WORD From The Woods
Genesis 1:26-28
“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.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Last week, I started talking about the “dominion mandate” found in this passage in Genesis. If you didn’t see the Word From The Woods from last week, please go check it out to set the stage for this one. In that devotional, we looked specifically at the word “dominion” and the reality that we are called to take dominion in this world under the authority of Christ. This week I want to take a little closer look at what the authority of Christ really looks like. Jesus came in His earthly ministry, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and that it was at hand and had already come upon his contemporaries.
Luke 11:20 “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Mark 1:14-15 “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
There is so much we could talk about throughout the gospels regarding the nature and reality of the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. But, for the sake of time, I’m going to recommend that you take a deeper look at the gospel accounts of the earthly ministry of King Jesus on your own. What I want to point out is that Jesus clearly proclaimed that he had come as the promised Messiah, to fulfill all that had been written by the prophets concerning the coming savior and King. That He, Jesus Christ of Nazareth was and still is today, the King of Kings! And, we see from numerous passages, that he is ruling and reigning from his throne in heaven at the right hand of God the Father, completely and fully today and has been throughout the last 2,000 years!
Acts 2:32-26 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
So, when we look at the dominion mandate in Genesis, and the idea of taking dominion in the world under the authority of Christ, it’s not just something that we await someday in the future. Christ is King today, he is Lord today! I mentioned before that the Christian culture today has really lost focus on Christ’s authority and come to hold a really low view of Him and His kingdom. In effect, we’ve adopted a really low view of the great commission and how it advances in the world altogether. Christians have essentially abandoned a Christ-centered, Christian worldview. We often hear the great commission quoted as just Matthew 28:19, starting with “Go, therefore.” Well, therefore what? What’s the therefore there for? Just look at the previous verse….
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We can therefore go because all authority has been given to him by the Father when Christ ascended to heaven after His resurrection. Where he was seated on His throne at the right hand of the father, and established his Kingdom. This is a really quick look at Christ’s authority and kingdom. It’s something that you should really dive into on your own. And, if you want to reach out to me, I’d be glad to talk about it more in-depth. This is just to help get us thinking about His authority in a more Biblical and robust way than many of us have been taught by modern, popular Christian culture. The takeaway for today is this, since Christ is King and has all authority in heaven and here on earth, we can go into all the world, proclaiming His gospel, discipling the nations, and teaching them to obey all that He commanded. That’s what taking dominion looks like! More on this next week.
God bless and have a great week! -Terry-
Genesis 1:26-28
“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.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Last week, I started talking about the “dominion mandate” found in this passage in Genesis. If you didn’t see the Word From The Woods from last week, please go check it out to set the stage for this one. In that devotional, we looked specifically at the word “dominion” and the reality that we are called to take dominion in this world under the authority of Christ. This week I want to take a little closer look at what the authority of Christ really looks like. Jesus came in His earthly ministry, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and that it was at hand and had already come upon his contemporaries.
Luke 11:20 “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Mark 1:14-15 “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
There is so much we could talk about throughout the gospels regarding the nature and reality of the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. But, for the sake of time, I’m going to recommend that you take a deeper look at the gospel accounts of the earthly ministry of King Jesus on your own. What I want to point out is that Jesus clearly proclaimed that he had come as the promised Messiah, to fulfill all that had been written by the prophets concerning the coming savior and King. That He, Jesus Christ of Nazareth was and still is today, the King of Kings! And, we see from numerous passages, that he is ruling and reigning from his throne in heaven at the right hand of God the Father, completely and fully today and has been throughout the last 2,000 years!
Acts 2:32-26 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
So, when we look at the dominion mandate in Genesis, and the idea of taking dominion in the world under the authority of Christ, it’s not just something that we await someday in the future. Christ is King today, he is Lord today! I mentioned before that the Christian culture today has really lost focus on Christ’s authority and come to hold a really low view of Him and His kingdom. In effect, we’ve adopted a really low view of the great commission and how it advances in the world altogether. Christians have essentially abandoned a Christ-centered, Christian worldview. We often hear the great commission quoted as just Matthew 28:19, starting with “Go, therefore.” Well, therefore what? What’s the therefore there for? Just look at the previous verse….
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We can therefore go because all authority has been given to him by the Father when Christ ascended to heaven after His resurrection. Where he was seated on His throne at the right hand of the father, and established his Kingdom. This is a really quick look at Christ’s authority and kingdom. It’s something that you should really dive into on your own. And, if you want to reach out to me, I’d be glad to talk about it more in-depth. This is just to help get us thinking about His authority in a more Biblical and robust way than many of us have been taught by modern, popular Christian culture. The takeaway for today is this, since Christ is King and has all authority in heaven and here on earth, we can go into all the world, proclaiming His gospel, discipling the nations, and teaching them to obey all that He commanded. That’s what taking dominion looks like! More on this next week.
God bless and have a great week! -Terry-