“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
A belief in Christ forever binds us
to a belief in the Creation. God created
the earth and he created man in his likeness, and his image. He then gave man dominion over His creation; dominion
(not tyranny), the responsibility to care for and manage as a ruler, not as one
who can profit from his subjects. All
creation testifies to the glory of God and his creation is a constant reminder
of the divine hierarchy that has been forever settled in both heaven and
earth. To be a Christian is to be a
creationist in the purist sense; and all creation is in Christ.
Man’s
dominion over the whole earth is a responsibility, over time this
responsibility has been corrupted and misunderstood. Satan has blinded the minds, and in our want
and lust we have “worshiped the creation
more than the creator.” In some
cases, the creation worshiped being defined as rocks, trees, and animals. In other cases, the creation is none other
than our own selfish desires. A sinful
man will take too much, and give too little.
Carnal men, who should be servants but fancy themselves masters, stewards
who imagine themselves kings. In all
this, the grace of God reaches further and our dominion remains. This dominion was not given to us because the
job was too big for God, no, it was given to us (at least in part) for our
learning and benefit. When you believe
God created the earth and gave man dominion over it, you then understand that
God created man and God has dominion over him.
A belief in creation creates a belief in God. To believe in God is to believe that we were
created by him, and therefore in subjection to him, and the Word which he
sent. This Word is Christ, who lived,
died, and rose again; that we might have life free from the sinful fallen state
that the first man Adam bequeathed to us.
The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof, but he gave man
dominion over His creation that in his occupation he might find
instruction. The abundance of this earth
is in subjection to man (so much as God allows) and that subjection reminds us
that we are in subjection. We have one
who has dominion over us. When children
come of age, sometimes they are given their own room, and the parents give them
the responsibility to keep it as the parents would keep it. It is not that the parents could not keep it
themselves, but they gifted this authority to the child in hopes that from it
they will learn, grow, and mature. God’s
house is far greater than the earth, the earth is but a room gifted to His
children; and to deny his existence and ownership of it would be just as insane
as a child contending that the room his parents gave him was his
altogether. That this room was formed
through time and space, and has no creator, the child has no parents, and this
means that there are no consequences! We
are free to do what is right in our own eyes!
To follow our own path to destruction.
To reject Creation is to reject God himself, and his dominion, and his
blessings, and the Son which he sent to save His fallen children that wronged
Him and took for themselves that which was not theirs. To reject Creation is to reject God.
The
Bible, like a tapestry, is a mired of fabrics woven together to produce an influencing
image. To pull at one strand is to pull
at them all. You cannot accept some
truths and reject others, the beauty of it is that it comes as a whole or not
at all. When you understand that all
creation dwells in Christ, Christ in God.
Therefore we dwell in God and He in us.
This does not bring bondage but deliverance. It does bring tyranny, but dominion. God has given us dominion over His creation,
and a reminder that we have one who has dominion over us; to care for us, to
keep us, to guide us.
