Genesis 1:27-28 (NIV)
27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, a place of beauty and peace. They were place there with a mission; to be fruitful and to multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it, that is, to be master over the fish and birds and all the animals.
Adam's children and their children's children were to live under God's rule. They will extend the boundaries of His garden, His Kingdom with kingdom values, to the rest of earth simply by their devotion to Him.
This was God's Original Commission through the first Adam at the time of Genesis and still is today through the last Adam, Jesus in the Great Commission to his disciples.
Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The Original Commission at the Garden of Eden was never abandoned even after Adam sinned. When sin entered the world, creation has been infected by darkness; manifesting itself as diseases, sickness, poverty, natural disasters, afflicting spirits, demonic influences, etc.
However, in redeeming man at the cross, Jesus retrieved what man (in Adam) had given away. In the process, the Original Commission was fully realized in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and we, the church as disciples of Christ Jesus, were restored to God's plan as a people made in His image to rule over creation and over darkness.
We do this by preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, by being fruitful in making disciples of all nations in all the four corners of the earth, subduing it by having the nations replace their earthly values with the Kingdom of God, kingdom values. This is done as prescribed in Matthew 28:19-20.
By fulfilling the Great Commission, we rule over creation but it is now focused on exposing and undoing the works of the evil one.
Matthew 10:7-8 (NIV)
7As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.’
8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely
you have received, freely give.
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