Creation includes all that is visible and invisible. God’s creation includes not just Angels, heavenly beings, creatures and humans but also heaven and all that is in it. Ezra’s prayer is worth noting- “You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything and the multitudes of heaven worship you.”(Neh. 9: 6). Paul records that all things visible and invisible were created by Christ and for Christ (Col. 1: 16).

The universe that God created was good. He rejoiced when he completed His creation. During each phase of the creation he thought that all he created was good (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). After all six days of creation, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning- the sixth day” (Genesis 1: 31). The thought that the universe is full of sin and is to be left unused is flawed. “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4: 4,5). Man is an inter-dependent being and that is why Aristotle once said that man is a social animal. Without dependence man cannot live alone as an island. Man’s social relations are quite decreased with today’s nuclear family system and strides in science and technology. But God created man to not be in relation with other humans alone but with all other creation too.

1. Inter-dependence from Creation (Genesis 2: 1- 15)
From creation the necessity of inter-dependence is evident. After creating everything God gave man a responsibility- Protect the garden, work in the garden (Genesis 2: 15). The one who protects is actually God himself. According to the Indian religion God is involved in creation, care and ultimately elimination. In this, it can be said that the role of caring is given to man. It is for this purpose that God gave man His authority and spiritual aura (Psalm 8). In time man forgot his responsibility. Instead of caring the earth he started exploiting it. Thus evil stepped into the world. Man should never forget that he is getting destroyed when he misuses the authority given by God and exploits the fruits of nature. Here we ourselves should recognize our garden of Eden. That is when we remember our duty towards it. Each family member’s first garden is their family itself. Their familial duty is their first responsibility. The second is the family of families. A big family and that is the church. Caring should take place within the church also. The church should grow together in Christ (Ephesians 4: 11- 16). Eden’s borders increase further and that is the society. Each of us is a taskmaster of the society. Again Eden’s borders broaden further. That is nature in its wholeness. Thus responsibility of his creation is given to man. This inter-dependence is seen in creation.

2. Creation’s Sustenance is Inter-dependence (Colossians 2: 16-23)
The basis of creation is “…that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible”(Hebrews 11: 3). Scriptures make it known that the creation in the Bible is rooted in the revelation of God and that it should be understood through faith alone. The first verse in the Bible is this- “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. God did not create the earth from a previous substance but in ex nihilo. This annihilates the thought that substance is eternal. Godly revelation eradicates any entity above God. And so like how creation doesn’t sustain without God, the created has no sustenance without inter-dependence. Like how the whole body grows by being supported and held together by ligaments and sinews, we should also grow in inter-dependence is what Paul teaches us in Colossians 2: 19. It is not through senseless advises and rituals that the church should grow but rather it should be built and attain its growth through God’s love. 1 Corinthians 12 records that kind of a growth.

3. Creation’s Growth in Inter-dependence (Matthew 13: 1-9)
According to Indian philosophy there are 2 principles: good and bad and two theories: God and satan or God and material. The description of creation in the Bible obliterates the thought that creation is just a manifestation of an entity. The creator is different from the created. But man was not created out of nothing but from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2: 7). The animals and the beasts of the earth were formed from the ground (Genesis 2: 19). Here another manifestation of creation is evident- a manifestation of inter-dependence. When we sow the seeds get scattered in different places. Only the seeds that fall on the good ground get multiplied. Only if relations, family and society are good ground will there be a healthy growth. The ground on which the seeds fell shows the different attitudes and minds. An attitude that fosters growth manifests a good ground.

Translation : Neena Kishor, Ph.D Scholar, Department of English, University of Kerala