© Matthew Tuel — 2025
Genesis 1:28 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.”
Psalm 8 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
1 O LORD, our Lord,
how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth!
You reveal your majesty in the heavens above!
2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies
you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries,
so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy.
3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,
and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place,
4 Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them?
Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them,
5 and make them a little less than the heavenly beings?
You grant mankind honor and majesty;
6 you appoint them to rule over your creation;
you have placed everything under their authority,
7 including all the sheep and cattle,
as well as the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea
and everything that moves through the currents of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord,
how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth!
10 And, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more. 2 And I saw the holy city—the new Jerusalem—descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more—or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.”
5 And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!” Then he said to me, “Write it down, because these words are reliable and true.” 6 He also said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water free of charge from the spring of the water of life.With Calvin, there are two things of note here:
Both of these are refutations of the unfortunately common modern sentiment that mankind is a plague upon the earth, and "Mother Gaia" / "The Planet" / "Nature" / (insert you favorite flavor of paganism here) would be much better off without us on it.
One of the things that stems from this thinking (whether evangelicals realize it or not) is the additional sentiment along the lines of "I don't want to bring children into this world." In my mid-to-late teen years I fell guilty of this sentiment, and while I have no children to prove I have moved on from this, it's not for lack of trying.
This is was made by God, and it's workings are still overseen by Him whether we pay attention or not. God did not put a disclaimer on the command to be fruitful and multiply only if it's safe to do so. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The command is simple as is.
This sentiment irks me just as much as the parents that only ever complain about their children, but I'll have an opportunity to rail against that once we get a little further in.
With Spurgeon, the focus is on suffering.
Suffering is something I think most people can relate to. And to play devil's advocate to the negative sentiments above, I would wager that most people that hold (or held) those sentiments weren't in the best place at the time. For some, it is truly just unbridled narcissism and selfishness but for others it is a deep worry that things will be made worse, and they have the best of intentions.
Christians are in a unique position in that we have a hope above all hope, that things will be restored. Thigns will be made new. Death has been defeated yes, but currently still has a part to play in the grand order of things. When Christ returns, it will be put to rest for all eternity.
Similarly, even though we are in this imperfect world of our own faults, we have our own parts to play. Even in the suffering, know that there will come an end one day at the God appointed time when either Christ returns, or calls us home. While you still draw breath, you have a purpose.