Dominion

‘And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’ Genesis 1:26

‘And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.’ Genesis 1:28

The above verses are very well known, and as a result they are often skimmed over, their meaning lost in their familiarity. Christians know that God made man in His own image, and yet never really stop to think about what that actually means and how it should affect our behaviour.

Notice how God had already decided to give man Dominion before He had even created Adam in His image.

We were given by God the ability to ‘create’ to a certain extent. Obviously we cannot create things in the same manner as our Creator and God, but we can use the things He has already created and given us to make a beautiful life for ourselves and all of God’s creation, if we so choose.

Every time someone draws, paints, sings, composes music, solves a complicated puzzle or mathematical equation; every time someone writes a story, creates a play or film or tv show; every time someone drives a car, designs a car or building, or works out a schedule, every time someone creates a multimillion pound industry, they are using a God given ability that is unique to mankind.

We were made to commune with God in a very specific and intimate way, and as such we were designed to reflect His nature and holiness in a very unique way. We were given the ability to reason and choose, and yet I don’t think that is the whole story of being made in God’s image.

Animals also have the ability to reason and choose. They have personality, likes and dislikes. I also believe that there is communication between them and their maker in ways that we cannot understand. And I know there is Scripture to back this up.

But we will get to that in later blog posts.

So far, we know two facts. God made man in His image, and He also gave us Dominion over the animals and living creatures.

Notice that Dominion was given to us by God. We did not automatically have it. Therefore, it was a divine gift. We were to reflect who God is, to reflect his likeness and character. It is Almighty God, who has the ultimate Dominion. We are under His authority and answerable to Him.

Saved or unsaved, we will all one day stand before Him and have to give an account of everything we have done, including what we did with His gift of Dominion.

We were meant to live in perfect harmony with our Creator…

and the animals

Ultimate Dominion

Ultimate Dominion belongs to God alone.

‘To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ 1 Peter 5:11

'Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.’ Ephesians 1:21

These Scriptures give us a flavour of what the Biblical meaning of Dominion actually is. It is God Himself who has the ultimate authority over and above His entire creation; the earth, the heavens, all plant life, all sentient animal and marine life, all lifeforms on the planet, everything in the spiritual realm. Everything, and that includes us.

He is Ruler, and King of Kings over us. We are answerable to Him. God’s role is to love us, to care for us, to look after and shelter us and to nurture us. He will ensure that we thrive under His care. He is always there when we need His counsel. And yet it is so much more than even these things. He promises He is there for us always, and to share everything in life with us, if we let Him.

‘…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’ Hebrews 13.5

This Scripture reveals so much about God’s character. He loves us so much He will never leave us for a second. Too often we try to depersonalise God, when nothing could be further from the truth. We can grieve Him. You can only grieve someone who loves you. He gave us life and made us in His image in order to enter into a personal relationship with Him. He wants to protect us from any harm; that was His original plan for His perfect creation. It was very good.

Dominion is set above.

Dominion rules.

Dominion cares for whatever it is set above.

Dominion brings great responsibility.

Yes… responsibility. God with His ultimate authority and dominion is responsible for us and everything He created, and He is more than up to the job. He has never and will never put a foot wrong. He has succeeded in exercising His dominion and power perfectly. He has cared for us and all of His creation even when we brought the Genesis curse down on our own heads. God could have turned His back on it all. He could have left us to rot. He could have given up.

He gave us ‘free will’ to choose. He wanted us to love Him and enjoy Him forever, but it was man that had the choice to do this, and it is also man that failed. It was man that walked away from God. It was man that thought he knew better. It was man that gave into temptation. It was man that wasn’t content to be in the image of God but rather wanted to be the same as God. (This is a lie which perpetuates to this very day.)

Man still wants to be God.

From the Garden of Eden right through to this present day mankind still doesn’t realise just how serious sin is. It separates us from our loving Creator. It banishes us from His perfect and holy presence.

It brought us death.

Creation itself fell - all of it. The animals were innocent bystanders in all of this. Here is the heart of the matter from the animals’ persepctive.

God gave man Dominion before Adam’s sin and before the Fall. So in order to keep mankind in authority over the animals, they were plunged under the curse along with the rest of creation, through no fault of their own.

They suffered because of us. Up to that point no animal or creature ever attacked another. No animals ever ate another creatures. They suffered death because of our sin - not theirs. Creation fell into chaos. It appeared that the enemy had won.

Man in the Image of God

We cannot separate the subject of mankind’s dominion over all other lifeforms from him being made in the image of Almighty God. Bearing God’s image means that we should be reflecting God’s character in all ways. God nurtures us and cares for us, He loves us with a perfect and holy love. Every single good thing that we enjoy comes from Him and Him alone.

We, in turn, should be reflecting this perfect and holy love back to the animals entrusted to our care. We should be loving them, nurturing them and keeping them out of harms’ way. We should, ‘never leave them nor forsake them.’ That is the manner in which God gave us Dominion; to reflect His character to His creation. He wanted us to enjoy everything He had made, and He didn’t want any part of His creation, including the animals to suffer in any way. He did not want them neglected. He didn't want one drop of their blood to be spilt. He had created a perfect world.

We were instructed to eat only plants and fruit

We were never meant to slaughter an animal. Animals weren’t supposed to attack other animals.

This was the image of God we were supposed to reflect. His kindness and love.

But we failed miserably.

We were not up to the job.

Man ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when we were told not to. It is because of this one act of rebellion that death came into the world.

This is what brought the Genesis curse down upon our heads.

‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’ Genesis 2:17

God’s perfect ‘very good’ creation was in tatters. Death could have won.

But God had a plan.