Who has Dominion over the Earth – God or Man?

There’s a lot of talk about dominion these days, and some comes from a bunch of false teachers. I think it’s an important subject, considering the depth of false teaching out there.

In Genesis 1, God gave Adam dominion over the animals – fish, birds, livestock and wild animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground. Some translations include the phrase “over all the earth,” which – in Hebrew – typically means the land.

So, yes: God gave Adam dominion over the earth.

But wait: there’s more!

That’s not the whole story, though. Certain false teachers claim that God gave Adam dominion – which is true – and so God no longer had dominion. That’s false. Here are a few verses that show it’s false:

• Dominion and awe belong to God. (Job 25:2)
• Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth? (Job 38:33)
• Dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. (Psalm 22:28)
• Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. (Psalm 103:22)
• Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion. (Psalm 114:2)
• Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. (Psalm 145:13)

False teachers – mostly Word of Faith teachers – claim that God GAVE dominion to Adam and Eve, who LOST dominion when Satan tricked them. They then say that Jesus REGAINED dominion from Satan, and – because Jesus is human – RESTORED mankind’s sole dominion over the earth. Based on this false teaching, they claim that God needs our permission to act on earth.

For a simple and clear example, here’s what false teacher Myles Munroe taught:

God could do nothing on Earth, nothing has God ever done on Earth, without a human giving him access. So he’s always looking for a human to give him power permission. In other words, God has the power, but you have the permission. God has the authority and the power, you’ve got the license. So even though God could do anything, he can only do what you permit him to do.

This is false. As you can see in the verses above, all of which were written after the Fall in the Garden of Eden, God still has dominion. It’s not either/or… it’s not that either God has dominion or we have dominion. It’s both. God gave us freedom and responsibility for the animals and the land… that doesn’t mean God was locked out of His creation. It’s like when a parent gives a child responsibility for their pets, or for their bedroom. The parents purposely share responsibility, but they are still in charge.

Does that make sense? False teachers claim that God is powerless on earth, and needs our permission to enter. The Bible says otherwise, and it’s wise to stick with what the text says. I’m sure you’d agree with that.

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