God richly blessed Adam. He was created in the image of God (Gen 1:27), he was given dominion over the creatures and the earth (Gen 1:26), he had dominion over death (Gen 2:9), and he had a relationship with God such that he communed regularly with Him (Gen 3:8). But this wasn’t enough. Adam’s desire to become even more like God (Gen 3:5) caused him to lose it all when he disobeyed God. This resulted in Satan taking dominion over the earth, over death and becoming prince of this world (John 14:30). Thus, Adam and all mankind lost greatly, with the greatest lost being separated from God (Gen 3:26).
But God was still in control, and He was not done with mankind. His plan prior to the fall included a means for mankind to be restored in their relationship with their Creator as well as taking back dominion of the world. His redemption plan was accomplished through His Son Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ was obedient to the Father by leaving heaven and coming down to earth in human form. He was obedient by not caving in to the temptation that Satan offered Him (to obtain this same dominion) if He would bow down and worship him. Christ was obedient in living the perfect life, and finally becoming the perfect sacrificial Lamb. All of this to regain the dominion back from Satan and provide us the ability to reestablish a personal relationship with the Father.
While we await the full exercise of Christ’s dominion, we can say with confidence that the Son of God regained authority over the entire cosmos (Matt 28:18). Christ boldly proclaimed that nothing will prevail against His Gospel (Matt 24:14), His sheep coming to Him and receiving eternal life (John 10:27–28) or His church prevailing (Matt 16:18). Praise be to God, He is in control of everything!
Joel Jundt
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