Genesis 1:26-28 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 birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that walks upon the earth”. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

Jesus’ command to His Church was to preach the gospel (regeneration) and make disciples of all nations (training for dominion), bringing the world under the sway of His law-word (tool of dominion). (Matthew 28:18-20)

Evangelism should never be limited to conversion. Regeneration is certainly the first step, but by limiting evangelism to conversion the newly redeemed sinner often receives the impression that he has been saved for his own sake rather than for the Lord’s sake. This is certainly not the case. Evangelism presents the total claims of the triune God upon man and his whole life and world. Man is not saved merely to enjoy heaven but to serve the Lord with all his heart, mind and being (Matthew 22:35-40) and to love his neighbour as himself. This means seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Our salvation, therefore, has a purpose beyond ourselves; it is the Kingdom of God and our service to Him. It is a restoration to our dominion calling (Genesis 1:26-28; 9:1-7; Psalm 8:6; Joshua 1:1-9; Matthew 28:18-20). It begins with regeneration, it continues with sanctification and dominion.

Almighty God wants believers to recapture the dominion man held in the beginning. He has gone to great lengths to make this possible, sending His own Son to restore what was lost in the Garden of Eden.

At the time of creation man exercised authority, under God’s sovereignty, over everything. Man took the place of God on the earth, God’s surrogate, His steward.

The Genesis account uses two colourful words to describe this.

One RADAH, translated as “dominion”. Man was to have dominion. The word means to “rule over” or “tread down” as with grapes. It comes from a Hebrew root meaning “spread out” or “prostrate”. The picture we get from it is one of all of creation spread out before man, whose dominion would extend wherever his feet trod. With this word, RADAH, God gives man the authority to govern all that is willing to be governed.

The second word, KABASH, is translated “subdue”. Man was told to subdue the earth. The root means to “trample under foot”, as one would do when washing dirty clothes. Therefore, in KABASH we have in part the concept of separating good from evil by force. With KABASH, God grants man authority over the untamed and the rebellious.

In both instances, God gave man a sweeping and total mandate of dominion over this planet and everything in it.

But stewardship requires responsibility. Implicit in the dominion was a requirement that man order the planet according to God’s will and for God’s purposes. This was a grant of freedom, not of license. God’s intention was that His world be governed and subdued by those who themselves were governed by God. But man, as we know, did not want to remain under God’s sovereignty. He wanted to be like God without anyone to tell him what to do.

The dominion task can only be accomplished through many Christians, the body of Christ, operating under the one head, Jesus Christ.