Walking in Dominion
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 and over the birds of the heavens and over
the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to
them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion
over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living
thing that moves on the earth.”
The word dominion means "to rule or have power over." God has sovereign power
over his creation and has delegated authority to man to have dominion (Genesis
1:26).
As we begin this sermon I want us to understand this morning what it means to
walk in dominion.
Jesus Christ has all the power in Heaven and on earth.
Portion of this power has been given to us those who believe in Jesus Christ.
Mark 16:17-18 says it, “17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in
my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will
pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not
hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
As believers in Jesus Christ you and I are expected to walk in dominion in every
area.
Dominion means power, authority or control over something or someone.
Dominion is the ability to request or command and expect a fulfillment of that
appeal.
Dominion is to rule, to be in charge.
Now God puts man in The Garden of Eden.
When God puts man in the garden, what does He say to him?
Look what Genesis chapter 1 verse 28 says:
It says: And God blessed them, and said to them: Be fruitful and multiply; fill the
earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of
the air, and over all the beasts that move on the earth.
And it is here where I see the purpose for which I was created.
We have 5 functions for which we were created.
HE blessed them, and said to them: BE FRUITFUL, MULTIPLY, FILL THE
EARTH, SUBJECT IT, AND RULE IT..
Repeat with me.....BE FRUCTIFUL! MULTIPLY! FILL THE EARTH!
SUBDUE IT! AND HAVE DOMINION!
For these five things I was created.
You and I were born with this.
How do we know we are in God's purpose?
It is when we see that we are functioning under these five things.
So what was man created for?
Man was created to have dominion!!!
Repeat after me....DOMINION!!!!
Now I do want you to think that dominion means going around and commanding
and demanding things whenever you want.
Dominion means that when God tells you to do something you know that you have
the authority of God to do it.
See I want you to understand that there is a difference between ability and
authority.
See many many have the ability to do something but the question is do you have
the authority to do it.
Ability- refers to a person's natural or learned skill or capacity to perform a task,
Authority- refers to the legitimate right or power to make decisions and give
commands
We have to stop thinking that we have dominion because of ability. No we have
dominion because of authority which comes from the Kings of Kings and the
Lords of Lords.
If you are taking notes I want you to write this down. Dominion is only effective
when it aligns to the will of God.
This is not about what you want. This is not about your will. This is about the will
of God.
Dominion is understanding that yes it is IN YOU but it is THROUGH HIM.
Dominion is knowing and understanding that you can do what God said you can
do.
Dominion is having what God said you can have and be what God said you can be.
That means that when Adam sins he does not lose his salvation.
So what did he lose?
When Adam sinned he lost a kingdom!!!
As the man God chooses loses the dominion and the kingdom, God has to choose a
family.
For what reason?
To do what God originally wanted man to do......
Which Family? Noah’s Family
Let’s go to Genesis 9:1
Look what it says: God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: Be fruitful
and multiply, and fill the earth.
He tells him the same thing he told Adam.
Now he chooses this family for them to take dominion over.
And that was what Adam lost. Dominion!
The flood ends, and God tells Noah the same thing he told Adam.
But what happens? God tells him to fill the earth (the whole earth) and he goes and
plants a vineyard.
And from the fruit of the vineyard he makes wine.
And he gets drunk from that wine.
In such a way that he takes off all his clothes.
You know the story.
The thing is that his son (Ham) sees him naked and makes fun of him.
And when Noah finds out in the morning.
Noah curses his son.
And by cursing his son he returns and goes outside of God's purpose.
But God doesn't stop there.
A man fails and God chooses a family, the family fails and God chooses a Nation.
Look at what Genesis 12:2 says: And I will make you a great nation, and I will
bless you, and I will magnify your name, and you will be a blessing.
He says the same thing to Abram.
Look what he says to him in verse 3: I will bless those who bless you, and those
who curse you I will curse; and all the families of the earth will be blessed in you.
He tells ALL the families of the earth.
All!!!!!
God chooses Abraham to establish a nation. So that Israel is the example of living
under the order of a king, and that is God. And through that nation may they be a
blessing to all the families of the earth.
Exodus 19:6 says: And you will be to me a kingdom of priests and holy people.
He tells him, you are going to give light to the nations.
And what do they do?
They go and look for a king. The same thing again.
Then God decides to do it Himself.
Because first he chose a man, then he chose a family, then he chose a nation.
Then God decided to come down himself.
And when he came down his mission was to establish the church.
And now that He chooses the church.
So what happens is that many do not understand Jesus' work to establish the
Church.
He tells his people he came and they did not receive him.
But to all who received him he gave the right to be called children of God.
So when Jesus says to Peter...IN YOU I WILL ESTABLISH MY EKKLESIA
(CHURCH)
I wasn't thinking of a place like this full of people.
Because we know that this place is not only the church
We are the church
And until we understand that we are the church
We will not be able to do the church function.
Church Let's Walk in Dominion!
Now here lies the problem.
Many of us want to have dominion but don’t know how to conquer our own selves.
Dominion begins in you. You will never be able to exercise power and authority
over anything until you have conquered yourself.
We have people who are in spiritual warfare rebuking the demons and Satan
himself but until you don’t learn to conquer your flesh you will never be a match
for the enemy.
And God is telling you today that if you want to have dominion make sure you
have dominion of yourself.
Take control of yourself. I’m talking about everything. MIND, SPIRIT, MOUTH,
ATTITUDE.
No one can walk in dominion unless he is first connected to Christ, who alone is
worthy to give dominion to those that believe in Him.
Power vs Authority
So Jesus Christ came and restored our power and authority. Power and authority
are two different things. The devil still has power, but he does not have power over
the believer because the believer has authority.
Let's use a football analogy. Players have power, but the referee has authority.
The enemy stole from man his power and authority and he still wants you
to believe that he has power over you, but that is a lie!
