"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. So 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 God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." (Genesis 1:26-28) "Adam, which was the son of God." (Luke 3:38) "You, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands." (Hebrews 1:10) "One in a certain place testified, saying, what is man, that You are mindful of him? or the son of man, that you visit him? You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor, and did set him over the works of your hands: You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (Hebrews 2:6-9) "And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed Him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves; but He was asleep. And His disciples came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us; we perish. And He said unto them, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the waves obey Him?" (Matthew 8:23-27) "And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed; and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy: Son, be of good cheer; your sins be forgiven you. ... That you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, (then said He to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up your bed, and go unto your house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitude saw it, they marveled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto man." (Matthew 9:2,6-8) "And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go you, therefore, and teach all nations. ... Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (Matthew 28:18-20) "That you may know. ... What is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, Which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all." (Ephesians 1:18-23) "God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are you saved;) And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-6) "And He called unto Him His twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease, and all manner of sickness." (Matthew 10:1) "Jesus Christ our Lord...was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." (Romans 1:3-4) "The Lord has said unto me, Ask of me, and I shall give You the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession; You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (Psalm 2:8-9) "Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knows us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God." (1 John 3:1-2) "He that overcomes, and keeps my words unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received of my Father." (Revelation 2:26-27) "Then spoke Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand still upon Gibeon; and moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed." (Joshua 10:12-13) "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." (1 Kings 17:1) "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are." (James 5:17) "You shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:8) "Thus says the Lord, The labor of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans men of stature shall come over unto you, and they shall be yours; they shall come after you; in chains shall they come over, and they shall fall down unto you, they shall make supplication unto you, saying, Surely God is in you; and there is none else." (Isaiah 14:14)
God is "the great King." (Psalm 48:2; Matthew 5:35) Man was made in His image, and was His son, so that he was created a prince. "Adam, which was the son of God." (Luke 3:38)
He was given dominion over the works of God's hands, but this dominion was not an arbitrary thing. Man was not merely appointed king, but he was made a king. The authority was in him. "There is no power but of God." (Romans 13:1)
Man in himself has no more power than the dust of which he is made; but since the everlasting power and Divinity of God are seen in all the things that He has made, (Romans 1:20) it was but natural that in the highest of God's creatures this power should be manifested in the highest degree. The royal authority that was given to man in the beginning was the fullness of God's presence in him.
God set man over the works of His hands. The works of God's hands are described in the 1st chapter of Genesis, and are mentioned in Hebrews 1:10. They include all that God made in the beginning. "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. ... And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." (Genesis 1:26,28) "You, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands." (Hebrews 1:10) "You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor, and did set him over the works of your hands: You have put all things in subjection under his feet." (Hebrews 2:7-8)
It was no small dominion that was given to man.
• The heavens and the earth that were made "in the beginning" were put in subjection under his feet.
• The fish of the sea, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air were to obey his will, and to come and go at his command; and
• The very earth itself was to be subject to him.
This is plainly set forth in the texts quoted. It seems almost incredible that such power was given to man, yet we are bound to believe it, because God's Word tells us so. Why should we not be glad to believe it? For "Whatsoever God does, it shall be forever." (Ecclesiastes 3:14)
Nevertheless we do not now see all things put under man. On the contrary, we see man for the most part weighed down under the burdens of this earth. Why is this? It is not of God's appointment. Man sinned, and lost the glory with which he was crowned. His authority consisted solely in the righteousness which God's presence gave him; and when he rejected the Lord and lost the righteousness, he necessarily lost the dominion. The scepter of Christ's kingdom is a scepter of righteousness. "But unto the Son He said, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of your kingdom." (Hebrews 1:8)
But Jesus tasted death for every man, and because of this He is crowned with glory and honor. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (Hebrews 2:9)
This crown He has as man, for it was as the Son of man that He tasted death for every man. Therefore as man He now has the dominion which God in the beginning gave to man. All power in heaven and in earth is in His hands. (Matthew 28:18)
Remember that this power is in His hands as man,--the representative man,--for as God He had it all before He ever came to earth. God had never given up His right as Lord over all, and it was not necessary that Christ should come to earth to establish this claim; what He came for was to become man, and as man to win back what man had lost. "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." (1 Corinthians 15:21)
Christ was "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." (Romans 1:4)
He was the Son of God before He was raised from the dead, just as much as afterwards, (See Matthew 3:17) but it was the resurrection from the dead that demonstrated the fact. It was by the Spirit of holiness that He was raised. He was raised because as the Son of God He was holy.
This same Spirit of holiness--the Spirit of adoption--God has given us, so that we are sons of God, (Romans 8:14-15) even as Jesus Christ is. "It does not yet appear what we shall be;" (1 John 3:2) the world does not recognize us as sons of God, just as it did not recognize Christ as the Son of God; but the resurrection will prove the fact. The resurrection will not make us sons, but will make the fact evident to all.
Jesus Christ, having been raised from the dead, was raised "above all principality and power, ... not only in this world, but also in that which is to come." (Ephesians 1:21)
The world to come is the new earth, and it was the new earth over which God in the beginning gave man dominion. Christ, therefore, as the Son of man, having by the Spirit of holiness that dwelt in Him been shown to be also the Son of God, has the very same dominion that man in the beginning had as the son of God. And this He has for every man, since "by the grace of God He tasted death for every man." (Hebrews 2:9)
Therefore in Him we are raised to the dominion which man lost through sin. It is true that we do not now see all things in subjection under man, that is under all mankind, yet it is a fact that this dominion is given to those who are in Christ. If they do not exercise it, it is because they do not realize "the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." (Ephesians 1:18) "He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and He has set the world upon them." (1 Samuel 2:8)
Evidences of the reality of this power as a present possession have when occasion demanded been seen not only in the Man Christ Jesus, but also in those who were His followers. To all it is said: "You shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you." (Acts 1:8)
The Lord wishes us to understand that Jesus of Nazareth was not a unique specimen, but that He was God's idea of what every man ought to be. It is only as one comes "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, [that he is] a perfect man." (Ephesians 4:13)
Jesus said: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (John 14:12)
There was no power manifested in Jesus that has not also been manifested in some of His faithful followers. God is not partial with His children. "Unto everyone of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." (Ephesians 4:7)
We may none of us ever perform what are termed miracles, but we need the power nevertheless, for nothing less than the fullness of the power which God gave to man in the beginning, and which is now in "the Man Christ Jesus," (1 Timothy 2:5) can enable us to conquer sin and Satan. "Power and authority over all devils" (Luke 9:1) is needed by every person who overcomes, for we have the entire host to contend with. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12)
Thank God, this power is given to us!
I'm the child of a King,
The child of a King;
With Jesus, my Saviour,
I'm the child of a King.
--Hattie E. Buell, Hymn: A Child of the King, 1877.
--Present Truth, November 17, 1898.