Christian Worldview Concepts

Christian Worldview and Medical Ethics - Part I

The Goodness of Creation

As we read through the first two chapters, seven different times God declares His creation good. Since the term good is a comparison, we might ask by what standard God declared the creation good? The correct answer is in comparison with Himself. God was and is the standard by which good is determined. No other standard of goodness exists.

From these divine declarations we can rightly conclude that all that God brought into existence possessed value, since He was its Creator. It is also fair to assume that this goodness extended not only to the quality of the things He created, but to the relationships between those things as well. Therefore, the quality of relationships between humankind and animal, animals and plants, water and sea creatures, birds and air, etc., was one of complete harmony. Natural systems worked as designed.

The implications from this are significant. First, God is the Source of all that exists. Apart from Him, nothing would exist. Second, the beginning of the universe was personal because God is personal. Thus, there are no "blind forces" in nature. God did not merely wind up the universe like a clock, set it on a cosmic shelf and let it take its own course. Rather, the God who created all that exists was and is intensely interested and engaged with His creation. Third, God's creation was complete — it lacked for nothing. Scarcity was not a problem, whether food, water, air, shelter, companionship or a sense of destiny or purpose.

Humans, as well as all living things, lived in harmony with one another as part of a divinely-designed natural order. Sickness, illness, injury and death were unknown in God's creation. His creation knew nothing of fatigue, headaches, irritability, nausea, etc...

Upon completion of the Creation, God issued a mandate to Adam and Eve to "Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth and subdue it" (Genesis 1:28). Their mandate was to manage the creation on God's behalf. To accomplish this, God gave humankind unique gifts and abilities, including rationality, volition and aesthetic capacities. Humans were to use these God-like qualities to function as God's vice-regents in the world.