The question matters because Christians sometimes assume that if God loves human beings more than the rest of creation, then caring for creation must be a secondary or optional concern. Others go to the opposite extreme, valuing creation in ways that diminish humanity's unique place in God's purposes. Scripture rejects both errors. It teaches that human beings occupy a unique place in creation while also affirming that the whole created order belongs to God, delights Him, and will ultimately be redeemed.
One underlying assumption could be that love is a limited resource: if God loves humanity more, He must therefore love creation less. The Bible does not present God's love this way. Rather, it reveals an ordered love in which different parts of creation have different roles within His purposes.
Human beings are uniquely created in God's image:
"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'" (Genesis 1:26, ESV)
Being made in God's image gives humanity a distinct vocation. We are called to represent God's wise and loving rule over creation. This unique status is seen even more clearly in the gospel. God the Son became human—not an angel or another creature—and died to redeem sinful humanity.
"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8, ESV)
In this sense, it is true that God's saving love is uniquely directed toward humanity. Christians have historically recognised this as a special expression of God's covenant and redeeming love.
Yet Scripture also consistently declares that God loves and cares for the non-human creation. He delights in what He has made (Genesis 1:31), provides for wild animals (Psalm 104; Matthew 6:26), includes animals in His covenant after the flood (Genesis 9:9–10), and expresses compassion even for the animals of Nineveh:
"And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons... and also much cattle?" (Jonah 4:11, ESV)
Far from abandoning creation after humanity's fall, God intends to redeem it. Paul writes:
"For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God... because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." (Romans 8:19, 21, ESV)
The Bible ends not with the destruction of creation but with its renewal in the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21–22). God's redemptive plan therefore encompasses both humanity and the rest of creation.
Understanding this helps us answer the practical question: if people matter more, why care for creation?
First, creation care is part of faithful stewardship. Humanity's "dominion" is never permission to exploit but a calling to reflect God's character by cultivating and protecting His world (Genesis 2:15). Since creation belongs to God, mistreating it dishonours its Creator.
Second, caring for creation is an expression of love for our neighbours. Environmental degradation disproportionately harms poorer communities through polluted air, unsafe water, declining fisheries, crop failures, and more frequent extreme weather. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded that human-caused climate change is already affecting every inhabited region, with the greatest impacts often falling on the most vulnerable. Likewise, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services estimates that around one million species face extinction, threatening ecosystems on which human societies depend. Caring for creation is therefore also caring for people.
Third, creation care is an act of worship. Psalm 24:1 reminds us:
"The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein." (ESV)
We honour the Creator by treating His world with gratitude rather than wastefulness.
Therefore, Christians need not choose between loving people and loving creation. The biblical pattern is to love creation because we love God and our neighbours. Humanity's unique role does not justify exploiting the earth; instead, it increases our responsibility to care for it. Those who bear God's image should reflect His generous care for everything He has made. In doing so, the Church participates and bears witness to the coming kingdom, where the renewed creation will glorify God.
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