Today we are moving into deeper water. The discussion today is one of the most important ones we will cover.
There are so many people who want God involved in their lives, but they don’t know how to get Him involved. They pray “help” or “why me” prayers, or they just copy someone else, but they don’t understand how God designed His plan of prayer.
So let’s start with the big picture.
For a school project one of my granddaughters made a poster of Mississippi. From a map, she cut out the tiny dot and small letters designating Blue Mountain (our town of 1000) and pasted them right in the center of her poster. There was no reference to location or size. Just the tiny letters out of context.
I had to chuckle. And I thought that’s the way we are so prone to treat God’s Word. We take verses out of context and stick them on our refrigerator. If we would consider the bigger picture, we would always get more understanding. There is a logical sequence to the way God’s Word is presented in the Bible. It’s not just an isolated thought here and there. There is a natural flow of truth which gives us understanding.
To get the big picture, we have to understand why Jesus came to earth. What was God’s plan? So let’s take a look at the beginning. In Genesis, it’s clear that God created a perfect world and placed His man and woman at the center.
Genesis 1:27,28
And God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them…and God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over ever living thing that moves on the earth”
God gave man dominion over the earth. So what do I mean by dominion? He was to rule over the earth. God was the CEO, but Adam was assigned the job of managing the earth. God delegated authority to him.
There was just one catch. The man could run the earth as long as he represented God. If Adam let the devil influence him, he would lose his place. He couldn’t rule over the devil and be ruled by him at the same time.
As we continue to read in Genesis, we see that the devil tricked Eve and she disobeyed God. Then Adam followed suit, and the two got fired as God’s managers. Adam and Eve lost their position and they lost their ability to communicate with God as they had before.
From the time of the fall, God was looking for a man who would truly believe Him and be faithful to Him. He wanted to eventually bring a savior to the world to redeem man back, but he needed to first have a family of people who believed Him. So he found Abraham, made a covenant with him, and began developing his family – the nation of Israel.
During that time, a little more than 1400 years, the devil ran rampant throughout the earth. Only the nation of Israel was being led and guided by God. That’s why they were called “the chosen people.” They were the only group of people on the earth in covenant with God. He was teaching them His character and His ways.
After many centuries of this covenant relationship, God brought forth His Son, the second Adam, Jesus. He walked the earth for about 33 years, showing those around Him how God’s man should live. He went to the cross, taking the penalty for man’s sinful nature, descended into hell, reclaimed man’s dominion, and on the third day arose from the dead. He then ascended into Heaven to be seated on the right hand of His Father and sent His Holy Spirit back to earth to live in the hearts of those who believe Him and commit to Him.
Thus a new covenant was cut by His precious blood, and a new breed was created on the earth – men and women cleansed by His blood, filled with His Holy Spirit, and in covenant with their God. With the Holy Spirit living on the inside of them, they could once again communicate with their Creator. They could hear His voice, understand His Word, and live on the earth as God had intended. Their dominion had been restored. Mankind had the opportunity to be restored back to the place of Adam.
I say “opportunity” because this covenant was for those who believed and received Jesus as their Lord. It was offered to all people – Jews and Gentiles alike. However, only those who received the blood sacrifice of Jesus and partook of the covenant entered into this wonderful relationship with God.
So what about this “dominion” that was restored? God gave back to man the ability to rule over demons, principalities, forces of darkness…and even to commission the angels. As long as we are representing God and being obedient to Him, we have this ability.
Never do we rule over other people. But we find that demons blind the minds of others, and when we take authority over those forces of darkness, others are free to see more clearly and to act in more Godly ways.
There are certain things which God ordained to be done from earth by mankind. We have free will. We can choose to live for Him or not. We can live according to His plan or not. But when we do things His way, our privileges increase and our dominion increases.
In Genesis, the Holy Spirit speaks of the sun ruling the day and the moon ruling the night. Jesus is like the sun – the source of light; we are like the moon, only a reflection of His light. Just as the earth comes between the sun and the moon causing partial moons, so our flesh can come between us and Jesus, causing us not to shine as brightly. God wants us to be full moons completely reflecting the love and power of Jesus to the world around us.
In II Corinthians 10:13 Paul speaks of a “measure of rule” given to him by God. Other translations call this a “sphere of influence.” Ask God to show you what your measure of rule is. It’s always your home, your family, and your job. What about your town? Or a ministry? Do you feel God calling you to pray for certain people? That’s also your measure of rule.
This is a ton of information, if you have never seen these principles before. I want to encourage you to reread what we have said, and go to the scriptures to see what we mean. It’s powerful when we begin to understand and walk in it.
In the next post, we will be talking about our special covenant with God as believers.
See you then! In the meantime, blessings to you and yours.
