I am a believer in the Holy Bible’s account of creation and for me, the book is not about religion, it is a template for meaningful and impactful living that honours God and serves people. Today, I will be delving extensively into a template that was established right after man was created. The first man, Adam was created prepackaged with a purpose and an innate software for dominating his environment.
The mandate and the empowerment to succeed in it were delivered in one statement God made in Genesis 1:28, “And God BLESSED them, and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, 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…’” In the most part, this scripture is used during weddings and naming ceremonies to try and establish the purpose of marriage from the angle of biological reproduction. Indeed, it has been the basis for reckless childbearing for many who believe that this declaration by God is an open cheque for having as many children as the man’s loins can sire or as the woman’s womb can carry. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
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Remember that at the time that this declaration was made, Eve was not even in the picture yet! The dominion mandate that God gave to man at creation serves as a template for every human being and their inherent assignment on earth. There are six parts to the mandate.
First, it is preceded by a blessing. God doesn’t commission what He has not empowered. The ease of function comes with the enablement for accomplishment. With men, capacity is supplied after the assignment is given. With God, the empowerment comes before the assignment. His blessing is on you fully in Christ through the Holy Spirit. The disciples were empowered before they could become witnesses. This is the first guarantee we have of possibilities and success in our calling. God commissions only what He has empowered. If you are a leader of people, there is a great lesson here. Never delegate an assignment that you know you cannot empower the delegate to execute. It is wickedness and a deliberate setting up a subordinate to fail when you ask him to do something, but you withhold the necessary authority to carry it out and he has to always come back to you at every stage, just because you want to prove your indispensability.
Next is the command to be fruitful. How can there be fruit if there is no seed? Why didn’t God first say, “be seedful”? Seed is a reflection of inherent capacity to reproduce after a kind. It is the encapsulation of yet untapped possibilities. You can count the number of seeds in an orange, but you cannot count the number of oranges in a seed. The seed for everything you would ever become on earth is already inside you. It is in the creative ideas that God gives you on a regular basis. Call it flash of inspiration. Call it revelation. It is the wellspring of encoded VALUE that translates into tangible solutions (fruit) to problems in the universe.
Without it, there is no creative enterprise. The mandate to be fruitful is simply a command to add value to what is already in seed form to produce a tangible evidential result that is of benefit to creation. This is the very basis of entrepreneurship, CREATING solutions to problems. Use the seed of your inherent God factor to generate ideas that CREATE VALUE. Sometimes, the seed can be around you. The command is the same. It takes the seed to generate a harvest. A seed cannot produce a meal. It can only be multiplied to produce fruit before it can be of significant value to anyone. A productive person who constantly creates value can never be stranded anywhere under the sun.
Which brings us to the next instruction, “Multiply”. This speaks of replication several times over. It’s about amplifying in numbers. One seed produces many fruits, which, in turn, produce multiples of seed. An orange seed can produce fruits which reproduce more seeds that, in turn, produce an orchard and more in time. In contemporary language, it is about the COMMUNICATION of value created, using every possible platform of awareness creation. The more vocal you are about a value created, the more you are able to attract the attention of those who need it. You do it and talk about it. If it’s not worth talking about, don’t venture into it. If it doesn’t excite you enough to be its ambassador, you cannot succeed in selling it to someone else.
In addition, God said, “Replenish the earth”. This word has a French root “plein,” which means “full.” Replenish speaks about filling up over and over again (re + plein). The implication of this is that the created value is CONNECTED to people who can tell others until the environment is saturated with the knowledge of it. The more people can connect with a value proposition, the greater its market potential. People buy emotionally first before they commit economically. As more and more people tell positive stories about their experience with a product, those they tell simply take their word for it and give it a try. If they too are “converted”, they go and tell others until the product goes viral.
“Subdue it”. Another word for this is “control”. In contemporary language, you can only control what you are willing to evaluate. CONTROL is the means by which you, through a feedback mechanism, examine faults, applaud success and work on internal mechanisms that enhance further success. Control tells you what to eliminate and what to do more of. You cannot CORRECT what you don’t control. Every farmer understands the power of pruning in enhancing productivity.
Finally, God said, “Have dominion….” This is the reward or the COLLECT factor. Dominion is where respect is commanded because you and your product have become a voice that cannot be ignored in the marketplace. It is the measure of IMPACT and SIGNIFICANCE that makes your life an attraction, the manifestation that the whole of creation has been yearning for. This is not about domination of others. It is about a distinction that makes your environment and circumstances bow to you and the God you represent.
Jesus modeled this in His earthly ministry. If it was about biological reproduction, then He himself failed on that score. He came with the blessing (empowerment) of the Father with the message (seed) of the Kingdom. He sowed the seed first in 12 people and then to multitudes (fruit and multiplication). From time to time, He taught His disciples by instruction and correction (discipleship) to make them more effective (control/subdue). He exercised dominion over all of nature and over sickness and disease as He made them pay tribute to God’s agenda.
What is God’s seed in you?
Find it.
Develop your capacity.
Be productive with it.
Project it.
Spread the fragrance of God’s grace and gifts in you to others until your world is filled with it.
Your dominion awaits!
Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!
and then