What Does the Gospel have to Do with Farming?

The gospel, the primary message of the Bible, has great impact on farming. Man was given stewardship of the earth at the very beginning of the world. God gave him a mission and everything he needed to carry it out.

However, man rebelled against God and the plan He had for him and sin entered the world. Man was then enslaved to sin and could no longer live in a way that pleased the Lord. The ground was cursed and man’s job of caring for and working the earth was made much harder.

God was merciful, though, and displayed His love by sending His Son, Jesus, to do what we couldn’t do: live a perfect life and suffer the punishment for our own sins.

As Christian farmers who have been saved from our sin by the blood of Christ, we should not despair as we labor under the effects of the curse. However, what we can and should do as Christians is seek to apply the redemption of Christ to every area of our lives, including agriculture. We allow the law of Christ to root out wickedness and disobedience and plant seeds of righteousness and obedience.

. . . what we can and should do as Christians is seek to apply the redemption of Christ to every area of our lives, including agriculture.

As Christian farmers we must trust that the Lord will enable us by His strength to faithfully work out our mission of stewardship. Unlike other farmers, we have a hope in the fact that Christ is returning to restore all things and that this current world, groaning under the curse of sin, is only temporary.

(Excerpt from Born-Again Dirt, Farming to the Glory of God, by Noah Sanders)