“By their fruit you will know them.” Fruit-bearing is ultimately a production-oriented process. It has been this way from the beginning. The living creatures, the plants, yes, even mankind were all intended to reproduce and by fulfilling God’s mandate, we collectively bring glory to God.
Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
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.
When sin entered the picture in the Garden of Eden, we had the introduction of mortality.
Destruction.
Death changed the course for both people and nature. Fruit-bearing ceased being a continuous cycle of fruiting, each according to its kind, forming an eternal, enlarging spiral … a perfection with only a beginning but no ending. But Death came, and life became an arc with both a beginning and an end. We now have a life span. In some cases, the life is long, in other cases short.
Birth rates in many Western countries have fallen below replacement levels. Does this honor God and His “be fruitful” blessing?
Why might some religious groups view birth control as inconsistent with God’s plan? Do you believe it’s irresponsible to have children beyond replacement levels? Now consider God’s command. How does that square with both stewardship responsibilities God gave us as well as the blessing upon mankind?
How does introduction of so-called Western values into more third-world countries risk destruction of their birth rates as well?
Is depopulation, a favored agenda of some to “save the earth,” a God-honoring thing? If Satan is the enemy of God, hates life, and was the initial destroyer of an eternal existence, whose agenda does depopulation serve?
If God is both real and powerful, creating the heavens and earth from nothing (ex nihilo), is God unable to “save the earth” apart from human agency?