29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Then, after God had finished creating everything in this world, including humankind, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”
The very goodness of God’s creation is good for us to remember as we hear the command that God gives to the man and woman in Genesis 1.
God told people to be fruitful, and he told them to subdue the earth. We are often tempted to hear this command as a mandate to use the earth in whatever way we might wish.
But God wants us to care for the beautiful earth that he declared to be “very good.” As the story continues, we learn that God placed humankind in the garden “to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). So our calling is to preserve the earth and to tend it well, celebrating the beautiful place God made it to be.
Subduing the earth and ruling over it is something we do with humility and gratitude, giving honor and glory to our creator for the very good place he has given us to live.
