God Has Given Us The World
Jesus created this earth, but God wanted to have man and woman rule over it and subdue it. We find this in:
Genesis 1:26-28 (NASB)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
We also see it confirmed in:
Psalm 115:16 (NASB)
16 The heavens are the heavens of the Lord,
But the earth He has given to the sons of men.
In Psalm 8:4-6, we see we are to rule over the works of God’s own hands:
Psalm 8:4-6 (NASB)
4 What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
In Luke 10:19 Jesus gives out His authority for Believers to do just this. Indeed after the cross Jesus went to hell to take back the keys. Those were the keys that Adam and Eve originally forfeited to Lucifer (Satan) in the Garden of Eden when they betrayed God by sinning against Him by accepting the temptation of the devil himself.
Now it is up to us Believers to use this authority, to subdue the earth, that earth that God GAVE to man to run and have dominion over. People often say “God’s in control”. If He was in control, the world would already be perfect, since every good thing comes from above (James 1:17). He put US in charge of this earth, and that may explain to you and I why the earth is in the state it’s in. Yes, we are living in a fallen world, but that does not mean we should leave it the way it is.
God has given us the world, so let’s you and I make a difference. Jesus had good reason to tell His disciples to pray this way: for God’s Will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Why else would we need to pray this if God’s Will was already being done on earth by default? It is plain to see that God’s Will is not always accomplished.
You can make a difference, laying hands on one person a day, you can make a difference speaking life into someone through love. You can make a difference, and you have been anointed to do just that! (Isa 61). This is no pep talk, this is serious business. People’s lives are on the line. To top it all, it’s a commandment of Jesus to do this from the Great Commission (Mark 16:14-20):
The Disciples Commissioned
14 Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. 17 Thesesigns will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.]
[And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]
