“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it.’” Genesis 1:27-28 NLT
‘Dominion’ defined by Webster’s New World Dictionary is ‘1. rule or power to rule. 2. A governed territory or country.’ Did you know you have power to rule? Now before you take and run with this there are a few things you should know. First who gave us this right to rule? Second is an understanding of how this right came about, and third who do we rule over and what is our territory of domain?
The Bible records God created the heavens and the earth. God then created Adam and Eve, our first parents. After He created them God gave Adam and Eve two instructions to follow, ‘fill the earth and govern it.’ As our ancestors, Adam and Eve passed down these instructions to us. We are to fill the earth and govern it. Dominion was not the only thing that got passed down to us, our ancestors also passed down our sin nature when they sinned against God.
This dominion (territory) is not ours, but ours to rule over (or manage). God put us in charge of the fish of sea, the animals of the woods and forest, and the birds of the air. God also assigned every seed-bearing plant and fruit trees to be food for us. We would be smart to manage them well. We should also be concerned to take care of the earth God has given us in a proper manner as we govern it.
We are God’s creation. The earth He instructed us to govern is God’s creation. All is of God and nothing is of ourselves only what God has given to us. And God has given us the gift of salvation through His Son which is desperately needed due to our sin nature. We cannot work our way to heaven no matter how good a job we do managing the earth. Just as God supplies the means for food on this earth He has given us the means of spiritual food, Jesus, the bread of life, unto salvation. The only way to manage this is by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savoir.
