EXERCISING DOMINION

EXERCISING DOMINION – 1: Gen.1: 24-28

God created man at the beginning as the crown of his creation

God blessed man

Part of that blessing was for man to exercise dominion on God’s behalf over other works of
creation

Dominion means sovereign authority or the right or power to govern and control. It also means
ruler-ship

At the beginning, man exercised dominion over all works of creation until sin came in

It was not part of God’s plan that nature and other works of creation should dominate or rule
over man, the crown of His creation

Man lost his dominion because of sin. Man’s case is a case of sold birth-right!

However, this dominion is part of the redemptive rights restored back to us by Christ Jesus
when we become born again – 2Cor.5: 17

Every man who turn to God and serve Him can still exercise this dominion in a measure until
Christ returns to restore all things fully

Examples of men who exercised dominion in Scripture:

1. Noah – exercised dominion over all (wild) animals at the time of the flood – Gen.
2. Moses – exercised dominion over the forces of nature in Egypt and at the Red Sea –
Exod.3, 4 & 14
3. Joshua – parted River Jordan and led Israel across; caused sun & moon to stand still –
Josshua 3, 4 & 10
4. Samson & David killed lions and bear with bare hands – Judg.14 & 1Sam.17
5. Samuel bought down thunder from heaven when he prayed – 1Sam.12
6. Elijah brought down fire and rain from heaven when he prayed, he was fed
supernaturally, divided River Jordan and raised the dead – 1Kg.17, 18 & 2Kg.2

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7. Elisha divided River Jordan, increased widow’s oil, healed bitter water and poisonous
stew, made axe swim and raised the dead – 2Kg.2, 4, 6 & 13
8. Isaiah caused the sun to go backwards – 2kg.20
9. Shedrach, Meshach & Abednego were not hurt in the fiery furnace – Dan.3
10. God shut the mouth of the lions and they became friendly with Daniel in the Lion’s Den
– Dan.6
11. The Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated clearly to us how to live in dominion. He started His
miracles by turning water to wine and rapped it up by overcoming death when He rose
triumphantly from death on the 3rd day after He was crucified and buried
12. Jesus Christ now restored back to us our lost dominion – Jn.14: 11-14. Many of the
disciples exercised this dominion and also, everyone who believes in Him – Mk.9: 23.
We can key into this redemptive provision of God also and begin to exercise dominion
henceforth.

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EXERCISING DOMINION – 2: EXERCISING DOMINION IN THE BATTLES OF
LIFE - Ps.144: 1; 1Sam.30: 1-20; 1Chron.14: 13-17

David fought several battles in the Bible. These are only typical examples

There were other battles fought by others in the Bible also e.g. Moses at the Red Sea (Exod.14),
Joshua at Jericho (Josh.6) & the Judges (Gideon's army in Judg.6-8) & other kings (e.g.
Jehoshaphat - 2Chron.20)

David testified in Psalm 144: 1 that God taught his hands to war & fingers to fight

He needed to be guided as per what to do, when to do it as well as where & how to go about
things in carrying out his warfare

His success majorly depends on the guidance he received from God

Life is sometimes described as a battle

However peaceful you may be, there are times others will draw you into battles

But when we belong to God, He stands by us & with us so that our battles become His battles

There are times to fight & also times not to fight at all. We then need to wait on God so He would
teach us what to do each time we are drawn into or face a battle - 2Chron.20: 17

We need God's help also to know when, where & how to fight if we must fight at all

As Christians, we face a different kind of warfare altogether. Our battles are spiritual in nature -
2Cor.10: 3

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The weapons of our warfare are spiritual in nature also - 2Cor.10: 4-5

We must be aware of this (i.e. The spiritual nature of our warfare & weapons) & learn to follow
God's guidance & guidelines strictly in order to be victorious & successful in battle

We therefore must be sensitive & obedient to the Holy Spirit at all times & be humble &
teachable to be guided by Him. He is our Commander-in-Chief and The Lord of hosts – Ps.24: 7-
10

It is only as we do that we shall exercise dominion and be victorious in battle like David. We
shall also testify like him both individually & as a congregation – 2Sam,5: 10; Ps.18:29; Ps.60:12
& 108: 13

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EXERCISING DOMINION - 3: THE SPIRITUAL NATURE OF OUR WARFARE -
Esther 1-10 ; 2Cor.10: 3; Eph.6: 10-12

It has been said already that life itself is a battle as we are constantly involved in warfare

There are two sides to the battles of life. Lots of these battles are spiritual in nature & not
physical

Lots of things happen behind the scenes both in the physical & spiritual realms

But invisible things control the visible & spiritual control the physical

These are the major lessons of the stories in the Book of Esther

Please, take note that no mention was made of God in this story; Satan was not mentioned too
but they were both behind the scenes. They are both behind the scenes of our lives also.

God is a Spirit & always express Himself through men; Satan always seek to express himself
through men also. So, the Bible enjoins us to yield ourselves to God & not Satan

Angels & demons are spirit beings also that are constantly involved in the battles of our lives

There are no accidents or co incidents with God. God is involved & in control of the
circumstances of our lives if we allow Him - Ps.37: 23; Rev.3: 20

Our status, position & privileges in life come from God & must be used for Him. They are part of
God's tools & weapons to equip us for the battles of life - therefore avoid the mistake of dividing
your life into spiritual & secular segments

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Physical riches are different from spiritual ones. Before God, wealth or riches are not always
measured in cash or material gains. e.g. Joseph, Naaman's house maid, Esther, Mordechai,
Daniel

Every position in life comes with certain rights & privileges. Look beyond these 'spoils' of office
and focus on the job God wants you to do & do it! - Jn.9: 4

Eventually in the end, we shall give account to God how we have used these these things i.e. our
grace, gifts, statuses, positions, rights and privileges and our wealth

In the end, we are judged as failures if Satan and his hosts - the forces or powers of darkness are
ruling or dominating where we are.

Satan targets leaders! Leadership is important in spiritual warfare because it involves lots
decision-making & power-play that cover lots of people

Let us target leaders not for money or material gains but to influence them & their decisions for
God

Those who are close to leaders especially their wives are very important & are also targets of
Satan because they influence leadership decisions e.g. Eve, Esther, Job's wife, Pilate's wife,
Ahab's prophets, King Ahasuerus' aides, Ahitophel, etc

Generally, women are powerful & a wife & mother in particular! There is no need for any tussle
between husbands & wives in marriage or men & women generally. We both have our places &
roles in life. Be yourself!

Fasting and prayer (personal & corporate) are mighty & major weapons in spiritual warfare.

We need each other. There is power in corporate, united prayer!

Thoughts & burdens are important; words too. Never ignore your thoughts & burdens & don't be
careless with your words

We must be bold, courageous, determined & full of faith. With God on our sides, little David's
can kill Giant Goliath just as little soldier ants can kill giant snakes -

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To exercise dominion & win the battles of life, we must be bold, courageous & determined.

EXERCISING DOMINION - 4: THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE - 2Cor.10: 3-4;

Ephe.6: 10-12

I. Facts About Our Warfare:

1. We are in a war
2. Our warfare is spiritual in nature because we wrestle not against spiritual forces
3. We have weapons given by God to prosecute our battles. These weapons are not
physical or carnal just as our warfare is not carnal also
4. These weapons are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds
5. Our victory in Christ if we use these spiritual armour & weapons He has given us
is sure & certain

II. Our Armour & Weapons:

1. Belt of Truth
2. Breastplate of Righteousness
3. Shoes of Preparation of Gospel of Peace
4. Shield of Faith
5. Helmet of Salvation
6. Sword of The Spirit
7. Prayerfulness & Watchfulness

1. Belt of Truth:
Truth is a spiritual weapon that serves as belt that holds the other weapons together. Without it,
everything else falls apart. Truth is important in the following sense –
a. Truth sets free – Jn.8: 32
b. Truth sanctifies – Jn.17: 17
c. This truth is found in the Word of God – Jn.17: 17
d. The truth of the Word of God renews – Rom.12: 2
e. Truth is bitter but we must endure it if we must be safe in spiritual warfare e.g. Peter’s
confession in Jn.6: 68-69
f. Jesus is the Truth – Jn.14: 6; Satan is a liar and father of lies – Jn.8: 44
This is a major reason why Jesus usually would not allow demons to testify about Him. The
Bible is our primary source of all information about life; all other sources of information
however good are secondary – Rom.3: 4

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 2. Breastplate of Righteousness:
Righteousness is right standing with God. We have no righteousness of our own but it is given to
us freely by God through faith in Jesus Christ – Isa.64: 6; Ps.32: 1-2; Rom.5: 1; Eph.2: 8-9
However, we must keep what we are given by consciously practicing righteousness – 1Jn.1: 9; 3:
8-10. This we do by being sensitive to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, constantly confessing
any known sin and repent of them in order to keep a clean account with God and have a clear
conscience. Those who don’t practice righteousness have seared conscience and are vulnerable
to spiritual attacks – 1Tim.4: 1-2; Eccles.10: 8
Righteousness serves as a breast plate to shield our hearts from the fiery darts of Satan

3. Shoes of Preparation of Gospel of Peace:

People can know the Gospel in many ways e.g. Saul/Paul through personal supernatural
encounter with Christ (Acts 9) but most people hear the Gospel through believers who preach to
them - Rom.10:13-14. Every believer has been sent to preach the Gospel – Matt.28: 18-20.
Preaching of the Gospel itself is spiritual warfare & protects the believers in major ways:
i. Preaching the Gospel is the major way by which we directly depopulate the kingdom of
Satan.
ii. By preaching the Gospel, we declare our identity as Christians. This then makes it
difficult for agents of darkness to invite us to join them and also makes it difficult for us
to misbehave.
iii. As we go around preaching the Gospel, God watches over us and protects us as His
valued workers to ensure we are not injured – Zech.2: 8. Satan is portrayed in Scripture
as a serpent and it is only Christian whose feet are covered with shoes of the preparation
of the Gospel of peace can tread over him and his cohorts and not be hurt or injured.

4. Shield of Faith:
Faith is substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen – Heb.11: 1. It is
accepting something as true that cannot be proved by human logic or reasoning. How can
anyone take refuge in God and be free from Satanic attacks in the first place if he does not
believe in God? – Heb.11: 6; Ps.91: 1-1-4. That is why we start the Christian life by being born
again – Jn.3: 3. We also keep up spiritually as we daily believe and follow instructions given to
us by the Holy Spirit – Rom.8: 14. We use this “Shield of Faith” to quench the fiery darts of the
enemy from piercing our hearts. Such darts include lust, pride, guilt, fear, doubts, depression,
despair, confusion, sickness, etc.

5. Helmet of Salvation:
Salvation is to deliver the soul of man from sin and its consequences both now and eternally. It
is also to saved or protected from the consequences of sin which includes sorrows, sicknesses
and demonic attacks. This salvation is found only in Christ Jesus through the preaching of the
Gospel – Acts 4: 12; Heb.5: 9; Rom.1: 16. This salvation is a free gift by grace from God
through our Lord Jesus Christ – Eph.2: 8-9. We only get saved by confessing our sins to God,
renounce them and accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour – 1Jn.1: 9; Rom.10: 9.
Every animal dies once the head is cut off but the “Helmet of Salvation” protects us from God’s
eternal wrath and judgment and also from satanic attacks presently.

6. Sword of the Spirit:

The Word of God makes known His laws, will, plan, purpose, and authority from the beginning
till now – Heb.1: 1-2. These words are Spirit and life – Jn.6: 63. The Word of God constitutes
the Sword of the Spirit – Heb.4: 12; Rev.19: 5a. The Lord Jesus demonstrated how to use this
Sword of the Spirit in spiritual warfare by quoting the written word to resist temptation from

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Satan (Matt.4: 1-11; Jam.4: 7b). Satan tried to quote the Scripture wrongly to Jesus but failed
as Jesus is the personification of the Word of God and could not be deceived – Jn.1: 1-2. As
Christians, we must then know the Word of God (i.e. Jesus Christ and what He has said and
written to us) intimately. This why we daily study the Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit –
Josh.1: 8’ Matt.4: 4; 2Tim.2: 15; Col.3: 16. We must believe and use the word of God by
quoting it at all times directly to confront and affect our situations and circumstances as Satan
and his demons only respect and respond to the Word of God and not the words of any man.
That is the only way to release the power of the Holy Spirit; it is “Word over matter” and not,
“mind over matter.” As is being wrongly taught in positive thinking

7. Prayerfulness & Watchfulness:

Prayer is conversation with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy
Spirit both in thoughts and words. Prayer can be short (Matt.14: 29-30) or long (Lk.6: 12),
silent (1Sam.1: 13) or very loud (Ezra 3: 11-13), by one person (Jonah 2: 1-9) or by a great
multitude (Acts 12: 5; Rev.5: 11-14), in a known tongue or in an unknown tongue (1Cor.14:
14-15). There different kinds of prayer too e.g. Praise, Worship, Thanksgiving, Supplication,
Petition, Intercession, Prayer of Agreement, Binding and loosing, etc. Every Christian must be
able to effectively use all these forms of prayer in spiritual warfare in order to succeed. It is also
expected that we should be watchful as we pray both to God’s responses or answers and also
against the wiles of Satan – Matt.26: 41. We can also get tremendous spiritual power released
when we couple our prayers with fasting – Mk.9: 29. Prayer then, no doubts is part of our
spiritual weapons as Christians – Lk.18: 1; 1Thess.5: 17; Jam.5: 16a. Surely, God answers
prayers!

III. They Must All Be Used Together To Be Effective

IV. The Need To Be Strong – of what use is any weapon in the hands of a
weak or lazy man

V. Conclusion: Our Victory is Guaranteed, Sure & Certain if we use our

armour & weapons as recommended by God