创一28　　…要繁衍增多，遍满地面，并制伏这地，也要管理海里的鱼、空中的鸟、和地上各样行动的活物。

　　启五10　　又叫他们成为国度，作祭司，归与我们的神；他们要在地上执掌王权。

　　在创世记里有两个辞是很有意思的。一个是一章二十八节的“制伏”，也可以译作“征服”；一个是二章十五节的“看守”，也可以译作“守卫”。在这里我们能够看见神是派人征服地、守卫地。神的本意是要把地给人居住，而不是要地荒凉。（赛四五18。）神要人不许撒但侵犯地。但是问题就是因为有撒但在地上，撒但要在地上作破坏的工作，所以神要人把地从撒但的手下收回来。（倪柝声文集第二辑第十四册，一一页。）

　　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)

　　有人问说：神为什么不自己把撒但扔到无底坑里去，扔到火湖里去？我们的答复是神能够这样作，但是神自己不作。…神要用人对付祂的仇敌。神为着要对付祂的仇敌，所以造人。神要受造的“人”对付受造而堕落的“撒但”。神所要用的是受造的人。

　　许多时候，救人的工作不一定是神的工作。救人，是解决人的问题；而神的工作是要人掌权，是为着治理神自己所造的万物。在神的造物中，需要一个掌权者，神就是拣选人来作这一个掌权者。我们如果只是为着我们人的话，那我们所有的追求，就不过是盼望我这个人能够更爱主，我这个人能够更圣别，我这个人能够更热心，我这个人能够救人的灵魂。这一切固然都好，但…都是顾念人得着好处，并没有顾念到神的工作，神的需要。…我们感谢神，神将劝人与祂自己和好的职分赐给了我们。但是，另一面，我们就是把全世界的人都拯救来了，我们还有一个神的工作没有作，神的需要还没有满足。在这里还有一件事，叫作神的工作，神的需要。神在造人的时候，就说出了祂的需要是什么。神给我们看见祂的需要就是有人能够掌权，能够管理祂手下的造物。管理不是一件小事，乃是一件大事。神需要有可以托付而不出事情的人，这就是神的工作，这就是神所要得着的。

　　弟兄姊妹们，这是需要代价的！我们知道鬼会说话，鬼曾说，“耶稣我认识，保罗我也知道；你们却是谁？”（徒十九15。）问题就在这里：鬼碰着你，鬼逃不逃？固然，传福音需要代价，但是，对付撒但是更需要代价的。

　　这并不是一篇道理，这是需要实行的，代价是非常大的。如果神要人去推翻撒但所有的工作和权柄，我们就非得完全地、绝对地顺服主不可。我们作别的工作，为自己留下地位，关系还小；但是，对付鬼魔的工作，是一点没有法子为自己留下地位的。我们能留下自己读圣经，留下自己传福音，留下自己帮助召会，留下自己帮助弟兄，但是，对付撒但，就不能留下自己。你要留下自己，你就推他不动。愿意神开我们的眼睛，使我们看见，神的目的是要我们绝对的为着祂。三心二意的人没有法子对付撒但。（倪柝声文集第二辑第十四册，一一至一四页。）

　　参读：李文集一九七○年第一册，借着在生命中长大并在生命中尽功用而建造召会，以完成神的定旨，第一章。

　　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