The aesthetics of the Great Commission

I am attracted to the Great Commission recorded, not at the end of Matthew (which is the passage usually cited) but at the end of Mark:

Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.

The word for "creation" here really does include all of creation -- of which we human beings are just a part. Yes we are a big part. In fact, in the Biblical economy of things, among all created things and beings, we humans are the bearers of the image of God. That's being a big part of creation.

But even this elevated position doesn't make us the whole creation.

And we are to proclaim the good news to the whole creation.

That means we are to proclaim the good news to the birds and the bees, to sunrises and to sunsets, and to everything in between.

This changes everything. It imbues all our relationships with sanctity and honor. It beautifies everything we do because we bring God's glory into it all.

Who says Christians are unconcerned about the environment; about "sustainability?"

Christians ought to be, of all people, most concerned about the wellness of the earth.

It is just that we Christians do not think that we are the sole guardians of this creation. We are simply gardeners for the Gardener.

(When Jesus rose from the grave, he was mistaken for a gardener ...).

If we do not proclaim the good news to the sunrise -- which needs to hear it; the sun's been rising for the longest time and is starting wonder what this is all about -- if we do not proclaim the good news to all of creation ...

... toting around a gospel tract in our back pockets may not be the most effective thing to do.

The whole creation is groaning to be liberated.

Logos2Go

Mark 16.15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Romans 8.21-22 ... the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now ...

John 21.15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away."

Note: There is controversy over whether the last verses of Mark are original, or added on later by an unknown writer. For example, the part about immunity from snakes and poisons just doesn't sound like anything Jesus would say (Mark 16.18). But the record of the Great Commission is corroborated by Matthew 28.19-20. Matthew says go into all the nations with the good news. The writer in Mark broadens it by saying all creation needs the good news. The Holy Spirit allowed this to become Scripture; and I think He did so because the recovery of creation really is at the core of the purposes of God. God does not only want to save; he wants to make all things beautiful.