Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Genesis 1:26-28 | Date: January 16, 2022 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

For your word, in Jesus’ name, amen. Amen. Thank you. All right. We are taking our time in the early chapters of Genesis. And I’m getting an echo here. Are you working on that? All right. Thank you. And we’re taking up some important topics. And today, we look at the topic of the creation mandate. And that is given in Genesis chapter 1, verses 26 to 28. It’s an important theme that takes us through the scriptures. And so I want to take our time with it this morning. Variously called the creation mandate, the dominion mandate, the cultural mandate.

Genesis 1, verse 26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'” And then it gives the account of that. “So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them,” and here’s the mandate, “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

All right, we’ve been looking at the superior dignity of man that’s portrayed for us in the creation account, Genesis 1 and 2. We’ve looked at that in some detail. And now we look particularly at that superior dignity of humanity in terms of the mandate that’s given to humanity at the very outset in verse 28. Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion over everything. So God made man in his image. As God’s image bearers, we are—the creation account portrays it this way, as we have seen—we are vice-regents, that is, kings serving under the great King. And we are to exercise dominion on behalf of the great King over all of creation. That, in essence, is the mandate. In verse 26, he says, “Let’s do this.” Verse 27, he creates the man and then gives the mandate: be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion over all of it. So this is the dominion mandate or the creation mandate or the cultural mandate, however you want to call it.

All right, then in Genesis 2, we begin the narrative of the initial exercise of this dominion that was given to humanity. First of all, we notice it in terms of agriculture, chapter 2, verse 15. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and to keep it. Then verses 18 and following, we have his dominion. We have a problem? All right. His naming the animals is not just a standalone paragraph, but it’s part of a larger paragraph where he was looking for a companion. And in making these distinctions among the animals, he’s able to see clearly that he cannot find companionship among the animals. He needed something else, and so God made a woman. But again, the point here is that he named them, something they were unable to do. He’s the crown of creation. Superior dignity of humanity, he’s exercising his intelligent dominion over the created world.

Well then we come to Genesis 3, and of course we have the epic failure of Adam with regard to the mandate. What Adam should have done is protect his wife from the temptations of Satan. What he should have done is driven Satan out of the garden. What he should have done is said, “We are reigning here over this earth under God, the great King. And he said no, and nothing will change that. You out.” He should have exercised his dominion. He didn’t. We have this epic failure in Genesis 3, which, of course, out of that then comes the rest of the Bible.

But what we find then in chapter 4 is that the narrative of human dominion over the earth continues after the fall. So chapter 4, verses 1 and 2: Adam knew his wife Eve, she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I’ve gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. So here we have the creation mandate continuing in terms of multiplying and filling the earth. Chapter 4, verse 2 again: Abel was a keeper of sheep, Cain was a worker of the ground; so we have them in terms of agriculture and a herdsman. Chapter 4, verse 17: Cain knew his wife. She conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after his son Enoch. So here we have city building. You see the expansion now of the creation mandate. It’s working its way outward in various kinds of ways. So we have the multiplying, filling the earth, now building cities.

Chapter 4, verses 18 and following, we have the further descendants. Jabal: he’s the father of those—this is verse 20—the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. What do we have here? Nomads, herdsmen. Verse 21: Jubal, the father of all those who play the lyre and the pipe. So we have some kind of craftsmanship. The pipe made out of wood, I guess. Or is this some kind of metallurgy? If they’re playing musical instruments, we assume they’re singing songs, there’s poetry involved. So you see here the continual outworking of the creation mandate. Verse 22: Tubal-cain, the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. So here we have metallurgy of some kind. You see them exercising their dominion over the earth, using its resources for the purposes of human flourishing.

So in all of that we see—pull them all together—childbearing, farming, agricultural development, manufacture of tools, manufacture of musical instruments, building cities, shepherding, raising livestock, metallurgy of some kind; we have here exactly the creation mandate being worked out even after the fall in the early chapters of Genesis. Then chapter 5, we pick it up again. Verse 4: “The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years. He had other sons and daughters,” and so on it continues.

Two Broad Dimensions Of The Mandate

All right, well, there’s just a brief overview of the early chapters. Let’s look at the mandate again. What we have in the mandate—be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion over it, have dominion over the fish, the birds, everything that walks on the earth, exercise dominion over it all—there are basically then two broad dimensions of the mandate. They’re distinct, they’re inseparable, but they are distinct.

One, reproduction: fill the earth. By the way, the King James translation there that’s fixed in all of our memories, those of us who grew up with it, “be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth.” It’s not replenish; there’s nothing “re” about it. It’s fill the earth. So the newer translations have that better. So the first dimension of the mandate is reproduction—reproducing yourselves over and again, having children. And then two, working the earth, developing it for human use. Now in both of those—reproducing and in terms of working and developing the resources of the earth—in both of those you’re extending God’s rule. Well, that’s Genesis 1:28. Let’s look at these individually.

Reproduce

Number one, reproduce. Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth. The idea there is to extend God’s rule over the earth by means of multiplying his image bearers all over the earth. Now there’s something of that that is reflected in human history, particularly when there were kings and societies where there have been kings and monarchs and rulers. To give a really bad example of it, in communist China, you would see pictures of Mao all over the country. His image all over the country to remind you that he’s the ruler. Well, that’s a faint reminiscence of what God is saying here. Same in Stalin’s Russia and things like that; you have the reproduction of the image. You have it with ancient kings and you had it with Caesar, various rulers throughout history. But the idea then is to extend God’s rule by reproducing his image bearers all over the world.

Now, we should recall—we’ve mentioned this before—but recall that this assumes a binary humanity, male and female. And again, we’re back to that subject that we have seen before. This defines marriage. It defines one of the purposes of marriage. If anyone ought to be pro-children, it’s Christians. This is the mandate. Now, of course, there are exceptions to that. People marry when they’re older, people are unable, some are infertile, some are single. But as a rule, one of the great purposes of marriage is children. And Christians of all people ought to value children and support them and encourage them. All right then, the purpose—the first purpose of human existence—is to extend God’s rule over his entire creation, first of all, by multiplying.

Work Or Vocation

But we also extend God’s rule over all creation by—and this is the second dimension of the mandate—by work. Or what we’ll call vocation, and we’ll talk more about that in a second. Chapter 1, verse 28 again: subdue the earth. Have dominion over everything in the earth and over the earth itself. So work—and I think this is an interesting observation—work was a part of the original creation before the fall. There’s a dignity to work. Now after the fall, work takes on the dimension of toil and labor, and there’s the curse associated with it, but work itself was part of the original creation. It’s not just a result of the fall. In its first instance, there was a dignity to work because it was an exercise of dominion over the earth in developing its resources that God has given for the purpose of human flourishing.

So we have farmers, we have builders, we have explorers, we have doctors, we have teachers, we have painters, we have construction workers, we have miners, we have all of that, and in all of it, it’s an exercise of dominion, in a way, reflecting our Creator—not that we create ourselves, but in a reflection of that, we use our minds to further our purpose and goals and put the resources that God has given us to work to that end. So in essence, each individual image bearer is here—you take this little corner of God’s kingdom and develop it and use it. Exercise dominion over it. Don’t just work for work’s sake, but exercise kingship over the created order and rule over it to God’s glory.

Alright then, as God’s image bearers, we’re created to—if we put it this way—order the world, develop its resources, order the world for the purpose of human flourishing. Develop agriculture, explore the seas, mine the earth, develop products, manufacture things, make machines. I remember a number of years ago, I sent out an email to the congregation. I’ve done this on a couple of occasions, sent out a question: “Who can answer?” This was a number of years ago. I sent out a question to everybody on the email list and said, “Where does the Bible command us to build computers and gasoline engines?” And someone wrote back, “It’s Genesis 1:28.” It’s exactly it. It’s a specific application of the creation mandate.

I think involved in this is not just create things, but create a culture. Create a world that reflects the greatness of God and all of his generous provisions and put it to work for our use. Subdue it. Now, because “have dominion” and “subdue”—that kind of terminology, have dominion over the earth, subdue it—because particularly in our society that has offensive kind of overtones, it sounds harsh. Some have said that the Bible endorses the ruining of the environment. This is a passage that the green world particularly has trouble with. I think, first of all, that’s an interesting allegation to say that the Bible is opposed to the environment and it approves of mistreating the environment. I think it’s an interesting allegation just on the face of it because it is those societies that have not embraced biblical values that have most abused the environment. Think China.

But I think what’s obvious here is here you have the great King, God, assigning his image bearers as his vice-regents to develop the resources that he has given them to exercise dominion over the earth. And obviously what is involved is what we can call a benevolent lordship—responsible developing of the resources that God has given to us. Develop civilization. Manage the resources. Build up useful enterprise. Have children, farm, cultivate the earth, dig out the earth, find the resources. I think what we have here is endorsement for making medications, building machines. All of that is an outworking of the dominion mandate. And all of that by God’s image bearers using it for his glory as he’s intended it to be used.

All right, exercising dominion. This then is man’s—and this is an important word—this is man’s calling. To put it another way, this is man’s vocation. And this is the beginnings, this is the root of the Protestant doctrine of vocation. Vocation is a word that simply means calling. The root of the Protestant doctrine of vocation is found here. In the Roman Catholic Church, a calling, a divine calling, was for religious service. You’re going to be a priest or a nun. That’s a calling. But what the Reformers insisted on is that what the Bible teaches here is that everyone, as God’s image bearers, has a calling. An area of dominion in every believer—every person is called, but in particular every believer is called—to live out his faith in the exercise of his dominion over whatever corner of the kingdom that God has put him in.

So that might mean the family, in the home, it might have reference particularly to husband, wife, parents, children. But also in terms of the workplace, in terms of the culture. I think we have here warrant to say it is our responsibility to vote responsibly and intelligently, get involved in the culture, get involved in the society. All of this is involved. This is a shoe repair. This is all of that being developed for God’s glory. All of that in the Protestant doctrine of vocation, which grows out of this, all of that is life rendered to God. God has put me here to rule and exercise dominion over the earth, and whatever part of that that I have, I must do it responsibly.

So this includes blue-collar workers, white-collar workers, every dimension, every layer of society. This is, in a fallen world, this is exterminate the pests and protect from the criminals. This is all of that. Now we are to recognize God’s providence. Just like in the church in 1 Corinthians 12, for example, God gifts individuals sovereignly. We don’t all have the same gift and we don’t all have the same gifts to the same degree and all of that kind of thing. So also in the broader perspective, God gives us each our individual piece of the kingdom, as it were, and we’re responsible to develop it accordingly. Again, this is farmers, this is doctors, contractors, shoe repair, maintenance, engineers. This is all of that to be used for God in promoting human flourishing.

Now what this does—and this was the significance of the Protestant doctrine of vocation—what this does is it elevates all of life to worship. Now that’s why, this is part of why you find in the New Testament the worship vocabulary used not in terms of going to church, but the worship vocabulary is used in terms of life. Life rendered to God. Life given to him. And that has its root here. So in view of this, in view in all of this is the earth brought under the rule of God to his glory. Every job, every vocation. This is why Martin Luther famously said something to the effect of the mother changing the nappies can do it unto God and for his glory. This is part of the cultural, the creation mandate.

I think it’s important here for parents to recognize this and to teach their children the value of work. This is a pre-fall command. Exercise dominion. Teach them responsibility. Teach them that their work matters. Develop in the children an initiative to fulfill their created purpose, and then to feel the satisfying reward of doing it as well. Yes?

[Audience member]: Kids who have chores that they’re forced to do—I did this whole research—they are actually happier children, which our culture is so much “just give your kids what they want,” but God knows what we really need. In fulfilling our calling to have our kids have meaningful work, whether it’s a tiny job when they’re two of wiping their seat to as they get older, in obedience to that, our children are finding satisfaction and fulfillment.

Don’t you love it when a study comes out that shows what we already knew? Yeah, we’ve talked about that recently with regard to Jim’s kids as well. But the job description for humanity then is to—we can put it this way—Edenize the world. Extend God’s rule from the garden outward. To exercise dominion everywhere, develop its resources, and bring all of the world to use for us to God’s glory.

Now again, we have to account for Genesis 3 and the epic failure that was there. The dominion that Adam had was in a sense surrendered to Satan. And that’s why you find through the rest of the scriptures Satan described as the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air, things like that. When Satan, in the temptation of Jesus, said, “If you bow down, I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the world,” it was not an idle boast. They’re his. The rule has been surrendered to him in a very real sense. And so when we come to the New Testament in particular, this language of the dominion mandate is picked up with a particular gospel slant. And you find it in reference, for example, in the Great Commission. And we’ll get to that in a second.

But you do find the creation mandate continuing after the fall. Genesis chapter 9, God commands Noah: be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, same as he told Adam. This thing continues. So even after the fall, the creation mandate continues. And then you find it reflected in things like God’s promise to Abraham, Genesis chapter 12, Genesis 22: “I’ll multiply your offspring. I’ll make them like the stars and like the sand” and that kind of thing. I’ll multiply your offspring. You see the echo of the creation mandate there to fill the earth. We have that repeated not just to Abraham, but also to Isaac, to Jacob. “I’ll multiply your offspring.” And then we get to Exodus and we find in Exodus chapter 1 the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly and they multiplied, grew exceedingly strong. So the land was filled with them.

And then later you find a reflection on the creation mandate. This is an important Psalm. Psalm 8, David reflects on the creation mandate and offers praise to God that he has given this great dignity to man to rule in his place over all the earth. You’ve put all things under his feet. That’s David’s language. You put all things under his feet. That is picked up in the New Testament that we’ll see in a minute. But even after the fall, you have David, the king, glorying in the dignity that’s been given to humanity. You’ve made us a little lower than divine beings, a little lower than the angels, crowned us with glory and honor. Put all things under our feet. And David marvels that little old humanity has been given such great dignity. Contrast to the stars of the heavens and all of that, look what he’s done for us. So the creation mandate continues.

But then we come to the New Testament, and you find this quantum leap forward with it, particularly with reference to Christ. And several times in the New Testament, the apostles will pick up Psalm 8 and its reflection on the creation mandate in an important way. Ephesians chapter 1, for example, Paul speaks of the power of God at work in Jesus when he raised him from the dead and then exalted him to the right hand of the Father in heavenly places. Remember that’s Psalm 110 that we’ve been looking at recently. And he says he’s placed him far above all authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but in the age to come, and has—and here’s the language—put all things under his feet and given him as head over all things to the church.

So by the mediatorial exercise, a work of Christ, he now is able to exercise dominion over all things as we’ve been seeing lately in terms of Christ’s ascension and his taking the throne in terms of Psalm 110. In terms of what we’ve seen in Acts chapter 2 last week, Christ has taken the throne of the universe, and now he has succeeded where man has failed. And that’s exactly the kind of reasoning and language that the New Testament uses. Most famously in Hebrews chapter 2, the author there picks up the language of Psalm 2—and not only picks it up, he actually cites Psalm 8, I’m sorry. Put all things under his feet. You’ve given us this great glory and dignity. You’ve placed all things under our feet. But we don’t yet see all things under our feet; but we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor. So he is succeeding where humanity has failed.

This is the importance, part of the importance, of the incarnation. He has come as one of us to succeed for us where we have failed. And so now this dominion mandate in which humanity has failed is picked up by Jesus and for us, and as our representative and as our substitute, he achieves this dominion in perfection. So the mandate is not yet realized. But what we do have is that Jesus has taken that dominion and he will succeed perfectly in it. And that’s where 1 Corinthians chapter 15 takes it up in an important way. And there the context, you remember, is the resurrection of Christ, the resurrection of all believers when he comes. And then when he comes and returns and raises us from the dead, Paul gives that interesting little explanatory note, 1 Corinthians 15:25, for he must reign. So he comes, raises the dead, and he reigns over all things, puts down every last enemy. And then he gives this interpretive note explaining, for he must reign—and here he picks up Psalm 8—until he has put all things under his feet. And so here we have the great King, the image of God par excellence, reigning over all of the earth.

Now you add that to the promise that we have pervasively in the scriptures—Daniel chapter 7 and other places in the New Testament—that we shall reign with him. And now we find the creation mandate realized in Jesus and then by us as well sharing in his reign. Now that raises, in turn, another, I think, fascinating question, and that is, what will the eschaton look like? When we get to the end, all things have been done, we’re in the eternal state, the new heavens, new earth, what will that look like? What are we doing? We sit around on a cloud and play harps?

Well, if you look at it in terms of this cultural or this creation mandate that was given and the command to develop the resources and subdue the earth and all of that, you’ve got to wonder: will work continue in the eternal state? Now the idea of toil and labor will be gone, of course, but will this be a back to Eden and beyond kind of thing? Or will it continue to exercise dominion over the earth? I can’t say it is, but I think there are some hints to that. You have it in the book of Revelation, chapters 21 and 22, where the nations bring their glory into the kingdom. Each of the nations bringing their glory. Here you have ethnicity and the particular contributions of each culture adding us, as it were, some dimension to the glory of that kingdom? I suspect something like that is involved.

But anyway, there is then the creation mandate. And you can see, as we’ve seen on several things here in the early chapters of Genesis, this is, in a sense, protology. This is telling us up front what it’s going to be like in the end. And this defines human existence now. And it also points ahead to the end, what things will be like then. All right. Any questions? Yes.

[Audience member]: Given the speakers who will be ministering and using the projection behind us, in November and December, we opted to move the pulpit furniture to the side and to try to do connections, the proper audio and visual—