How Important are We?

A few nights ago, I watched The History Channel's "Life after Humans" program. It had wonderful HD computer animation. The basic premise was what would our civilization look like if everyone suddenly vanished. Obviously, what we have built would be left to decay and fall apart. The program indicated that within 1000 years, almost all forms of human civilization would be lost to foliage. A few monuments, like Mt. Rushmore and the Great Pyramids might withstand the ravages of nature.

I found myself thinking about the scene from Logan's Run when Logan and Jessica make it out of the dome and arrive at Washington, D.C. All the humans are gone, save one lone old man. The place is overrun with cats, and most of the monuments and builidings are decaying and overgrown with greenery.

As the program unfolded, I thought, "Who really cares?" I mean, if everyone was gone from the earth, who cares how what we have left behind will endure? Without human beings, the earth is just a big greenhouse and zoo. But without human beings, there is no civilization, no advances, no art, and no science. It highlighted to me Genesis 1 and 2, where God creates man and woman to be the crown of creation and to be stewards of the earth for Him. Without human beings, the earth would merely sustain, but nothing would be produced. Human beings do the producing and the stewardship that makes the earth and all creatures more than the sum of their parts. God has invested a lot in the earth, and we see how much He loves us by sending His Son to die and rise for our justification and salvation. Too often, we get the blame game for harming nature, but we also have to realize that we do a lot in terms of stewardship that helps nature.