In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:1-3).

[Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:15-17).

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Hebrews 1:1-3).

Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite NP

One of my favorite old hymns of the church is “Fairest Lord Jesus,” in part because it was the first piece of choral music I sang in high school choir—in a secular high school! Miss Van Alsberg would probably be fired if she did that today in most secular schools. But the song came to mind afresh yesterday when I heard it on Christian radio on my way up the hill from Palm Desert to Joshua Tree NP. The lyrics of its first verse grabbed my attention because of my Wednesday post on who Jesus is to our young people today. They will be familiar to many:

Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,
O thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.

Yosemite woodland

The remainder of the lyrics speak of Jesus being fairer than the meadows and the woodlands in their spring attire and brighter and purer than the sunlight, moonlight, and starlight. This, of course, restates a key Christian doctrine: that the Creator is greater than His creation and is wholly separate from His creation. Most Christians understand and believe this.

Because I was a nature lover from my earliest days, I liked all the references to the natural world in the hymn.  However, even as a high school student I did not fully grasp the meaning of Jesus being the “ruler of all nature.” If I had stopped to think—or a pastor had made it clear when I was young—that there is a connection between the Jesus who loved and welcomed children two thousand years ago and the Jesus who is supernaturally acting today to sustain the creation and Who will one day redeem it, I think I would have had a lot more love and respect for the natural world much earlier. 

Merced River, Yosemite

That’s one key reason I feel that what we seek to accomplish with this Website is of vital importance to the church today. Maybe, in fact, some of you reading this are pastors or you are in a position to suggest to your pastor that sometime around Earth Day (April 22) a sermon or two on the implication of the passages above might be appropriate. Only in one of the churches I have attended have I ever heard sermons on Jesus as the “ruler of all nature” and what that might mean in our relationship to the natural world.

I’d be willing to wager that such a sermon or two would resonate with children and young adults. It’s a message they need to hear. And an important question comes out of this consideration: If Jesus is sustainer and ruler of all nature, how might we be working against Him?

The Wonder of Creation mission:

To showcase the wonder of Creation, to encourage trust in the wisdom and power of our Creator, and to inspire a desire to care for the natural world that He has entrusted to us.

[Yosemite photos by Daleberts from Flickr]