«　WEEK 1　DAY 3　»

　　Gen. 1:26 And God said,…Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

　　Luke 10:19 Behold, I have given you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

　　God created a corporate man to exercise His dominion (Gen. 1:26-28)….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.

　　An image is an expression….The invisible God desires to be expressed….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. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 78)

　　Man must have dominion over all things on the earth, the field of Satan's activities. Satan is very active on the earth (Luke 4:5-6). So, here in Genesis 1:26 it especially says that man may have the dominion “over all the earth.” The earth has been usurped by Satan. Thus, it needs to be ruled over by man, God's representative.

　　Remember that the sphere of God's dominion which He committed to man includes three sections: the seas, the dwelling place of the demons; the air, the place where Satan and his angels are; the earth, the field of Satan's activities. When the Lord Jesus was on this earth, He had to deal with Satan, fallen angels, or demons wherever He went. That was why the Lord Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves during a storm. The wind came from the fallen angels in the air and the waves came from the demons in the water. The Lord told the wind, “Stop” and the waves, “Be calm.” Immediately the wind ceased and the waves were calm. The fallen angels and the demons were subdued and overruled by the Lord Jesus. If we know how to read the Bible, we will see in the four Gospels that the Lord Jesus exercised God's authority over the seas, the air, and the earth. This is the sphere of God's dominion which He committed to man.

　　The first aspect of God's intention [in giving man dominion] is to deal with His enemy,….Satan, typified by the creeping things (Gen. 1:26). In the Bible, the creeping things are demonic, devilish, and Satanic….Satan is typified by the serpent (Gen. 3:1). In Revelation 12:9 Satan is called the “ancient serpent.”

　　We need to express God and to deal with Satan in our home life…. I have learned this by experience. Sometimes, when I saw Satan expressed in the members of my family, I did not say a word. I went to my bedroom, knelt down, and prayed, “Lord, bind the serpent.” A number of times I realized that I myself was expressing the serpent. Again I ran away to pray, “O Lord, forgive me. Bind the serpent.” On many occasions, the divine authority of God is not exercised. The evil power of Satan is expressed instead…. We all must realize that today God has this double goal to accomplish—to express Himself and to deal with His enemy. It is not really your husband who loses his temper. It is the serpent. It is not really your wife who says something to provoke your temper. It is the serpent. Do not deal with the husband and do not deal with the wife. It is not their fault. We must deal with the serpent that is behind them. Exchanging words can never deal with Satan. The more we argue, the more Satan gains ground. The only way to deal with Satan is to go on our knees, pray, call on the name of Jesus, and ask Him to bind the serpent. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 79-80)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msgs. 6-8; CWWL, 1972, vol. 2, “The Kingdom,” ch. 7