Civilisation endures not merely through technological progress or accumulation of knowledge, but through stewardship — the responsibility of each generation to preserve what has been given, to multiply it wisely, and to pass it forward without endangering those who follow. Documentation, learning, and institutions allow civilisation to persist across centuries, yet preservation alone is insufficient. What is handed down must be filtered, interpreted, and governed by wisdom, lest what once served humanity become a threat to its future. This thread of stewardship, responsibility, and accountability runs deeply through the foundations of our civilisation and finds one of its clearest expressions within the Christian understanding of humanity’s role in the world.
Much of our modern civilisation has been built not only on earlier civilisations and their teachings, but on the teachings that came through Jesus Christ. Philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle laid important groundwork through works such as Categories and Republic, forming early structures of reason, ethics, and governance. Yet with Jesus Christ came a deeper understanding of responsibility — not merely as political order or rational organisation, but as moral and spiritual stewardship. Humanity is presented as entrusted with what God has given, called to multiply public good, to cultivate the world, and to lay down teachings for future generations out of love for God, so that the coming Lord will receive a return on His investment when He returns.
Within this understanding, there is a strong emphasis on spirit. From the dawn of the first civilisation there were prophets such as Enoch, who taught early forms of science — teaching humanity to understand the world it inhabits, to recognise its order, and to form a sense of guardianship over it. This guardianship required wisdom: wisdom to rule creation responsibly rather than exploit it destructively, and wisdom to align human activity with the order established by God.
Moses later brought a deeper sense of personal love toward God, centred on keeping and passing on what God had given spiritually. This was first expressed in the faith exemplified by Abraham, and then made explicit through the commandments of God, given to guide the lives of each successive generation of the people of God. These commandments were not merely rules, but light — a way of preserving moral continuity across time.
Jesus Christ then widened this inheritance beyond a single people. Through his teaching, anyone in the world who believes in him and keeps his words may receive light from God. The great corpus of the Law of Moses, accompanying the commandments, was given to the people of the physical lineage of Abraham, yet the commandments themselves were extended beyond this biological line through the teachings of Jesus. Paul was sent by Jesus to carry this message to the nations of the world, establishing a universal calling rooted not in ancestry but in faith.
Within these teachings lies the ancient promise of God, made in the earliest times, to keep the seasons and cycles of nature turning year after year until the end of the age — seed-time and harvest, food and provision continuing for all. Humanity is reminded that just as birds need not worry about their sustenance, so too may people rest assured that they are cared for within a world governed by God’s oath. Only at the end of the present age will God establish a new order of heavens and earth, and this will come only after resurrection and judgement through Jesus His Son — Jesus the Christ, the Son of Man, the mediator between God and all humankind.
Within the outer covenant of God’s oath governing nature, there exists an inner covenant given to believing disciples of His Son. This covenant, sealed in Jesus’s blood through his death on the cross, forms a priesthood charged with bringing light into the world. This light spreads responsible stewardship, lived in expectation of Jesus’s return as Lord over all. Thus, keeping the teachings of the commandments — faithfully passed down from generation to generation — becomes the innermost thread of civilisation itself, preserving society much like salt preserves meat.
Through this stewardship we find the right way of preserving the wellbeing of the planet made by God, and of preserving civilisational knowledge, lawfulness, and moral continuity. This way is undergirded by love — doing no harm to one’s neighbour. It is a way in which spirit overrides body and mind. From spirit flow not only faith, but virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. These qualities overcome vice, disorder, and chaos.
The world is governed rightly when these qualities prevail over unchecked physical appetites and merely human philosophies. This is the rule of spirit — a rule led by the Holy Spirit sent from God because of Jesus Christ. This Spirit reveals the oath of God that governs all creation and teaches humanity how to live faithfully within it, so that civilisation may endure not through power alone, but through wisdom, love, and responsible stewardship until the end of the age.
Portions copyright Stephen D Green
