Ⅱ
God needs man to recover the earth—Gen. 1:26, 28; Matt. 6:10; Rev. 5:10:
A
Man was created by God to have dominion over the earth, to subdue it, conquer it, and thereby recover the earth for God—Gen. 1:26, 28.
B
God's intention in giving man dominion is to subdue God's enemy, Satan, who rebelled against God—vv. 26, 28:
１
Subdue in Genesis 1:28 implies that a war is raging on earth between God and His enemy, Satan; whoever gains the earth will have the victory.
２
God has a problem, and this problem is Satan, the archangel who rebelled against God and became His enemy in the universe and especially on the earth—Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-18:
ａ
In order to subdue His enemy and thus solve His problem, God gave man authority to rule over all things created by God—Gen. 1:26.
ｂ
Man especially must rule over the earth and even subdue the earth because the earth has been usurped by God's rebellious enemy—v. 28.
ｃ
God needs man to exercise His authority over all the creeping things and to subdue and conquer the rebellious earth so that God may recover the earth for His kingdom—Matt. 6:9-10; Rev. 5:10.
３
God wants to use man to deal with His enemy, and He created man for this purpose; God wants His creature man to deal with His fallen creature Satan—Gen. 1:28.
４
If we do not restore the earth from the hand of Satan, we have not yet achieved God's purpose in creating man to subdue the earth and have dominion; we need to deal with Satan and recover the earth for the benefit of God and to satisfy His need—v. 28; Matt. 6:9-10.
Morning Nourishment
Gen. 1:28 …Fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.Rev. 5:10 And have made them a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth.
Two words in Genesis are very meaningful. One is subdue in Genesis 1:28, which can also be translated “conquer.” The other is keep in Genesis 2:15, which can also be translated “guard.” We see from these verses that God ordained man to conquer and guard the earth. God’s original intention was to give the earth to man as a place to dwell. It was not His intention that the earth would become desolate (Isa. 45:18). God desired, through man, to not allow Satan to intrude upon the earth, but the problem was that Satan was on earth and intended to do a work of destruction upon it. Therefore, God wanted man to restore the earth from Satan’s hand. (CWWN, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” p. 9)
Today’s Reading
Some may ask: Why doesn’t God Himself cast Satan into the bottomless pit or the lake of fire? Our answer is: God can do it, but He does not want to do it Himself….God wants to use man to deal with His enemy, and He created man for this purpose. God wants the creature to deal with the creature. He wants His creature man to deal with His fallen creature Satan in order to bring the earth back to God.Many times the work of saving souls is not necessarily the work of God. Saving souls solves the problem of man, but the work of God requires that man exercise authority to have dominion over all things created by Him. God needs an authority in His creation, and He has chosen man to be that authority. If we were here just for ourselves as mere men, then all our seeking and longing would be to love the Lord more and to be more holy, more zealous, and save more souls….These things are [good but are] concerned simply with the benefit of man; God’s work and God’s need are entirely neglected. We must see that God has His need….Thank God that He has committed the ministry of reconciliation to us, but even if we have saved all the souls in the whole world, we have not yet accomplished God’s work or satisfied God’s requirement. Here is something called God’s work, God’s need. When God created man, He spoke of what He needed. He revealed His need to have man rule and reign over all His creation and proclaim His triumph. Ruling for God is not a small thing; it is a great matter. God needs men whom He can trust and who will not fail Him. This is God’s work, and this is what God desires to obtain.
Brothers and sisters, this requires us to pay a price. We know how the demons can speak. A demon once said, “Jesus I know, and with Paul I am acquainted; but who are you?” (Acts 19:15). When a demon meets us, will he flee or not? Preaching the gospel demands that we pay a price, but a much greater price must be paid to deal with Satan.
This is not a matter of a message or a teaching. This requires our practice, and the price is extremely great. If we are to be men whom God will use to overthrow all of Satan’s work and authority, we must obey the Lord completely and absolutely! In doing other work it matters less if we preserve ourselves a little, but when dealing with Satan, we cannot leave one bit of ground for ourselves. We may hold on to something of ourselves in our study of the Scriptures, in preaching the gospel, in helping the church or the brothers, but when we are dealing with Satan, self must be utterly abandoned. Satan will never be moved by us if self is preserved. May God open our eyes to see that His purpose demands that we be wholly and absolutely for Him. A double-minded person can never deal with Satan. (CWWN, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” pp. 10-12)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “Fulfilling God’s Purpose by Growing in Life and Functioning in Life to Build Up the Church,” ch. 1