There is a fundamental question that has to be answered and that is Who is actually in control of the earth? Of course with a question such as this, it leads down a road where many people will ask many more questions. But the question begins to unfold more specifically where one places their hope or trust. When we don’t like the answer to questions, we often fudge the information, which actually amounts to lying in many cases, or we move in a direction that simply supports our belief system. Well, I do have a belief system and there is nothing wrong with supporting that belief system, especially if my premise is based on solid evidence. The Holy Bible has stood the test of man’s scrutiny for years and still remains above reproach. It has been the most studied, ridiculed, tested and retested book for ages and God’s Word has stood the test of times as factual. While some may not like the answers and while some answers may not be as clear as we would like, the Bible, which is God’s inspired Word is True – 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…”

We have heard claims for hundreds of years with many active voices that we are causing climate change and we should not use fossil fuels and many other things that become the next popular item to protest against. We must answer the question, “Who is actually in control of the earth?” My answer without apology is God is in control of the earth! Not only does He control the earth, but it is my belief from the Bible that God made this earth and then filled this earth by His own Sovereign hand. As we look at this matter, we will include other aspects as they come to mind, but in no way am I trying to write nor could I write a comprehensive view of this matter. Let’s get started.

Who Gave God His Power? God is Sovereign which means that God alone controls all things by the power that is inherent within His Being. One of God’s incredible qualities is that He alone possesses all power and that there is no one outside of Himself that has the ability, authority, or capability to give to or transfer to Him (God) something that they do not inherently possess. God has no beginning and He has no end; therefore, God is Eternal which we really cannot wrap our minds around because we can only think of eternity within the limited framework that we have. There are no limits to God’s understanding, there is nothing that He does not know. The Sovereign God is the one Who gives meaning about the things we even ask about. Even the questions formed for this paper are void without the Sovereign hand of God who knows everything and understands everything. We cannot even do justice to describing God’s Sovereignty and unlimited power. In fact, the moment we raise a question shows that we are limited in our understanding and fall short of God’s glory and our lack of understanding is on full display. There are no questions that can be raised in which God does not already know the answer. *While there are a couple of Greek words that deal with power, (Dunamis and Exousia) and while similar, they are used differently, my reference to power about God is that he has “ALL” power.

Who Controls the Seasons and Atmosphere? Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” We must understand that God made this earth and we were nowhere around at the time that He made it. God does not know just a little bit about His creation, but He knows everything about creation, the atmosphere, weather patterns and so on. One of the great ironies about what was called “global warming” is that the proponents did not choose to consider the natural warming and cooling cycles of God’s earth. Some said that global warming was cooling areas and causing calamities only to be proven wrong when this was not found to be true. When Global warming advocates could not find the evidence to support its position, they moved to “Climate Change” which included weather patterns going in any direction. So rather than the earth warming, record rainfalls in areas caused those on this side of the spectrum to now claim any variation in the natural order of our weather patterns was due to mankind being the problem. But God has also used weather patterns as a matter of judgment. When the Israelites failed to honor God in the land, He said that He would cause it not to rain when the rain was supposed to come. There are times, when direct sin has been the result of God using weather as a means of judgment. Also, let us consider that some weather events are a result of us living in a fallen (sinful) world.

If God has all power which He does and all knowledge, how could He put in the book of Genesis that as long as the earth remains that we would always have the seasons? God could put this here because He is the Creator and it shows another aspect of God; it shows that God is dependable, he can be trusted. In fact, God is so dependable that we base our lives and make our plans based on the seasons in the year. Just like we see a rainbow in the clouds after the rain, we can relate to the trustworthiness of God’s Word and his faithfulness. He made a promise and when we see the rainbow, we go right back to the book of Genesis and think about and smile about God’s faithfulness in that He would not destroy the earth with water again as He did during the times of Noah. When we try to snatch the control of God’s set plan out of His hand regarding his Divine Order, we spend quite a bit of time and money on things that we have no control over. It was God who said that we are to take care of the universe, but Christians must be careful to not dive headfirst in falsehoods that make a mockery of God’s ultimate power. When you look closely at the passage in Genesis 8:22, you will discover that God gave this promise right after a major cataclysmic event that He sent. God also gave the sign of His rainbow as a promise as well. God established by His Word that He is in control of the earth that He created and He has put measures in place to ensure that His plan continues until he calls for the end of it. One other matter that we need to mention as well. The sunrise and sunset are also His doing. We can count on the sunrise and sunset carrying out the functions that they were assigned from the beginning.

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,[a]
the world and those who dwell therein…
There is a real Devil in this world, but we must not forget that the Devil is God’s Devil. The Devil is not the opposite of God. Why do I say this? Because that would imply that Satan has all of the inherent qualities of God and has always existed. Well, that cannot be true, Satan is a created being and has limitations and he has a judgment date with God. Yet, Satan is a powerful being and the enemy of God and therefore, Satan is the enemy of God’s creation, His people. Satan is not your friend. This earth is not Satan’s, the earth belongs to God and no matter what things may look like, God is in control. Not only does the earth belong to God, but everything that is in it. When God made this world, there was one restriction on Adam and Eve, they were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that was in the midst of the garden Gen 2:15-17. My question is where did all of the restrictions of what God made that He said to all that he made that it was good and very good, when and where did it become off limits? Where does God say don’t use oil, fossil fuels, plastic, and whatever else that one may choose to add? God gave one command to Adam and Eve and everything that he made. Where in the world did we get the idea of this laundry list of do not eat? Do not use? Do not taste? It is Satan who brought the first lies to God’s creation, our fore parents that caused them to challenge God and sin, and then for us to be born into sin because of their act. Just like Satan’s lies moved them in a direction away from God, Satan has not stopped his evil schemes of trying to move us away and out of God’s divine plan. Understand this, God is perfect and cannot make a mistake. His creation was perfect until sin entered the picture. Because of sin we now have a disruption of the perfect world that God made, however, God is still in control. Satan wants you to be ineffective. If he can get you focusing on that which is not true, he then has won part of the battle. If we spend time and develop laws telling people not to enjoy God’s provisions, when then do we take the time to thank God for His provisions? When I was growing up, we prayed before we ate dinner or a meal. I in fact would pray over my water and give thanks to God for being able to drink water. This matter of thanksgiving, kept the focus on the one behind what we were about to consume; we understood that it was because of the Almighty God that gave us what we needed and we thanked Him for it. However, when we are complaining about something that God controls such as the weather, the atmosphere, the earth, we are not giving thanks to Him. Satan does not want us to give thanks to God. So today, we have people spending a great amount of money and effort telling us not to enjoy what the God of this universe created for us to enjoy and in fact told us to enjoy. Satan is very crafty and has used several methods to keep us from honoring God in the way that He deserves. No matter what things may look, remember, God is in Control.