Faith on Earth? – What’s it all about? – Part 1

Dominion – by Good or by Evil? – Christian or Humanistic?
Too many Christians today have a very abbreviated view as to what Christianity is all about. They see it as being saved, living for Jesus and going to heaven when they die. They fail to grasp the true significance of what it means to “live for Jesus” and to be a Christian in this world. “Faith on Earth?” fills in the missing elements but I’ll try to capture the essence of it here.
The Dominion Mandate
It all began right at the beginning of the world. Just after God created man on the sixth day, He said “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 moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Adam and Eve were told to have children, to fill the earth with—as we learn later—God-fearing and God-obedient men and women. In other words, they were told to make this world, what we would call today, a Christian world. This is known today as the Dominion Mandate.
Sadly, they failed to even begin to carry out the “Dominion Mandate.” Instead of obeying God they listened to and believed the Serpent (Satan). They decided to be their own gods, or what today we would call humanists. Sin in the form of humanism entered the world and the entire human race was subjected to Satan but God held out hope for us. He said that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). This, we learn later in Scripture, is a reference to Christ. He is the seed of the woman and He crushes the head of the Serpent through His sacrifice on the cross.
But God at this same point also said that He would put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the Serpent. This reference is not just to Christ but includes all that are in Christ, that is, all Christians (Galatians 3:16,19,29). So what we see here is a division of the world into two classes of people, those that believe God and are in Christ (the seed of the woman) and those that do not believe but instead follow in the way of the Serpent. There are no other categories, no middle of the road types, no halfway Christians.
God places enmity between these branches of humanity; He sets them in opposition to each other. He knows that we have a tendency to seek compromise, to work out a middle way where each side gives a little and we find a (supposedly) happy middle ground. But this is not God’s way. There must be no working out of compromises between good and evil. The good must remain pure and the wicked must, by contrast, clearly see their wickedness.
The Great Commission
Four thousand years later the second person of the Trinity humbles Himself and takes on the human nature. He becomes the sinless God-man, goes to the cross and bears the sin penalty of all those that believe in Him.
This brings into being the branch of humanity referred to earlier as the seed of the woman. They are the redeemed, the forgiven, the justified persons, all true Christians, the body of Christ. Christ’s act is the central event in history; it reflects both forward and backward in time. There are both Old and New Testament saints. The division of the world population into the two seeds, something previously only anticipated, is now brought into being.
Soon after, Christ, speaking to the eleven disciples and by implication to His entire body, gave them His marching orders. He told them that He now had power over all things and they were to go out and teach His nations, the nations under His authority, to obey all His commandments (Matthew 28: 18-20). In other words, they were to do what Adam and Eve failed to do, make this a Christian world. There is no escaping the clear intent of this passage; nothing less than a Christian world is in view. God’s plans are never frustrated, where the first Adam failed, the second Adam, Christ will succeed (1 Corinthians 15:45). Christ’s personal work is fulfilled but much remains to be done. The world population needs to be converted and the nations subdued to Christ’s’ rule. This He has delegated to His body, to the seed of the woman, to all Christians.
Are you a true Christian? If so, your sins have been forgiven, you have been adopted by God and are now a member of God’s royal family. You have the gift of eternal life. You have been blessed beyond any degree you could ever possibly have imagined. You are now a member of the privileged segment of the human race that God referred to as the seed of the woman. You have been born again and are spiritually alive (John 3:1-6). The rest of the world’s population are dead spiritually and remain under Satan’s dominion (Colossians 1:13). It is you that Christ has called to take dominion over the earth, to do what Adam failed to do. This is your responsibility, the work your Lord and Savior has called you to, the great purpose He has given you and blessed you with.
See part 2 to see why this is not an impossible task, why it has been virtually abandoned, and why it will be fulfilled one day.