Chuck Fattore

"God’s Dominion Over Mankind "

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

When God created man in his own image, He delegated to Adam His authority over all living things on earth. In a perfect world humanity would innately submit to God’s dominance. However, it was first Satan, then Adam, who chose to live on their own resources and created strength.

This disordered relationship with God has lead humanity to undertake constant efforts to consolidate their incomplete powers by subjecting others to do their will. Augustine called it the “lust to dominate!” Its sinful impulse is featured throughout history, especially in the 21st-Century. Those who do not yield to God’s authority over them have chosen to amass economic riches, political power and personal prestige for themselves to dominate the lives of others.

Jesus was sent as the means to restore mankind’s right relationship with God. By humbling Himself to the point of suffering a tortuous death, Jesus created the only pathway that restores God’s dominion over mankind that leads to eternal life. He came to earth to save us from eternal death, not to condemn us to everlasting suffering.

In restoring God’s dominance over believers’ lives the Holy Spirit equips believers with the means for self control and a demeanor that mirrors Jesus’s humility and love.

Of course, God gave humanity the free choice to reject His dominion over us and embrace the ego centric behaviors of imposing our personal or corporate dominance over others to achieve economic and political dominance. . For those pursuing this course of action I cite history’s ongoing causes of wars, famine, genocide and other forms of human violence and exploitation.

Scripture teaches believers not to be yoked with the value systems of this world. No government or social entity can replicate the redeeming role of the Holy Spirit in the creation of Christian family members. History has shown that state sponsored religion results in irreparable damage to both institutions. The Sovereign God of our universe lovingly and humbly invites us to submit to His dominion over us in exchange for a magnificent place in His eternal kingdom.