Prince William, in conjunction with Sir David Attenborough, is launching the Earthshot prize. This aims to be the Nobel Prize for the Environment: harnessing optimism and urgency to find solutions to the world’s greatest environmental problems. There is now huge, and increasingly widespread, concern for the future of this planet, and how it will be for our children and grandchildren.

Every one of has, to some degree, contributed to the problems we face. God gave us responsibility to look after His creation.

What is man that You are mindful of him, …You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands

Psalm 6:4 ,6

We have failed.

But God does have a long-term purpose with this earth which He created:

For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other”

Isaiah 45:18

While in no way absolving us from our responsibilities, this can give us a different perspective, and so comfort and real hope. God’s plan cannot be thwarted by anyone or anything. The plan is for the earth to be changed to idyllic conditions full of His glory, with Jesus ruling as king. The angel Gabriel promised Jesus’ mother that he would:

…reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end

Luke 1:33

So the planet’s destiny is not entirely in our hands. Even though He may not be pleased with the mess we have made, God is still in control. Things will not just continue on a path to disaster (2 Peter 3:4). We may have limited power over the planet but we certainly have life choices affecting us and our children.

God has commanded us to ‘repent’ and to submit our lives to Him for whom ‘all things are possible’. He offers us eternal life in a transformed world. This is a solution infinitely more effective and awesome than anything we could ever imagine. It solves not only the problems of our planet, but also all the problems of human nature, including death itself. The Bible describes this as a ‘prize’: a priceless prize. There is, therefore, a personal urgency to respond to God. And there can be true optimism and hope if we do this with sincere enthusiasm and commitment.

Image by Bela Geletneky from Pixabay