Subdue It

Genesis 1 cont’d:

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them;

 male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.

After God created male and female he blessed them, with this blessing – to be fruitful and increase in number (that, we’ve done) – and to fill the earth and subdue it (this, we haven’t).

He then tells mankind to rule over the fish and the birds, and over every living creature.  Can you imagine living in a world where we have no fear of swimming with sharks, where birds aren’t a nuisance but a welcome guest at our table, and where baby lions play with our children?  That’s crazy to think about, right?

And yet, God gave us that directive when we were created.  And we can see now, in hindsight, that not only did sin separate us from our holy Creator, it messed up the role we were to play on the earth – to subdue it and rule over it.  So for centuries, our battles with the earth and all that lives in it are ongoing, and we live in fear and dread, and we suffer by being ruled over, instead of ruling over.

This is the hope we have of heaven, because God in his mercy will restore all things to that which he intended them to be.  We will no longer be bitten by ants at picnics, swat flies in the summer, or cover up at night in fear of a disease-biting mosquito.  That was the life he intended, and that is the life that will be…