Genesis 1:26-27 (TLB) “Then God said, ‘Let us make a man — someone like ourselves, to be the master of all life upon the earth and in the skies and in the seas.’ So God made man like his Maker. Like God did God make man … “

God made man in His image. When God made Adam and Eve, He made their spirit the predominate part of their being. They walked with God and spoke with Him spirit to spir-it, and they were clothed with His glory. God made man to have dominion over all the works of His hands. This dominion over the earth was to be exercised from a place of spiritual relationship with God.

Psalm 8:4-6 (NKJV) “What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him … You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.”

God’s design for humanity was to to be master of all life upon the earth, the skies and the seas. It is this deep sense of the original purpose of God’s design for us that made the Wright brothers believe they could design a plane to fly in the skies. It has moved people to explore the deepest seas and climb the highest mountains. God made us for mastery.

This mastery was to flow out of a close relationship with our Maker, who is Love. It is not a calling to dominate in a controlling spirit, but rather to lead, to love and to bless just as God does. He told Adam to fill the Earth and subdue it.

Subdue is a strong word. It was really a calling to bring the entire earth into the order and blessing of Eden. God had designed Eden as a paradise for man to live in. He told Adam to fill the entire earth and bring it into subjection. God’s heart has always been for man to live free, in relationship with Himself, and in paradise.

With nefarious intention, Lucifer, with Adam’s submission, injected sin into humanity and it brought chaos into paradise. It brought disease, death and destruction to the earth. It stole our freedom and our authority. Lucifer, the devil, took the authority that God made Adam to live in. He has been wreaking havoc over earth from that day to this. If this was God’s plan and will for man, He would have just done nothing and allowed it to continue forever. Instead, He sent His son as a savior and redeemer to remove sin’s dominance, to deliver us from satan’s power, and make us masters again.

Romans 6:14 NKJV “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

Colossians 1:13 AMPC “(The Father) has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

The beginning of restoration to the place of dominion for each of us is understanding that this is God’s purpose for our lives. He made us to have power over sin, over the devil and over Satan’s works. I pray you begin to realize today that you were made for mastery!

Jason Haskell is the pastor of New Creation Church in Craig and a missionary to the nations. He can be reached at: pastorjason@ncccraig.com.