"In the beginning god created...". To acknowledge God as creator is to acknowledge that it is upon God that all life depends, and that what God creates, he sustains and directs towards fulfilment. Creation does not belong only to the past: it refers to what is going on now, to a purpose being pursued now, to the revelation of God's glory now.

In saying that creation is the theatre of God's glory, we mean that in the creation, God bestows the divine love, power and majesty. Creation is not merely the stage for the human drama. As part of the whole creation, we live "under the sign of the rainbow', (the Noachic covenant). We confess that God loves and in Christ has redeemed the whole creation and that the whole will be fulfilled. Consequently, we of the Reformed tradition need to rediscover God's relation to nature as well as God's action in human history.

We acknowledge that human beings are creatures who have been given a 'special role in creation. They are stewards to use their powers to care for, nurture and to further God's purposes for the whole created world. Nature is not merely a tool in human hands. This means that we must accept our responsibility in and for the whole created world, and not abdicate what God, through the Holy Spirit, has given us as his agents.

In seeking to understand our powers and the limits of our powers, we acknowledge our dependence on God's power, which as Christians we understand as that power finally disclosed in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the invincible power of God's suffering love. It is in the light of that power that we need to understand anew the powers that have been given us, powers that can destroy as well as create. It is in the same light that we are to understand our scientific gifts and technological expertise.

Our world as we see it is marked as obviously by threats to God's creation as by sign of promised fulfilment. Current exercise of human power speaks eloquently of our abuse of the responsibility we have been given. Certain features call for special comment:

Responsibility for nature

If "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof" (Ps 24) and our human role is "to dress and keep it" (Gen 2.15), then the present situation testifies more to our failure than our obedience. More and more, our powers of developing and replenishing have been used to exploit, exhaust, pollute and destroy. There is waste of natural resources in the interest of temporary and unequal gain; rivers and seas and their natural inhabitants are permanently affected by chemical wastes; crocodiles are slaughtered for handbags; and nuclear testing has ecological consequences the full extent of which is still to be told.

In this situation, seeing creation as the theatre of God's glory calls not for a renunciation of human powers of control and development but for their faithful use and redirection, no longer in the interest of the few (the already rich), but in the interests of all.

Christians who see themselves bound up with nature as fellow creatures, are called upon to be sensitive to every abuse of responsibility and courageous in supporting every attempt (wherever it may originate) to halt abuse.

At the same time, Christians are called upon not to lose heart rather to give thanks for the wonder of the world in which they are placed, for the powers and opportunities they have been given, and to trust God's promise.

Responsibility for fellow human creatures and economic justice

We believe that in God's eyes the created world and its inhabitants constitute one theatre, not many theatres. Yet our world displays the fragmentation of the human family into many theatres, with one prospering at the expense or in denial of the creaturehood of another. God's creation is under threat - from the injustice evident in our world. Such injustice takes many forms: unfair distribution and consumption of resources, exploitation for the private gain of the few, economic systems which perpetuate inequalities and concentrate power at the expense of the powerless, the manner in which certain multinational companies operate, cultural imperialism which violates the integrity of peoples, forms of government which deny large segments of the people any share in the decision-making process.

In view of such many-faced injustice, the specific tasks and opportunities of Christians vary from place to place. But all can ackowledge that human beings created in the image of God and hoping for the fulfilment of creation in Christ are God's instruments in the fight against injustice. Specifically, economic justice is part of the total liberation of humankind, one of the signs of the kingdom, through which we may glimpse God's glory. Because God is both Creator and Redeemer, we can confidently participate in the struggle.

Responsibility for peace

The greatest threat to creation's hope in our time is the nuclear threat: that through our abuse of our God-given power and responsibility, the world as we know it and life within it may be destroyed.

In every age, but especially in this nuclear age under the threat of obliteration by nuclear war, it is the task of Christians to seek peace. Today, peace can only be sought realistically by seeking disarmament. This requires a level of trust that does not yet exist. The church must hold up the ideal of disarmament but is also under an obligation to press for what is immediately attainable. Therefore we have the duty to call for initiatives and persevere with all possible steps for disarmament toward peace.

Yet we recognize that peace does not come about simply by renouncing weapons. The peace of God is positive. It is a condition of relationship among human beings and all creatures, characterized by well-being and justice. It has no place for hunger, sickness or insecurity. All Christians should know that a whole matrix of powers is threatening their security and is destroying the peace of the whole earth. The earth is one; the peril is comprehensive; the momentum towards disaster is a threat to all.

Christians seeking peace celebrate and emphasize their common faith in Christ by declaring their trust for one another across all barriers - of nation, culture, colour. They have to begin to be peacemakers by generating support in their own constituency for action towards peace; they make known their trust and expectation that others will join them, giving the matter such priority and commitment as will command recognition from the political powers.

Faced with these threats to creation's hope, we must not tremble powerlessly and in silence, take refuge in pious dreams or take flight in apocalyptic panic. It is in this world that God has made known his power and glory in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is in this world that the Spirit gives us a share in the power of God. It is in this world, threatened as it is, that we live in the presence of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and in the hope of the kingdom and the promised new creation.