator designed our Home, it is reasonable to think God designed its climate system to be stable, with mechanisms or negative feedbacks that prevent extreme climate states. This would definitely be true in God's original "very good" creation (Genesis 1:31), but we would expect this to be true even after Adam's Fall. God's promise to Noah after the Flood hints at a low climate sensitivity:

And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma [of Noah's sacrifice]. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:21-22)

So even after the Flood, God promised a certain degree of reliability in Earth's climate system, which one would expect if the climate is stable.

There are good theological and scientific reasons to think Earth's climate is stable and global warming alarmism is unwarranted. Climate alarmism is distracting people--both Christians and non-Christians--from much weightier issues.

A supposed climate change emergency can sidetrack unbelievers from the true emergency that really is confronting them. Every single one of us will have to give an account to our Creator (Revelation 20:12). Because we have all sinned and violated His commandments, we can only tremble at this prospect. However, God has graciously provided a remedy. God became a man, the Lord Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life and died as our substitute on the cross. He then rose from the dead three days later to demonstrate His victory over sin and death. All who are genuinely sorry for their sins and turn from them, believing that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be, are promised salvation from God's righteous wrath.

Furthermore, the Lord Jesus Christ has tasked His Church with the proclamation of this saving gospel (Romans 1:16) in order to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). This Earth, in its current form will not last forever (Revelation 21:1), no matter what we do or don't do, but resurrected men and women will live forever (Revelation 20:12--22:21).

Yes, God will hold us accountable for our stewardship of this planet, but He is also going to hold us accountable for what we did or did not do to fulfill His Great Commission. The Lord has given His Church a much more urgent task, and Christians should not allow themselves to be distracted from it by passing fads--including climate change alarmism. ~~