Made to Rule Creation

From the chapter on The World in 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know by J. I. Packer: 

Mankind was made to rule creation. This noblest of creatures was set at the head of the created order, and told to subdue it (Gen. 1:28); that is, to map and tap its resources, to bring out an utilize its latent possibilities, to put it to work for him, and thus to harness and develop all its powers for the enriching of his own life, in obedience to God. God gave us richly all things to enjoy (cf. 1 Tim. 6:17). He willed to be glorified through humanity’s learning to appreciated and admire His wisdom and goodness as Creator, In other words, God commissioned mankind to build a culture and civilization. Some, with justice, call Genesis 1:28 the cultural mandate. 

Right at the outset, God introduced Adam to the vocation appointed for him by putting him in charge of a garden (Gen 2:15). Gardening is a perfect picture of the human cultural task. Adam was to learn to see the whole created order as, so to speak, the estate which he, as God’s gardener, was responsible for cultivating. Man was not made to be a barbarian, or to be a barbarian, not to live in savagery, and ‘back to nature’ is never the road back to Eden. For mankind was made to rule nature, to master it and to enjoy its fruits, to the glory of God the creator, according to the principle laid down in 1 Timothy 4:4: ‘Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.’

This is a succinct statement of what our relationship with creation ought to be. It is a sin to trash our world, for that is not treating it as a valuable gift. Wreaking havoc on what we have been given is not receiving it “with thanksgiving.” It is, in a sense, spitting in the face of the Giver.

But it is also a sin to not make use, as needed, of the resources that have been provided for us. Always leaving things “natural” is not receiving the gift at all. It’s another way to spit in the face of the Giver.