Dominion

Original purpose. I told you that Genesis 1 and 2 were about meaning and purpose and that is precisely what we are seeing.

We have been looking at the crown of creation.

Genesis 1:26 ESV - 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.”

Dominion means lordship. It signifies rule. As human beings we were made to be kings and queens on the earth. As God is king of all, so human beings were made as kings and queens, vice-regents of God in the physical realm. We were intended to rule on the earth in God’s stead and on his behalf.

And this imago dei, this God-image was given to us, remember, as both male and female. Both men and women were made in the image of God, to reflect his glory, to serve as kings and queens in the physical realm, to rule over creation in true righteousness and holiness. We are not animals. And what distinguishes us from all other creatures is that we were made in the image and likeness of God.

But what is dominion? I want us to look at it from both a positive and a negative aspect. First, the positive.

All of creation is given us to use and order as we see fit. If it is there to be discovered, it exists for our use. This would include animal, vegetable, and mineral. This would include everything that God has made. It is ours. It is given into our hands to be used for our benefit and for God’s glory.

But there’s also a negative aspect, and that is that this dominion was not given us to be abused and exploited—appropriated for things which detract from God’s glory. We are to govern and care for the creation well, and this is emphasized in chapter 2 which we will get to in a couple of weeks. Used, yes, but used as an image bearer, or representative of God would and should use it.

The creation mandate, as this dominion command is often called, is not an excuse to abuse and misuse the creation. As human beings we most certainly have used and abused the creation, but this is due to the fall, and does not reflect the manner in which we were intended to take dominion of the physical realm in the first place—in true righteousness and holiness.

Perhaps the reason we tend to trip over this word “dominion,” understanding it in a harsh or brutal aspect, is because it is so similar to our English word “dominate” which connotes a lot of negative things. But ruling in the manner that God does implies service, and stewardship. God is absolute sovereign, but he is benevolent sovereign over the universe—ruling with justice and righteousness to be sure, but also with temperance and forbearance.

Not without reason did Jesus teach his disciples to rule in his kingdom in almost the opposite way of the Gentiles who know not God:

Matthew 20:25-28 ESV - “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

This is the kind of dominion that Adam and Eve were called to in their original state, and it is the kind of dominion we are supposed to exercise even now, though we have failed and continue to fail miserably. Human beings were made to represent God in the physical universe, to imitate him in forming it and filling it with love-filled image bearers who worship and glorify him. This is our original purpose. This is what we failed to do. This is what we are being restored to in Christ.