Genesis 1:26 And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Clearly Adam first, and potentially all of his descendents, were created in the image of the Sovereign God to rule. In fact. the first words that Adam heard were “Have dominion”. Man was given total dominion over all physical nature on earth (to subdue it), and all living creatures on earth (this would include all zoological life, from viruses, bacteria and amoeba to the largest animals, birds and fish on earth.
In Genesis 2:15, Adam was specifically instructed to tend the perfect Garden into which he had been placed, and by implication to expand it to fill the earth. To do that, he had to guard it, keep it, defend it against demon-infested beasts like the serpent that entered the Garden, and which he should have dealt with, in obedience to the command he had been given, and using the authority he had been given. For the beings placed under man’s authority included Satan and his demons. Thus man was created to dominate the devil. He was told to tend and keep (guard) the garden . He should have used this authority to guard the garden from the enemy. Man in God’s image was designed to express dominion just like God – by speaking WORDS of faith and authority (thats how we dominate the devil today – by our WORDS).
However rather than speaking God’s word to Satan – dominating him and sending him away, Adam submitted to Satan’s words and came under the curse (the dominion of darkness). Satan became the god of this world after Adam had handed him his authority. (Satan maintains his dominion if he can deceive man into thinking and speaking and speaking his thoughts of hate, bitterness etc).
So Adam lost his dominion over Satan, but praise God, the Second Adam (Jesus) came. Untainted by sin, He said that the devil had nothing in him and no power over him. He showed us what it was like to walk in DOMINION. He demonstrated how man was meant to live. He dominated demons, casting them out with a word. He rebuked sicknesses and they fled, and even rebuked winds and waves, and they obeyed at once.
The basic reason why man cannot exercise authority over Satan is that through sin he lost his position of RIGHTEOUSNESS with God. He was not in God’s Kingdom and so had no legal standing against Satan – in fact he was in Satan’s kingdom. For this situation to be changed, man needed to be FORGIVEN and JUSTIFIED (declared RIGHTEOUS WITH GOD). Only then could he stand against Satan and bind him.
We thank God that Jesus not only displayed and demonstrated the authority originally given to Adam, but He paid a heavy price to enable us to regain our standing of RIGHTEOUSNESS WITH GOD. Now, if we are born again, and believe God’s Word, we can expel Satan from any and all of our circumstances where he has intruded.
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