On Easter Sunday, my church was charged with excitement about Christ’s resurrection. “Christ is risen!” was frequently answered with “He is risen, indeed!” Even my nonliturgical Baptist congregation enjoys that call and response one Sunday each year. When we celebrate Christ’s resurrection (which we do every Sunday), we celebrate the multifaceted result of a eucatastrophe. Most significantly, Christ’s resurrection reveals that his sacrifice for our sins was accepted so that we, by grace through faith, can be united with him. It points forward to our future resurrection, when we exchange these dusty bodies for glorified ones that will last for eternity. Christ’s resurrection also reminds us that all creation will one day be renewed. Many people are deeply anxious about the earth’s fate. The prevailing cultural narrative about the environment anticipates inexorable decline. Because of Christ’s resurrection, Christians have a much better story to tell about sin’s influence on this world and our hope for God’s creation. Thorns Infest the Ground God designed this world for seamless partnership between humanity and the rest of creation. Human work was integral to creation’s fruitfulness (Gen. 2:5). Adam was placed into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it (v. 15). God designed this world for seamless partnership between humanity and the rest of creation. When the primal couple sinned, the goodness of creation was distorted. Thorns and thistles infested the ground. Work became tedious (3:18–19). Despite sin’s expanding effects in creation, humanity retained the responsibility to exercise dominion over the created order (9:1–7). Yet sin distorts the relationship between humanity and the rest of creation. When we recount this theme of Scripture’s grand narrative, we generally focus on what sin’s distortion of creation does to us. Children get cancer. Natural disasters kill people. The pain that sin causes has led many people to doubt the existence and goodness of God, as if he’s no longer in control or suffering has no purpose. Yet sin’s effects on creation are no accident. The ground was cursed for our sake (3:17). The distortions of sin remind us of our need for a Savior. Natural evil reminds us of our need to repent (Luke 13:4–5). God is at work even in our pain. Creation groans in bondage to sin. That groaning reminds us this isn’t the way it was meant to be. But we know it won’t always be this way. When we celebrate Christ’s resurrection, we’re rejoicing in our redemption. But we’re also celebrating the redemption of all creation from the stain of sin. Christ’s resurrection is for creation too. Let Earth Receive Her King Many environmentalists focus on reducing human-caused harm to the environment. That’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s good for Christians to think about how humans can responsibly steward creation. Yet we must also remember that this world won’t be made whole through mere human effort. Creation’s final restoration from sin’s curse requires divine intervention. When Christ reconciled everything in heaven and earth to God through his blood on the cross, he set in motion the renewal of all heaven and earth (Col. 1:20). Yet the final restoration of creation won’t be realized until we’re glorified. There’s an inseparable link between our resurrection and creation’s renewal. God so loved the cosmos, John tells us, that he sent Christ to redeem human sinners from every tribe and tongue and nation (see John 3:16–18). Despite the effects of sin, the Creator delights in his creation (Ps. 104:31–32). That’s why one day we’re going to see everything renewed even as we’re raised in glorified flesh (Rev. 21:1). Christians shouldn’t work to free nature from the burden of humanity. Instead, live in anticipation of creation’s future freedom from sin’s curse. Every act of environmental stewardship Christians perform between now and Jesus’s return is a symbol of our hope in Christ’s resurrection. Heaven and Nature Sing The way Christians frame their concern for creation (or any other social good) matters. Our stewardship of God’s creation is an act of worship because we recognize it’s still good and God’s not done with it. As Al Wolters quipped in his seminal book, Creation Regained, “God does not make junk, and he does not junk what he made.” Every act of environmental stewardship Christians perform between now and Jesus’s return is a symbol of our hope in Christ’s resurrection. Though sin will be purged from the earth with fire, the fate of creation isn’t a cosmic garbage dump. At the end of history, Christ will renew and restore the heavens and the earth. We point forward to that restoration when we treat creation with integrity. It’s a sign of our hope in an age of despair. Many young people around the world are anxious about climate change. As one climate counselor reports, “I’ve heard of a number of children waking in the night screaming in terror imagining that they’re going to die next week. . . . We’re talking about a deeply held despair and horror and loss and sense of abandonment.” Whether or not we agree with popular assessments of the problem, Christians have an important message of hope about creation’s fate. We have the gospel hope that God will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). We also know, as Paul wrote, “that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21, NIV). No wonder the rocks will cry out in praise of Christ (Luke 19:40). The resurrection is good news for believers and it’s good news for God’s nonhuman creation too. On Easter Sunday, we proclaimed, “Christ is risen!” That message offers hope for the weary sinner in need of redemption. As we live every day, we declare Christ’s resurrection to the world, because it’s the source of hope for all creation. Indeed, one day the rocks will respond to their Creator’s shout by crying, “He is risen indeed!”