“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 man in his likeness and God created the earth. 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 purest sense; and all creation is in Christ.
Man’s dominion over the whole earth is a responsibility, over time man has corrupted and misunderstood dominion. 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 takes too much and gives too little; denying the power of the one who gave in the first place. They are servants who think themselves masters, and stewards who imagine themselves kings. In all this, the grace of God 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 couples itself with a belief in God. To believe in God is to believe that we were created by him, and therefore subject 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, there are those who 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 altogether his. To reject Creation as according to the scripture 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 and His Christ.
The Bible, like a tapestry, is a mired of fabrics woven together to produce a strikingly influencing image. To pull at one strand is to pull at them all. You cannot accept some truths and reject others; the beauty of truth is that it comes as a whole or not at all. When you understand that all creation dwells in Christ, and Christ in God; then you can have faith to see that God through Christ may dwell 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.
