THE CROSS: A SYMBOL OF DOMINION I

Text: Isa. 53:6

“All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

In Gen. 1:28, God charged man to have dominion. “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”. This dominion includes the birds of the air, the things that creep upon the earth and everything created by God. So, man was created to have dominion over the planet earth. When man was created, he was given the Lord tenancy over the planet earth.

The creation of man was a subject of consensus. “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.” The triune God was involved and active in the creation of man. The devil didn’t like it. Many times people will ask the question, ‘why is there spiritual warfare?’ Long ago, Lucifer was the worship leader in heaven, a very handsome being created by God. He had influence, an angel, he was outstanding in many ways amongst the other angels. At a point, he said in his heart, that he was going to be like the most high. His position as a created being, an angel, was no longer good enough for him. With this plot in his heart called the five ‘I wills’ of Lucifer found in Isaiah 14:12-14, God executed the necessary judgment against him. God called it rebellion, a sort of coup d’état.

Lucifer rebelled against the divine order and wanted to take a position that was not meant for him and so God banished him and sent him packing. A third of the angels who were sympathetic to his cause, were also banished. That was the origin of rebellion. When God now decided to create man, God on his own decided to elevate man to be like him. This is the best place to start if you really want to understand the salvation package – the pre-Adamic age. What the devil desired to the extent of plotting a coup d’état in his heart was what man got on a platter of gold without even asking for it – that initiative of God to make man after his own image and likeness. That marked the beginning of the hatred that the devil has for man. That hatred has continued and will continue until the return of Christ.

TO BE CONTINUED………