Genesis, Message 5: Dominion—Subduing the Enemy, Recovering the Earth, and Exercising God’s Authority over the Earth

My Great Delight in God's Word

Crystallization-Study of Genesis, Message 5

Dominion—Subduing the Enemy, Recovering the Earth,
and Exercising God’s Authority over the Earth

In the last message, we learned about the first half of God's purpose in creating man. God created man in His image, according to His likeness, so that he would have capability to receive His life and express Him in all His attributes. That is not all. According to Genesis 1:26, God also created man to be his representative who exercised His dominion over all the creation. And we are going to explore the latter in this message.

Man is created to exercise His dominion.

Genesis 1:1 informs us that our perfect God created the heavens and the earth, which originally had a perfect condition.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NKJV)

Due to the divine judgment on the rebellion of Satan, Genesis 1:2 tells us that the earth became formless, void, dark and deep. While the heavens remained perfect, the earth became a ruin and a residence of Satan and his fallen angels.

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. (Genesis 1:2 NKJV)

During the re-creation, God decided to create someone through whom He could express Himself to all the creation and exercised His dominion over all the earth. And He eventually created man and gave him authority over all things on earth, including Satan, which represented by the creeping thing.

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (Genesis 1:26 NKJV)
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:28 NKJV)

Having been given the dominion over all the creation, man was ordained to do a threefold job: to subdue Satan, God's enemy; to recover the earth, by taking it back from the hand of Satan; and to bring in God's kingdom, so that God's will would be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).
Actually God can accomplish all these things within a millisecond, but He did not do them in that way. God required man, His representative, to do these tasks for Him. He wanted man to be the one who subdued God's enemy with His power. He wanted man to regain the earth, which had been usurped by Satan, for Him. And He wanted man to bring the kingdom of heavens to the earth, so that His glory, which had been set above the heavens (Psalm 8:1), would be manifested on the earth forever.

God's purpose on man remains the same even after the Fall.

However, the Fall of man resulted in loss of his dominion over all the earth. According to the curses on the serpent, it was going to eat the dust of the ground, out of which man was created. Instead of being transcendent over the creation, man became under the authority of Satan. Satan's ruler regrettably became Satan's food!

So the LORD God said to the serpent: " Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust all the days of your life. (Genesis 3:14 NKJV)

Even though man failed to do what God created him to do, God never gave up on him. His purpose on man remained the same even after the Fall. God always wants man to be the ruler. It is evidenced by what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 8.

⁴ What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
⁵ For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
⁶ You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, (Psalm 8:4-6 NKJV)

This psalm was written after man failed to exercise God's dominion. It clearly indicates that man have been created to have dominion over the works of God's hand. It was what man was created for. It still is and will always be the purpose of man's life.
But how could we have that dominion again when we have already lost it ? Hebrews 2 has the answer for us.

9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren (Hebrews 2:9-11)

Throughout history, no any man has ever accomplished the purpose of life, save the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though Jesus was God,  He humbly became a Man, who was a little lower than the angels, His servants. And He was the only Man who perfectly fulfilled all the purposes man was created for. He fully expressed God, and fully exercised His dominion over all the creation. He came to defeat Satan, recover the earth and bring in God's kingdom. He did these things perfectly.
Furthermore, by God's grace, He tasted death for us. He did this so that through His resurrection, the only begotten Son would not be the only Son anymore. He became the firstborn among many brethrens, who, by believing into Christ and receiving Him as their Lord, have become the children (sons) of God. Instead of giving up on us because of our failure to exercise His authority on earth, He is bringing us, God's many sons, to glory again.
Verse 11 is so precious. We, who are being sanctified, and Christ, who sanctifies, will be one. Christ and we are now begotten of the same Father and have the same life. Becoming one with Him is the means whereby we regain our dominion over all the creation, and obtain the capability to deal with Satan, to restore the earth, and to bring in the kingdom of heavens.

God can rest when man rules.

In Genesis 1, we see that God created many things from the first day to the sixth day, and rested on the seventh day. Why did He rest? Because He had finished all the creation, and He was really satisfied with everything He made. He had already accomplished the desires of His heart. Everything that He made was very good!

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31 NKJV)

What was the desire of His heart in His creation? It was man! Man was the last thing He created within the 6 days. Only after the creation of man could God rest from His work. This implies that man was the one that satisfied and pleased Him. All the things created before man were just what God prepared for man. But God's purpose and expectation were fulfilled when He gained man. When He had man who would rule, He could stop and rest.
Brothers and sisters, may the Sabbath reminds us about God's desire and demand that need to be fulfilled by us. He needs a group of people who care about the desire of His heart and rule over the earth for Him. He wants His many sons to subdue Satan, recover the earth, and bring in His kingdom. Would you like to exercise His dominion over all the earth and accomplish these tasks for Him?
Let's pray the Lord's prayer together.

¹¹ Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
¹³ And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Matthew 6:11-13)

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Genesis, week 5.

• Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 2) Vol. 34: The Glorious Church, chapter 1 (God's Plan and God's Rest).
  (Available online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=2F2D99)

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

Genesis, Message 4: God Creating Man in His Own Image for His Expression

My Great Delight in God's Word

Crystallization-Study of Genesis, Message 4

God Creating Man in His Own Image for His Expression

Genesis 1 is so precious. It beautifully portrays the experience of Christ as our life. Near the end of the chapter, we see God's creation of various kinds of animals, which illustrates different levels of life to us, with human as the highest form of life. In this article, we are going to focus on verses 26 and 27 that describe the creation of man.

God's purpose of creating man

²⁶ Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV)

These 2 verses clearly indicate God's purpose in creating man. He created man to express Him and exercise the dominion over His creation for Him. The duties of mankind are twofold: being a priest who expresses God, and being a king who has dominion over the creation.
Parenthetically, God did not create us to be a good man. He created us to be Godlike man. Inwardly, He created us in His image, so that we can express Him in His attributes, including love, light, righteousness and holiness. Outwardly, He created us according to His likeness, so that we look like Him. Therefore, to be more precise, He actually created us to be a God-man. It is hard to believe, but it is what the holy Scripture teaches us. Being a good man is not one of the desires of His heart. God wants us to be a God-man.
Purposes of God's creation of man in His image and according to His likeness are also twofold: to receive Him as life, and to express Him in all His attributes, including live, light, righteousness and holiness. To enable man to accomplish these purposes, He provided the tree of life in the midst of the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9), typifying Christ as the source of life, so that man could have His life within him and become the visible expression of the invisible God.
One of the most commonly asked questions about life is, What am I created for? Westminster catechism answers the question about man's chief end like this: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. This statement comes from different parts of the bible and is absolutely true. And God has already provided us what we need to reach this twofold chief end. When we have Him as our life, we are able to express Him and enjoy Him forever.

Man's fall and God's solution

Sadly, because of the disobedience of the first couple, man has fallen short of the glory of God. Man has lost both His image and His dominion. More importantly, he has lost his life, since his connection with God, the only source of life, was cut by sin. Man has lost his capability to accomplish God's purpose for Him.
What God can do to solve the problem of mankind? What He could do was righteously annihilate the mankind, and create a new one. That would be so easy, because it was just like formatting a computer infected with ineradicable viruses. But He could not do like that. He could not destroy His beloved children.
This is what God did. Out of His perfect love, the Son of God came into this fallen world, becoming the only perfect God-man who ever lived in the history of mankind since God's creation. God did not create a new man, but instead He Himself became the last Adam, who gave up Himself and died on the cross to put an end to the race of Adam, which is doomed to eternal death. Moreover, He resurrected again and became the second Man, to start a new race which consists of God's many sons whose destiny is eternity with Him. God became God-man so that men could become God-men again. He became God man-ised, so that men would become man God-ised.
All we need to do to be included in the race of the second Man is believe into the Lord Jesus Christ, by receiving Him and being united with Him as one, both in His death and His resurrection. This is the means whereby we can have Him as our life again.

⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (Romans 6:5-6 NKJV)

When we have Him as our life, we are predestined to go through the process of transformation, which ultimately leads to the conformation to the image of His Son. This process gradually enables us to express Him again, and will be fully accomplished at our transfiguration when Christ returns. We will then be man completely God-ised. At that time, not only will we perfectly express Him, but we will also exercise His authority over the creation, and we will reign with Him forever.
May I sum up this message with a quotation from one of the books written by brother Witness Lee, A Deeper Study of the Divine Dispensing: "He is God 'man-ized,' and we are man 'God-ized.' In the end, the two become one, both being God-men. This is the divine revelation of the Bible."

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Genesis, week 4.

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

Genesis, Message 3: The Experience of Christ as Life Portrayed in Genesis 1

My Great Delight in God's Word

Crystallization-Study of Genesis, Message 3

 The Experience of Christ as Life Portrayed in Genesis 1

The story in Genesis 1, which is about God's creation, has long been debated among both believers and non-believers. It has been used by those who claimed themselves as scientists to attack the creationists, by proposing some unprovable theories against it, including big bang theory and evolution. At the same time, many believers, particularly the so-called Christian apologists, have tried their best to make arguments with the anti-creationists, many of which are quite thought-provoking.
However, I am not trying to make any argument here. I, as a novice biologist, do believe in the inerrancy of the Holy Word, as it clearly is God's revelation. To my knowledge, no any single point in the bible contradicts the proper science. We only need to have correct comprehensive understanding of both the bible and science with an open unbiased heart, which is lacked by most people who have been involved in the arguments.
To spiritually benefit from the study of Genesis 1, we need to know exactly what God intends to teach. It matters very little to us how God created the physical things. The knowledge of this is not quite helpful for our spiritual growth. It may satisfy our intellectual hunger, but not our spiritual hunger. God's intention to reveal Genesis 1 to us is to teach us about the experience of life. It is all about generation and growth of life, not creation of physical things. In the light of this way of interpretation, we will learn a lot about the experience of Christ as life that is beautifully portrayed in Genesis 1.

Three basic instruments for generating life

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
³ Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3 NKJV)

I used to think that Genesis 1 is all about God's first creation of the heavens, the earth and all things therein. Now I'm convinced by the biblical evidences that it is mainly about God's re-creation.
As we can see that there are 4 negative words in verse 2. The earth was formless, void, dark, and deep. These can never be the characteristics of the things created by our perfect God.

For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the LORD, and there is no other." (Isaiah 45:18 NKJV)

Other parts of the bible also suggest that these are the features of God's judgment (Jeremiah 4:23-27; Isaiah 24:1). Therefore there likely is a big gap between verses 1 and 2. There must be something happened between verses 1 and 2. It probably is the divine judgment on the rebellion of Satan, resulting in the destruction of God's original creation. Additionally, the word "hayah," which was translated as "was" (the earth "was" without form) can also be rendered as "became." The perfect creation in verse 1 became a ruin.
Taking all these things into account, the passage from verse 2 onward is obviously about God's second creation of the things on earth. And the highest and most important thing that He created is "life," particularly "human life."
We can see 3 crucial instruments used by God to generate life in Genesis 1:2-3. They consist of the Spirit, the word and the light of God, which represent the reality, the speaking and the shining of God, respectively.
If we link these 3 items to the New Testament, we will see that we can find all the 3 things in Christ. Christ is the life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45), the Word (John 1:1), and the light (John 8:12). Christ Himself actually is life (John 11:25). All we need to have life generated in us is Christ. Praise the Lord that we have Him today, thereby being able to experience this wonderful abundant life He has given to us.

Three separations for generating life

Genesis 1 further indicates 3 further separating steps required for life generation, consisting of separation of the light from the darkness, separation of the water above from the water below, and separation of the land from the sea. These separations were accomplished by the light, the word and the Spirit of God, respectively.

1. Separation of light from darkness

4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. (Genesis 1:4-5 NKJV)

The first step that God works within us to generate life is to separate the light from the darkness. Man has fallen into sin, and has become darkness. Praise the Lord that as soon as we receive Christ as our Saviour, we are turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that we may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Christ. (Acts 26:18). Therefore we are no longer living in the darkness, but walking as the children of light.

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
⁹ (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) (Ephesians 5:8-9 NKJV)

2. Separation of water above from water below

6 Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."
7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. (Genesis 1:6-8 NKJV)

Next, He separated the water above and the water below with the firmament. The waters represent the heavenly things and the earthly things, respectively.
The earthly things are not necessarily bad things. But doing good things is not good enough. We need to be assured that the things we do are spiritual things originated from the Holy Spirit in our spirit, not natural or earthly things originated from our soul or self. We need the power of His holy word to discern between the two, as the word of God is the two-edged sword capable of dividing between the spirit and the soul.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 NKJV)

3. Separation of land from sea

⁹ Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.
¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
¹¹ Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so.
¹² And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
¹³ So the evening and the morning were the third day. (Genesis 1:9-13 NKJV)

The sea in the bible generally represents death. The new heavens and new earth will have no sea. And here we can see that life started to be generated since the appearance of the dry land.
Interestingly, the dry land appeared on the third day, just as our Lord Jesus resurrected on the third day. This teaches us that our regenerated life results from Christ's resurrection, when He became the life-giving Spirit. Our natural life was crucified with Him on the cross, and on the third day, we also resurrected with Him, having His life as ours. This is the truth that we need to know and reckon in order to live a healthy Christian life.

Appearing of light bearers for generating life

¹⁶ Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.
¹⁷ God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth,
¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
¹⁹ So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (Genesis 1:16-19 NKJV)

Malachi 4:2 says that Christ is the sun of righteousness. He is the source of true light in this world. And the Church, represented by the moon, is to reflect the light in this dark world. The church stands out when the world declines, as we can see today. We are to shine to this world, leading it to the only source of light, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sadly, the Church in general seems to decline and fails to shine nowadays. In this kind of situation, God needs to use something else to shine His light. Therefore He raises up the shining stars, which represent the overcomers. Would you like God to transform you to be a shining star that brightly shines in this dark age for Him today?

Illustrations of different levels of life

²⁰ Then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens."
²¹ So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:20-21 NKJV)
Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so. (Genesis 1:24 NKJV)
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (Genesis 1:26 NKJV)

God created fish in the seas and birds in the sky on the fifth day, and the living creatures on the earth on the sixth day. He eventually created man, which is the highest created life. Of course, we are not talking about evolution here. So what do these created things teach us about life? 
Among these living things, the fish in the seas seems to be the lowest form of life. But there is some amazing truth about it. It can live in salt water without becoming salty. It can survive because of its special gill that can take in water and eliminate salt. Given that the sea represents this dark dying world, we are to be like the fish. We are to live in this world, without being conformed to this world. We are to survive without becoming dead like the world. This is the life that is generated in us. But this is not enough.
The birds are a higher form of life. It can soar over the seas. Like them, we need to grow in life to the extent that we transcend the world. Not only are we to survive in this world, we have to overcome it. When we face any temptation or trouble, we will gain strength from God and be able to soar above it with absolute victory. Praise the Lord for this higher form of life that demonstrates the higher grown life to us. Yet this is not enough.

But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV)

The beasts and cattle are considered the higher forms of life, because they have more consciousness. They can do something that fish and birds cannot. They are used by man to accomplish some works. For example, the cattle can be used to plough the land, even though it is now not common anymore. As we are more grown in life, we will be more useful to God. We will be equipped and used by Him to carry out His marvelous plan on this earth. But this is still not enough.
He eventually created man. He did not create him in any other animal's kind. He created man in His own kind. He created him in His own image, according to His likeness. And man has something that all other animals do not. Man has God's image and likeness, as well as authority over all the creation. We can express Him and exercise His dominion over His creation to accomplish His economy on earth. We will discuss more about this in the next chapter.

Lord Jesus, thank You very much for your revelation about life in Genesis 1. We are so thankful that in You, we can find everything we need to have life generated in us, as You are the life-giving Spirit, the Word, and the light. May You transform us to be the overcomers who brightly shine in this dark world. By abiding in You, may we grow in life, so that not only will we survive in this dark world without being conformed to it, but we will also soar over all the problems, do the services for You, and express You.

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Genesis, week 3.

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)