What is God's dominion mandate? Why is it important? and what principles can we learn from the past to walk in Christ's dominion?
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Genesis 1:1 states: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth
- The statement identifies when, who, how and what
- The statement is silent on answering one thing. Why?
- The question why? Can be subsequently found in Genesis 1:27-28 which states “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 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”
In Genesis 1:27-28 The Lord reveals his desire to extend his dominion from heaven to earth through man. Man’s sole purpose on the earth was to expand the dominion of the kingdom of God through his legacy
- The word dominion means “rule or power over.” God has sovereign power over His creation and so delegated authority to man to have dominion over the creation.
- David reinforces this truth when he states in Psalm 8:4-6, 115:16
“What is man that You are mindful of him,And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet”
"The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth has he given to the children of men"
Since dominion was the mandate forfeited by man in his rebellion. It presupposes that the priority of the kingdom is restoring what was lost.
Dominion through biblical history
- The bible records a journey from a garden in genesis to a city in the book of revelations
- The OT focuses upon the promises to Abraham and the rise of a nation made up of twelve tribes of Israel within the land of Canaan
- The OT also records the fall of this nation and the subsequent promise of a future king and kingdom
- What was foreshadowed in the OT is realised in the NT
- The NT begins with the good news of the arrival of the King of kings and an invitation to seek and enter his kingdom
- After his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension the gospel expands of the kingdom beyond the limits of Israel and invites every tribe and nation to enter into the Kingdom of God
- Colossians 1:13 states: Who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the Kingdom of his Son
- 1st Peter states; You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people that should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light
- Romans 8:19 states our present condition: For the earnest expectation of the creature (earth) waits for the manifestation of the sons of God
IMPORTANT: The earth is waiting for YOU to manifest Christ's dominion NOT a religion.
In this session, I am going to provide you with principles to help you see how this dominion might be manifest through you.
The change curve
- The Change Curve is a well known model used to understand the stages which people go through when managing change
- This model is useful in a scenario where people do not have the power to change their circumstances and must adapt to their situation
- However this model becomes redundant when we face circumstances which are contrary to God’s will
- A different model is required to help us stand for the faith in the midst of adversity
The dominion curve
- The Dominion Curve is a model used to understand the stages citizens GROW through whilst resisting changes which are not consistent with God’s sovereignty
- This model sources from principles and examples provided through the scriptures
- We will be looking at the life of Moses to observe these principles in action
Revelation
Exodus 1: 22 “Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
Exodus 2:2-3 “When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.”
Acts 7:20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child."
- Moses was born under an oppressive regime.
- This regime existed solely for one purpose.
- To hinder the full expression of God’s dominion on earth by wiping out Israel's legacy
What can we learn from this?
- You were born into a world, a system where life has already been predefined by someone else
- You were born again to disrupt the status quo of this world by expressing God's dominion
- Like Moses, many of us are born into abnormal and unusual circumstances, your circumstances are the birth pangs to bring us into maturity
- Like Moses you are not ordinary.
Realization
Acts 7:23-25 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defence and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realise that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not"
Luke 17:21 "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you"
Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”
Dominion began to arise on the inside of Moses and make him a restless man.
He could no longer continue to live under the rule of Pharaoh enjoying the luxury of wealth built upon bondage.
Hebrews 11:24 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter”
What can we learn from this?
- Dominion is inside of you and you won’t have peace until it is manifest
- Matthew 6:24: There is a point in your life where one power must be superseded by another
- Like Jacob, the wrestle begins when the kingdom arises
Resistance
Exodus 2:14 “The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become known"
Acts 7:23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian"
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
- Moses didn't understand who was the real enemy was.
- Having grown in the stature of Egyptian ways, Moses did not possess at that time an understanding of how God would expresses dominion
- His calling and convictions were not enough. He needed to be COMMISSIONED from the sovereign Lord to engage with the enemy
What can we learn from this?
- However much you have been called, and your convictions are true. You must seek the Lord for commissioning
- Ephesians 6:13-18 “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”
- One who has been commissioned does not put on his armour for personal fights. He wears it to go into battle on behalf of the King to fight for the nation
- Are you wearing your armour? If so why? And who is the actual enemy your fighting?
Reformation
Exodus 3:1-4 “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt”
Exodus 3:1-4 “And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
Exodus 4:2-3 “And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it” And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.
Psalm 91 1-2: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
- Moses needed to see beyond that which was in front of him. He needed to possess a sight which comes through hearing God’s words directly
- Romans 10:17 “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God”
- Moses was afraid of the snake in the presence of the God whom had made it alive
What can we learn from this?
- You must press beyond what you see until God’s words lighten your soul with his vision and enlarge your coasts
- Beholding the face of God will develop in us the boldness and courage to face and stand up to men
- If we are reluctant to engage offensively with earthly authorities and powers this only serves to highlight our immature perception of our heavenly stature
- We must understand that the Lord uses the secret place to reveal and address our hidden fears
- The secret place reveals the scope of his sovereignty and that all things are his servant
Reconciliation
What are you prepared to stand and see...
So often when we think of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt we think of the climactic moment when the red sea opens and Pharaoh's army are destroyed.
- We forget to consider what Moses endured seeing the economic destruction of a nation round about him
- We must be prepared to see the destruction of systems along with the deliverance of people
What can we learn from this?
- The revealing of God’s dominion will cause the destruction of governments and the fall of economic systems
- Exodus 12:37-38 "The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds"
Note: If you had witnessed the destruction of Egypt wouldn't you have left with the Israelite's?
Restoration and restitution
Exodus 6:6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment"
Deuteronomy 7:1 "When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you"
Dominion = Delivered from to enter and possess.
What can we learn from this?
- Moses understood that whilst he was a representative of deliverance. Many men would be representatives of governance and possession
- Israel left Egypt as slaves and entered canaan as a nation of citizens
- You cannot possess alone, possession comes through the unity of the body seeking to expand governance
- We must see to it we do our best not to lose anyone on the journey
- Only two from the original exodus entered Canaan
- The adults died in the wilderness due to disobedience
- The children raised in the wilderness entered the land under Joshua
