Pastor John Granchie.

Scientists will argue and debate daily; is the world getting hotter or is it getting cooler. The talking points on both sides are endless and seem to be confusing at times. With that thought in mind, let’s talk about climate change through the Bible’s perspective. The world we live in has seen a radical change in the way we view Jesus and the Bible. We live in a society where anything goes, God is love and He loves me the way I am, and I don’t have to change or listen to the word of God. In fact, God’s Word is under attack and being rewritten to adjust to the current ways of this corrupt and fallen world.

God IS Love, but God is also Holy and Jesus calls us to a life of repentance and sacrifice. Jesus reminds us of this in Matthew 16:24, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” This is a call for all who truly want to follow Him, it’s a call to self-abasement and self-sacrifice. One must be willing to “die to self” in order to follow Jesus. This means absolute surrender to God in all parts of our life.

After Jesus commanded cross-bearing, He said, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26). Although the call to take up our cross is tough, the reward is matchless. No sin, no lifestyle, no amount of money, nor anything else is worth giving up eternal life.

Once we put our faith and trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are now a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” This simply means that our old sinful nature, i.e. pride, love of sin, reliance on our works, bad habits and passions are now a thing of the past. We no longer have to live the way we were born or claim to be victims of circumstance. Our lives now reflect the fullness of life and the glory of God.

The moral climate has changed but we who cling to the Word of God know and live by what it says in Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures forever.” We understand what Malachi 3:6 declares, “I the LORD do not change”. Lastly, as it states in Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

As followers of Christ, we are not to be conformed to this world’s pattern.