Man’s Lost Dominion Restored
By Allen Moon
Created to Enjoy the Creator’s Works—Transferred His Allegiance—Complete Deliverance “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” Gen. 1:27. The Lord has not left us without a knowledge of His purpose in the creation of man as well as of all things that were made. It is written that heavenly beings exclaimed, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” Rev. 4:11. ASSOCIATED WITH THE FATHER IN CREATION
The Son of God was associated with the Father in the work of creation. He was the “Word,” or expression, of the Father in its accomplishment; as we read, “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” Col. 1:16. The expression in this text, “All things were created by Him, and for Him,” proves to the student of the Word that all created beings and things were for the purpose of extending and enlarging God’s dominion. To man was given “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 creepeth upon the earth.” Gen. 1:26. Yet that dominion was “created by Him, and for Him,” and did not cease to be God’s dominion when it was given to man. God retained dominion over the man. Man and his dominion still belonged to God. GOD SHARED DOMINION WITH MAN
The Creator did not bring man into existence for His own selfish pleasure, “for God giveth to a man that is good in His sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy.” Eccl. 2:26. He evidently shared dominion with man in order to contribute to man’s joy and pleasure. And being made in the image of God, man had capacity to enjoy dominion over a creation that was good; for “God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind; and God saw that it was good.” Gen. 1:25. All was in perfect accord with man’s nature, and completely met his requirements as a source of pleasure. Thus he became a sharer in the pleasures of his Creator. ETERNITY OF JOY BEFORE HIM
Man had the promise of an eternity in which to enjoy, not the works of his own hands, but the work which the hands of his Creator had wrought. It is written, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” This promise was made known to Adam in the gift of the tree of life. God could not have done more to inspire, in the heart of His subject, devotion and satisfaction to the dominion of the One who purposed his supreme happiness. Man certainly could reasonably do no less than conform to the will of his Creator. But man sinned. He transgressed the law of his God. In his act of transgression, he obeyed the will of another; and “to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are.” Rom. 6:16. MAN’S ALLEGIANCE TRANSFERRED
So man transferred his allegiance to another than the Author of his being, and with him went the dominion conferred upon him by his Creator. Jehovah had not consented to the usurpation of dominion; but as man had received dominion over the earth, he was left free to dissipate it if he chose. Although warned, he chose the way of disaster and ruin. Man’s transgression separated him from the source of life. The being to whom he had transferred his services, was a created being, under condemnation of death. There was therefore no hope of eternal life in this condition. GOD SO LOVED THAT HE GAVE
God alone could rescue man, restore him to a life of obedience, and to the hope of eternal life, and finally bring back to him his lost dominion. God renewed the promise of life. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. The promise of life now rests upon changed conditions. The Son of God now stands for the tree of life. He put life in the tree of life for man, but the Son has immortality in Himself. To believe on the Son, in the true sense, restores to man not only the gift of life, but all else that he lost when he sinned — his possession, his dominion, his satisfaction, and his joy. Peter rejoiced in the new hope; for he exclaimed, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope”—the hope of living. 1 Peter 1:3. Man has now an added reason for rendering loyal service to his Creator, who has become his Redeemer from the ruin and death that he brought upon himself. The first provision in this plan of salvation was an unconditional resurrection from the death into which man had plunged645himself. Thus all men could be partakers of eternal life. Man’s redemption, then, means complete deliverance from the dominion of the usurper; “for to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived [relived], that He might be Lord both of the dead and living.” Rom. 14:9. Again it is written, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.” Col. 1:13. Satan, so long as he was permitted, could invade the realm of God’s government, and by deception lead men into allowing him to usurp authority over them. But he cannot, by any means, debar the Almighty One from entering His own rightful dominion for the purpose of delivering man, whom He had created, from the power of the adversary, and restoring him to the realms of his true Sovereign.