By Sidharth Mohandas

Dominion

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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. [Genesis 1:26]

We all know the story of creation and how God released these spirit beings into earthly vessels that were to function like God Himself on earth. We understand from the above passage that God gave man the dominion over the earthly realm. Now what does it mean to have dominion? It means to have legal authority to rule. The Hebrew word for dominion could help us to get a fuller picture. The word mamlacha that is used for dominion simply means “kingdom”. So in other words, Gods purpose of giving us dominion was to bring a “kingdom” to earth. However, God warned man that if he disobeyed Him, man would move from the kingdom of life to the kingdom of death, a kingdom whose ruler is the arch enemy of God, even satan.

The Law of Dominion

In Ephesians 2:1,2 we read,

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

When man operated in a standard that was offensive to God, man himself gave his dominion over to satan. But  if you noticed, the dominion satan received he could operate only in the “air” or in the heavenly realm. This is because the dominion given by God was for earthly beings, and not for spirit beings.

Let me deviate from this topic to something very important about Gods Word. Now, when God speaks, what He speaks becomes a law. Psalm 138:2b tells us, You have exalted Your word above all Your name. Now the word “name” in Hebrew is used for “who the person is”. That is why when Moses asked God what His name was, He said “I Am Who I Am” [Yahweh]. That is, when we need peace, He becomes Yahweh Shalom; when we need healing, He becomes Yahweh Rapha and, so forth. So God’s name represents who He is. The above Scripture tells us that God has exalted what He speaks above Himself. Or in other words, He has subjected Himself to His words and will never go against it. So when God said, “Let them have dominion”, He was giving legal authority to these earthly beings to rule. Any other beings were in fact illegal to have authority on the earthly realm. This was the same reason why God had to place His Seed  in an earthly body.This can also be explained with a day-to-day example: a person can have authority on earth only while he is in his body. The moment the person dies, he also loses his authority on earth. So coming back to satan, all that he could do was to make human beings follow him and thus establish his kingdom on earth through them.

Dominion restored

Friends, let me say again, man through sin lost the dominion God gave him. And the only way this authority could be restored would be through the death of a man without sin. And since the entire Adamic race was infected with sin, God had to place His own seed in an earthly body to pay the penalty of death at every level of human disobedience. Jesus is that begotten seed. He led a sinless life and suffered the penalty of sin for the entire human race and He rose back to life saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” [Matthew 28:18]. Jesus brought back the kingdom to us. Notice, my friends, God did not break the law of dominion here.

Permission for Divine Intervention

If you have entered the kingdom of God, you have been given dominion. But there’s a problem again… Only earthly beings have legal authority over earth. Therefore unless we give permission to God, He cannot move. This is why the foremost thing Jesus asked us to pray in the Disciples Prayer was: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” [Matthew 6:10]

Jesus said, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. [Matthew 16:19]

Through prayer you give earthly permission for divine intervention. You might wonder “What can my puny prayer do?“. Well, it can give God permission to interfere. However, just as the disciples needed to learn the principles of prayer, you and I need to learn to pray. The highest priority in a Christian’s life should be prayer, for that is where the transaction between the King and the colony takes place. 

I encourage you today to use the dominion God has given you through prayer and bring God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.