When I was a member of the Audubon Society, I often found that a sense of sadness and hopelessness pervaded our meetings— especially when all the threats to wild habitats were enumerated. It seemed that few in attendance believed there was a Creator, or if there was one He didn’t care about the things they cherished.

But He does care. He cares enough to promise that in the future, all nature will be refreshed, restored, and reunified (Acts 3:19-21; Eph. 1:7-10). More important, this restoration will show how much He cares for us, even though we have idolized and abused the living world that has been entrusted to us (Rom. 1:18-32).

According to God’s other revelation, the Bible, the Creator Himself has come to our rescue (Jn. 1:1-14). This Savior said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13). With these words, Jesus anticipated how He would carry out our rescue. By alluding to His own ultimate sacrifice, He showed why He could say, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).

The apostle John wrote of Jesus, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (Jn. 1:10-12).

If our Creator has proven His love for us in this way, we can have a confidence in the future for ourselves and all creation that is not just wishful thinking.

J. B. Phillips’ New Testament paraphrase puts it like this:

The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own. . . . In the end the whole of created life will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and have its share in that magnificent liberty which can only belong to the children of God! (Rom. 8:19,21).