THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
God’s Administration
Message One—Image and Dominion—the Heart of Genesis
Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:26-28; Mark 1:14-15; 2 Cor. 4:3-4; Rom. 8:29; 5:17
I. The book of Genesis begins and ends with image and dominion—1:26-28:
A. The subject of Genesis is man bearing the image of God and exercising God’s dominion over all things—vv. 26-28:
1. For God to create man in His image means that God created man with the intention that man would become a duplication of God, the reproduction of God, for His corporate expression—John 12:24; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10; 1 John 3:1-2.
2. God’s intention in giving man dominion was for man to exercise God’s authority to deal with the enemy, to recover the earth, and to bring in the kingdom of God; dominion and the kingdom are synonymous—Gen. 1:28; Matt. 6:10, 13b.
3. We were created for the purpose of expressing God and exercising His dominion; this is the heart of Genesis.
B. Genesis concludes with a life that, in Jacob, expressed God in His image and, in Joseph, represented God with His dominion—48:14-16; 41:40-44, 57:
1. After Jacob was transformed and matured, he became the expression of God, becoming Israel, a corporate person—35:10.
2. The exercise of God’s dominion over all things was manifested in Joseph’s life—45:8-9, 26a:
a. Joseph’s life under the heavenly vision was the life of the kingdom of the heavens described in Matthew 5—7.
b. Joseph’s self-denial was the key to the practice of the kingdom life—Gen. 45:4-8; 50:15-21.
c. Because Joseph lived under God’s restriction, the kingdom could be brought in through him—Matt. 16:24-28.
d. The reigning of Joseph in Egypt was the kingdom of God for the fulfillment of God’s purpose—Gen. 41:55-57; 47:11-27; Rev. 11:15.
e. In Genesis 47 we have a picture of the millennium:
(1) Under Joseph, Egypt prefigured the millennium with all the people on the same level, without distinctions.
(2) Under Joseph’s rule, the whole land of Egypt became a land of enjoyment:
(a) All the people were enjoyers on the same level because everyone and everything was under Joseph—vv. 14-21.
(b) This is a picture of the millennium, where everything will be under the Lord’s hand—Psa. 24:1.
II. The matters of image and dominion, presented as seeds in Genesis, are developed and consummated in the New Testament—Matt. 24:14; Acts 8:12; 2 Cor. 4:3-4, 6-7; Rom. 8:29; Eph. 2:15; Rev. 11:15; Matt. 13:43; Rev. 21:2:
A. Christ’s incarnation and God-man living fulfilled God’s intention in His creation of man—Gen. 1:26-27; Luke 1:31-32, 35; 2:40, 52:
1. The incarnation of Christ and His God-man living are closely related to God’s purpose that man would receive Him as life and express Him in His attributes—Gen. 1:26; 2:9; Acts 3:14a; Eph. 4:24.
2. When Christ came, He brought the kingdom of God with Him; the kingdom subdues rebellion, casts out demons, heals the sick, and raises the dead—Luke 17:21; Matt. 12:28; Mark 4:35—5:43.
B. Whereas in Genesis 1 image precedes dominion, in the gospel the order is reversed, and dominion comes before image, because man has fallen from God’s dominion and must repent—Mark 1:1, 14-15; Matt. 4:17:
1. Through the gospel of the kingdom, God brings rebellious people under the ruling of His authority so that they may become His kingdom and be ruled by His authority—24:14; Rev. 1:5-6:
a. The gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed so that rebellious sinners might be saved, qualified, and equipped to enter into the kingdom of God—Acts 8:12.
b. As believers in Christ, we have been regenerated to enter into the kingdom of God as the realm of the divine species to live under the rule of God in life—John 3:3, 5, 15-16.
2. Christ is the image of God and the effulgence of His glory; hence, the gospel of Christ is the gospel of His glory that illuminates and shines forth—2 Cor. 4:3-4; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3:
a. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 God is the image, the image is Christ, Christ is the glory, the glory is the gospel, and the gospel is the illumination.
b. Through the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, the shining reality of Christ, who is the embodiment and expression of the Triune God, is the treasure within us—vv. 6-7.
C. God intends that the believers in Christ be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son and that they reign in life—Rom. 8:29; 5:17:
1. Conformation to the image of God’s Son issues in His being the Firstborn among many brothers—8:29:
a. Conformation denotes the shaping of life, shaping us into the image of the firstborn Son of God.
b. Conformation is a process in which we are saved in life from our self-likeness to be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son for His corporate expression—5:10.
2. God’s complete salvation is for us to reign in life by the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness—vv. 17, 21:
a. In experience, to reign in life is to be under the ruling of the divine life, the kingly and royal life with which we have been regenerated—John 3:3, 5-6, 15-16; Rom. 5:17.
b. All the believers who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness need to practice the restriction and limitation of the divine life—Matt. 8:9; 2 Cor. 2:12-14; 5:14.
D. As believers, we may know Christ as the image of God and live in the kingdom of the Son of God’s love—Col. 1:15, 13:
1. God is invisible, but Christ as the Son of His love, who is the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance, is His image, expressing what He is—Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:15.
2. To be transferred into the kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love is to be transferred into the Son, the Beloved, who is life to us—v. 13; 1 John 5:11-12.
E. The church as the one new man is the corporate man in God’s intention; this universal new man will fulfill the twofold purpose of bearing God’s image to express Him and exercising God’s authority to represent Him and fight against God’s enemy for God’s kingdom—Eph. 2:15; 4:24; 6:10-20; Col. 3:10-11:
1. God’s creation of man for His expression and representation is a picture, a type, of the universal new man in God’s new creation—Gen. 1:26-28; Eph. 4:24.
2. The corporate new man bears the image of Him who created him (Col. 3:10), for the new man was “created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality” (Eph. 4:24).
3. The one new man is a corporate warrior fighting against God’s enemy to bring in God’s kingdom—6:10-20; Rev. 12:10.
F. In the coming age, the age of the millennial kingdom, the glorious kingdom of God will be manifested on earth—Matt. 6:13; Rev. 11:15:
1. When the Lord Jesus comes again, He and the overcomers as the corporate smiting stone will become a great mountain to fill the whole earth, making the whole earth God’s kingdom, His dominion—Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45.
2. The kingdom is a realm in which God exercises His power so that He can express His glory; thus, God’s glory goes with His kingdom—Matt. 6:13; 1 Thes. 2:12.
3. In the millennium the overcoming believers will be with Christ in the bright glory of the kingdom, shining forth “like the sun in the kingdom of their Father”—Matt. 13:43.
G. The New Jerusalem in eternity is the consummation of image and dominion—Rev. 21:2, 10-11.
Ministry Excerpts:
TO HAVE MAN TO EXERCISE GOD’S DOMINION
God said, “Let us make man in our image…and let them have dominion…” God created a corporate man to exercise His dominion (Gen. 1:26-28). The word dominion includes more than just authority. Dominion means having authority to rule and to form a kingdom. Dominion means having a kingdom as a sphere in which to exercise authority. If I have authority, but no sphere over which to rule, I have no dominion. God said, “Let man have dominion.” Man was given dominion over all things. Keep the words image and dominion in mind and underline them in your Bible.
Very few Christians pay attention to the word dominion when they read Genesis 1. We need to consider the words image and dominion a little more. An image is an expression. God created man in His image with the intention that man might express Him. The invisible God desires to be expressed. He needs an expression. Dominion means kingdom, authority. Man was made in God’s image to express God and was given authority to represent God and to have dominion. We are God’s expression and we are God’s representative. The young people especially need to lay hold of these two words with these two basic revelations: image and dominion. The purpose of God’s restoration and further creation was twofold: to have a corporate man to express God and to have a corporate man to exercise His dominion.
INTENTION
God’s dominion not only has a sphere; it also has an intention. What was God’s intention in giving man dominion?
To Deal with God’s Enemy
The first aspect of God’s intention is to deal with His enemy, to deal with Satan typified by the creeping things (Gen. 1:26). In the Bible, the creeping things are demonic, devilish, and Satanic. In the last message, we pointed out that only four living creatures, representing all creation, are present before the throne of God—the eagle, the ox, the lion, and the man. No creeping things such as serpents or scorpions are represented before God. In the Bible, Satan is typified by the serpent (Gen. 3:1). In Revelation 12:9 Satan is called the “ancient serpent.” He has become old since the time he first appeared in Genesis 3.
In God’s original creation, He had only one purpose—to express Himself. Due to Satan’s rebellion, God now has another purpose—to deal with His enemy. When God created man, He had both of these purposes. Therefore, He created man in His own image that man might express Him and He gave him dominion that man might deal with His enemy. Both of these things must be accomplished. We need the image of God in order to express God and we need the dominion of God in order to subdue the enemy.
To Recover the Earth
The second aspect of God’s intention in giving man dominion is to recover the earth (Gen. 1:26-28). Man is to have dominion over the earth, to subdue it, and to conquer it. To conquer the earth means that the enemy is there already, that a war is raging. Therefore, we must fight and conquer.
God desires that His kingdom come to this earth and that His will be done on earth (Matt. 6:10). Now we can understand the prayer which the Lord Jesus established. He said, “Let Your name be sanctified; let Your kingdom come.” Certainly this means to come from the heavens to the earth. The prayer continues, “Let Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” God’s will is now being done in heaven. But on the earth there are many frustrations, hindering God’s will from being done. We must pray, “Let Your name be sanctified; let Your kingdom come; let Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” We must fight to recover the earth.
At the time of the millennium, the earth will become the kingdom of God. This is revealed in Revelation 11:15. When the Lord Jesus comes to inaugurate the millennium, the whole earth will become the kingdom of God. Then the earth will be regained by God.
In eternity, God’s habitation will come down from heaven to the new earth (Rev. 21:1-2). Many Christians dream of going to heaven. That is a good dream and, undoubtedly, all of us will be there. However, God desires to come down to earth. We like the heavens, but God likes the earth. We are going up, and He is coming down. Hallelujah! Let me tell you the truth: when we get to heaven, the Lord will say, “Children, let us go down. Let us go down to take over the earth.” In eternity, the heavens will not be God’s habitation. God’s habitation will be the New Jerusalem, and the New Jerusalem will come down from the heavens to the new earth. This proves that God’s desire is to possess the earth.
To Bring in God’s Authority
The third aspect of God’s intention in giving man dominion is to bring in God’s authority, to exercise God’s authority over the earth. Man must exercise God’s authority in order that the kingdom of God may come to earth, that the will of God may be done on earth, and that the glory of God may be manifested on earth. All of this will be on the earth. God will never be satisfied to have His kingdom only in the heavens. Neither will He be happy to have His will done only in the heavens nor to see His glory expressed only in the heavens. He wants all these things to happen on the earth. This is the responsibility of the church today. In the church we have the kingdom of God. In the church the will of God is done. In the church the glory of God is expressed. Hallelujah! We have a foretaste. Now we can see why God gave man dominion over everything in the seas, in the air, and on the earth. God’s intention is to eliminate the enemy, regain the earth, and manifest His glory.
THE FULFILLMENT
The first man didn’t fulfill God’s purpose; the second man did. The first man was a corporate man, and the second man is also a corporate man. Adam was the head of the first corporate man, and Christ is the Head of the second man. God’s purpose is fulfilled by the second man.
With Christ
The fulfillment of God’s purpose in giving man dominion started with Christ.
The preaching in the New Testament begins in a peculiar way, in a way that is contrary to our concept. It says, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (Matt. 4:17). The words “has drawn near” mean is come. When Christ came, the kingdom of God came. Christ brought in the kingdom. The little man Jesus was the kingdom of God. Many Christians think that the kingdom did not come when Jesus came. According to their concept, when the Jewish people rejected Jesus with the kingdom, the kingdom was suspended and the church age began. They think that the church is not the kingdom, that after the church age the kingdom will be established by the return of Jesus. In the Bible, there is some ground to say this and, in a sense, it is right, but just partially right. Romans 14:17 tells us that the church today is the kingdom. The church life is the kingdom. In a sense, the Jewish people rejected the kingdom. In another sense, the Lord established the kingdom by establishing the church. We can never separate the church from the kingdom. In Matthew 16:18, the Lord Jesus told Peter, “Peter, you are a stone and I will build the church upon Myself as the rock. The gates of Hades shall not prevail against this church.” Immediately after this (v. 19), the Lord Jesus said, “I will give to you the keys of the kingdom.” On the day of Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius Peter established the church by using the keys of the kingdom to open the door for both Jews and Gentiles to enter into the kingdom. Thus, when the church started, the kingdom was there. The church is the kingdom. No doubt there will be a full manifestation of the kingdom in the future. But the reality of the kingdom is here today. That is the church life.
Christ Cast Out Demons to Bring in the Kingdom of God
The four gospels tell us that Jesus encountered demons wherever He went. Jesus could never tolerate demons and He immediately cast them out. In Matthew 12:28 Jesus tells us that His casting out the demons was the coming of the kingdom. That was the dominion of God. Adam had failed to bring in the kingdom, but when Jesus came He brought in the kingdom by casting out demons. To cast out demons means to bring in the kingdom of God.
Christ Gave His Disciples
Authority over the Power of the Enemy
Christ also gave His disciples authority over all the power of Satan. In Luke 10:19, the Lord Jesus said, “Behold I have given you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” Both serpents and scorpions are in plural, indicating that they are many. In verse 18 of the same chapter we see Satan. In verse 20 we have the spirits, that is the demons. The “serpents” means the satanic power, and “scorpions” means the demonic power. Satan, the serpents, and the scorpions have power, but we have authority. Our authority exceeds their power. There are many powerful cars on the streets. However, the little policeman has authority. When he says, “Stop,” you stop. The cars have power; the policeman has authority. Satan and his demons have power, but we are God’s policemen. We must give Satan the commandment, “Stop!” When Jesus gave this authority to His disciples and they exercised it to cast out demons, they were excited. However, the Lord Jesus told them, “Don’t rejoice in this. You must rejoice in something better—that your names are written in heaven.” When Jesus came, the kingdom came. When Jesus cast out demons, He brought in the kingdom of God. Also, Jesus did this by and through His disciples. He gave them authority to cast out demons, and they did.
Christ Received All Authority
After His resurrection, Christ received all the authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). As the Lord God He had authority before His resurrection. As a man named Jesus of Nazareth, He was commissioned with all authority in heaven and on earth after His resurrection. Jesus is the real Adam. He has been committed with God’s dominion.
With the Church, Including the Saints
The Gates of Hades Cannot Prevail against the Church
The fulfillment of God’s intention in giving man dominion involves Christ as the Head and the church, including all the saints, as the Body. The fulfillment of God’s intention is not only with the Head, but also with the Body. The gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church (Matt. 16:18). The Bible does not say the gates of Hades (meaning the power of Satan) cannot prevail against the saints. They can prevail against the saints if the saints are separate or individualistic. You need to be built into the church. The Body which is built up with Christ can never be defeated by Satan. Satan can never prevail against the builded church.
The Saints Have Been Given Authority
to Bind the Enemy
The saints have been given authority to bind the enemy (Matt. 16:19; 18:18). The word in Matthew 16:19 was spoken to Peter; the word in Matthew 18:18 was spoken to every believer. The Catholic Church claims that Peter had the authority to represent Christ. They base this on Matthew 16:19. However, we must tell them that we also have Matthew 18:18. Not only has Peter been given authority to bind and loose, but we also. Every believer has been given the authority to bind and to loose. Today, the church with all the saints has the authority to bind and loose. Many times, we should not simply pray; we should bind and loose.
God Will Crush Satan under the Feet
of the Saints
Romans 16:20 says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Paul said, “soon.” I don’t know how Paul felt when he said this nineteen hundred years ago. It may seem to us that a long time has passed. But, we believe, it has not been too long. Shortly, Satan will be crushed. The word crush not only means to bruise or break, but also to subdue. Satan must be under our feet. In your home life Satan must be under your feet. In your married life Satan must be under your feet. In your church life Satan must be under your feet. You have to tell him, “Satan, your position is under my feet.” Here and now Satan must be under our feet.
The Saints Have to Fight against the Enemy
Second Corinthians 10:3-5 and Ephesians 6:11-13 tell us that we must fight against the enemy. We not only fight, we wrestle. Wrestling is more difficult than fighting. We must wrestle with the evil powers in the air.
The Overcoming Saints Will Have Authority
over the Nations
The overcoming saints will have authority over the nations (Rev. 2:26-27) and in the millennium they will be kings reigning with Christ over the whole earth (Rev. 20:4, 6). By that time, God will fully have His dominion on this earth. That will be the fulfillment of what God desired to have in Genesis 1.
All the Saints Will Reign for Eternity
Eventually, all the saints will reign as kings over the earth for eternity in the New Jerusalem. At that time, Satan, the evil angels in the air, and the sea with all the demons will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10, 13-14; Matt. 25:41). All the pollution will be cleared away. The air, the water, and the earth have been polluted. When eternity comes, all the pollution will disappear. Everything will be clear, and God’s dominion will be there. God’s authority will be exercised on the earth. In that realm and in that sphere God’s image will be fully expressed and God’s glory will be fully manifested. That will be the eternal kingdom, the dominion of God. (Life-study of Genesis, msg. 7)