Christian Living
The next interesting thing for me about how God would want man (who He made in His Image) to relate with the world around him is to Subdue the earth. Again, we see that in Genesis 1:28.
“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.
To subdue as used in the above scripture is to conquer, keep under, bring into subjection, to bring into bondage.
It also means to tread down, to quieten.
So God is saying to man; ‘control the earth’.
This is certainly not the same as dominion, which we described before as reigning or ruling in calm confidence.
The way I understand subdue from Genesis 1:28 is to determine how events around us impact us. Shhhhh. ?.
So many scriptures come to mind at this point, but probably the one that clearly describes subdue for me is Mark 4:39;
“Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm”. NKJV.
A storm or raging sea shouldn’t be a threat if the disciples and Jesus were safely home or ashore. A turbulent sea at this time threatened the disciples, disturbed their peace, brought them fear and unease and was completely unpleasant and unwelcome.
Jesus subdued it. He quientened it, He put it under control.
Many times we first respond with fear, we worry about bad experiences coming at us than tackle or face their source. An initial startle can occur, but hey! let the Holy Spirit bring to our remembrance what the Word of The Lord says about that situation, then like Jesus we stand up and just say ‘shhhhh’.
But we’re not gonna know what to say unless we had deposited the word in us. In fact, the only way we’re ever going to fully reflect the Image of God (as He made us) is by constantly looking into His Word.
It is in the Word we know;…..
“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16:19 NKJV
And we know….
“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 18:18 NKJV
And yes we know……
“that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,”
Philippians 2:10 NKJV
That’s how we take control, that’s how we’ll rule in dominion and that’s how we’ll know what blessings He has for us.
Second Corinthians 3:18 tells us clearly that we’ll only become the Image of God as we continually look into the Word.
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of The Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” NKJV.
To fully reflect His image in dominion, in control, in being productive and fruitful, we have to continually behold His face, through His word, without any veil or limitation, then His glory will be evident through us.
Thank you for staying with me through this study.
Stay blessed.
