God gave man dominion over the earth for him to exercise God’s authority to subdue the enemy, and to bring in the kingdom of God on earth so that the will of God may be done on earth and the glory of God may be manifested on earth.
It is so wonderful to know that God created us, human beings, in His image and according to His likeness; we do not come from monkeys, we did not “evolve” from apes, but rather we were created in the image and likeness of God.
This means that we have the capacity to receive the life of God and express it, we can receive the divine attributes of God and express them through our human virtues, and we can rule over the earth for God, for He has given us His dominion over all things.
God’s purpose in creating man is, on the positive side, that man would express God in His image, and on the negative side, that man would represent God with His authority and deal with His enemy to recover the earth for God and bring in the kingdom of God.
God is too high and too great to lower Himself and deal with one of His creatures, Satan; He has created man in His image and wants to come into man with His life and nature to make man one with Him and through man to deal with His enemy.
After God created man, He told him to be fruitful and multiply and fill the whole earth and subdue it; then, He gave man dominion over all things in the heaven, in the water, and on the earth, especially over all the creeping things that creep upon the earth.
God’s intention in giving man dominion is to subdue God’s enemy, Satan, who rebelled against God; man has not only God’s image but also His authority so that, as a corporate man, he would deal with and subdue Satan.
God would not lower Himself to deal with Satan, but He gave man all authority, and He wants man to be filled with His life and nature, to be transformed into His image, and to exercise His authority over the enemy.
Furthermore, God wants man to regain the earth for Himself; Satan has usurped the earth, and he is doing all kinds of things and activities to both ruin man and the earth created by God.
So man has God’s authority and His life for the one new man to deal with the enemy of God and recover the earth for God, for God’s kingdom to come on earth and His will to be done on earth, so that God would be glorified on earth. Wow, what a marvelous purpose of God!
God gave man Dominion over all to Subdue the Enemy and Recover the Earth for God
The fact that man has to subdue the earth (Gen. 1:28) implies that there’s a war raging on earth between God and His enemy, Satan, and whoever gains the earth will have the victory.
There’s a spiritual warfare going on; Satan is fighting harder than before because he knows that his end is drawing close. God must gain the new man to be that corporate person to defeat Satan and subdue him.
If we look around us we will see the things that Satan is doing all over the earth in the political world, the economical world, in every country and city, and even in all our personal situations and in the church life.
Many of the things are happening today because Satan is behind them, stirring up storms and blowing winds to destroy mankind, to cause the man created in God’s image and likeness to become ruined so that God’s purpose cannot be fulfilled.
We are not fighting against flesh and blood but against the rulers, the heavenly authorities, the evil powers in the heavenlies. Satan is rampant, and we need to be awakened and cooperate with the Lord to become the one new man as the warrior to subdue Satan.
God has a problem, and this problem is Satan, the archangel who rebelled against God and became His enemy in the universe, and especially on earth this one is running loose and causing havoc an chaos (Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-18).
In order for God to subdue His enemy and thus solve His problem, He gave man authority to rule over all things created by God (Gen. 1:26).
Man especially must rule over the earth and even subdue the earth because the earth has been usurped by Satan, God’s rebellious enemy.
God needs man to exercise His authority over all the creeping things, and He needs man to subdue and conquer the rebellious earth so that God may recover the earth for His kingdom (Matt. 6:9-10).
This is why the Lord charged us to pray that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and that His kingdom would come.
Even in the church life, as we serve in different areas, we need to realize that we’re not here to have a good church life, to preach the gospel and get people saved, have a good congregation, and care for one another.
God needs a new man, His Body to rise up to defeat and subdue the enemy and recover the earth.
God’s intention in giving man dominion is to recover the earth; He created man with the intention of recovering the earth for Himself. So we as men were created by God to have dominion over the earth, to subdue it, to conquer it, and thereby to recovery the earth for God.
God wants to regain the earth, and Satan is usurping the earth; the earth has become a crucial place, a place that Satan wants to hold (illegally) and a place that God wants to regain (for the earth is His).
Praise the Lord we are men on earth and not on the moon or on Mars. God wants to regain the earth, and when He gains the earth at least to a certain measure, the Lord Jesus will return, and He will have some stepping stones, some outpost for Him to put His feet upon.
Psa. 8:1 declares, O Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! This is God’s intention; this is our yearning; this is what we should aim for, that the Lord’s name would be excellent not only in the heavens but also on the earth among men.
So our prayer should be, Lord, Your name be sanctified (Matt. 6:9).
His name is not yet excellent in all the earth; in the churches His name is excellent, but there are still so many parts of the earth under Satan’s rule and dominion.
The earth today is filled with darkness, lawlessness, and unrighteousness; we are not here to right the wrongs or to fix society, neither are we here to ask God for prosperity and blessing.
We are here on earth having a consciousness that God has an enemy, and God wants to gain man for His expression; God needs us to subdue the enemy and recover the earth, regain the earth, for God.
The Lord must gain all the countries on earth, including India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and all the countries. May the gospel of the kingdom be preached to the whole inhabited earth for a testimony, and then the end would come!
Lord Jesus, may Your name be sanctified on earth! May Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We stand one with You on earth, Lord, to exercise Your authority to subdue Your enemy and recover the earth for God. Amen, Lord, gain the one new man who expresses God and exercises His dominion over the enemy to subdue him and regain the earth for God. Oh Lord, Your name is excellent in all the earth! Your name is excellent in the church life, and we stand with You for Your name to be excellent in country after country until the whole earth is regained for God.
God gave man Dominion to bring in the Kingdom of God so that His Glory may be Manifested
God’s intention in giving man His dominion over all things is that man would exercise God’s authority over the earth in order that the kingdom of God may come to the earth, the will of God may be done on the earth, and the glory of God may be manifested on the earth. Hallelujah!
Now we can understand why the Lord Jesus, in the pattern of the prayer that He uttered in Matt. 6, said firstly, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth (Matt. 6:10).
God’s will is being done in the heaven, but what about the earth? There are many frustrations, hindrances, and problems on earth, for the earth is still under the usurpation of Satan, the enemy of God.
So we must pray one with the Lord that His name be sanctified, His kingdom come, and His will be done as in heaven, so also on earth.
This means that we need to bring in God’s authority on earth and exercise His authority over the earth.
God must gain the one new man on earth who exercises God’s authority so that the kingdom of God may come to earth, the will of God may be done on earth, and the glory of God may be manifested on earth.
Yes, the will of God is done in the heavens, but He is not satisfied with this; He wants His will to be done on earth. Yes, the kingdom of God is in the heavens, but He wants His kingdom to come on earth also.
He is glorified in the heavens, and He is expressed in the heavens, but what about the earth? He wants to gain the church as the one new man to stand on earth and exercise God’s authority to bring in the kingdom of God on the earth so that His glory may be manifested.
In the church we have the kingdom of God, and in the church His will is done; in the church we have the glory of God being manifested. Praise the Lord!
In the church life we have a foretaste of what the Lord wants to recover all over the earth.
God’s intention in giving man dominion over everything in the seas, in the air, and on earth is that man would eliminate God’s enemy, regain the earth, bring in the kingdom of God, and manifest the glory of God.
God must reign on this earth. But our earthly rulers are against God, our society is Godless, and all people are rebelling against God and His authority.
The kingdom of God needs to be brought in; the kingdom of light and righteousness needs to be brought to all the lands.
But who can do this and who is willing to do this? We can’t do this as individuals; we are not able to do it. We cannot do this even just as churches, as individual local churches.
The churches separately cannot bring in the kingdom of God, but praise the Lord, He is gaining the one new man – He is blending us together, perfecting us, and He is removing all the localism and differences, so that He may gain the one new man!
It is the one new man that is able and qualified to exercise God’s authority to subdue the enemy, regain the earth, bring in the kingdom of God, and manifest the glory of God!
Lord, gain the one new man all over the earth for You to be expressed and represented! Amen, Lord, may the one new man come into being so that he may exercise Your authority, defeat and subdue the enemy, regain the earth for God, bring in the kingdom of God on earth, and manifest the glory of God. Thank You for making us part of the one new man; thank You for clearing away all the differences and blending us to gain the one new man who is able and qualified to exercise God’s authority to bring in God’s rule and reign on earth! Amen, Lord, do it in us and among us!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis, pp. 80-83 (Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The One New Man Fulfilling God’s Purpose in Creating Man (2019 fall ITERO), week 1, God’s Eternal Purpose and the One New Man.
- Read more on this topic:
– Living the Life of a God-man in the Corporate New Man for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose (outline for 2013 UK and Ireland blending conference, via Amana Trust)
– God’s Creation of Man to Have Dominion (via Christians on Campus at OSU)
– 2018 Memorial Day Conference outlines, msg. 1; also, outline 5 in the Crystallization-study of Genesis (1) (via Living Stream Ministry)
– God Giving Man Dominion to Subdue the Enemy, Recover the Earth, and Exercise His Authority (outline 4 in 2016 Labor Day Conference, Church in Chicago) - Hymns on this topic:
– With all the pow’r in heav’n and earth / Our resurrected Lord’s endued; / If we unite and live by Him, / The enemy will be subdued. / In Jesus’ name we must declare / That we shall overcome the foe; / We draw authority from Him / The serpent’s head to crush below. (Hymns #892)
– O Lord, we’ve seen Your purpose to bring the many sons / To share in Your full glory and see Your kingdom come. / We praise You, Lord, this glory is You, Yourself within, / Spread out in all Your people to shine in all of them. (Hymns #1290)
– O praise the Lord, God has a plan— / That’s why He formed a man; / To exercise authority, / Subdue the earth entirely. / O what a joy to be / In His recovery, / O praise God He made me a V.I.P. (Hymns #1231)
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