Standing on the edge of Sydney’s Blue Mountains, it is easy to see that the world is pretty awesome, reminding us of the Creator and what he has done.  However, according to scripture the world we live in is a corrupted version of the original creation.

When Adam sinned, it wasn’t a problem for him alone, but for all humanity after him, and along with it all creation was plunged into pain.  God said, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you.” (Genesis 3:17-18a) 

Later in the book of Romans, Paul described the fall using these words, “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own voice, but by the will of the one who subjected it…. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Romans 8:20&22) 

The creation we know, the Earth and the Universe as we see it, is like a corrupted hard drive on a computer.  It doesn’t work properly and is not what was originally built.  

One could say that humanity has had a significant impact on the environment.  

There is a lot of debate today about climate change and the environment.  The temperature seems to be gradually warming, and the question is whether this is good or bad, and caused by people or by natural causes.  

But the original environmental devastation was certainly of human origin, and incredibly destructive.  The world we are living in now is a shadow of previous version.  

So… If you ever hear someone say how beautiful the world is, and how finely tuned it is, and how it is evidence of a Creator.  They are speaking the truth.

And… you may also hear someone else say how the world could not have been created because it is full of death, disease, wars, predators, natural disasters and more.  They are kind of telling the truth too, because the world we live in isn’t the world that was created.  So both points of view are correct.

What is left for us to do?  Fall on the mercy of God, and find your way back to Him.  It is the beginning of a wonderful walk with the creator of life.