Gen.1:26-28 (NKJV)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over [a]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that [b]moves on the earth.”
Dominion is not exploitation; it is stewardship under God’s authority.
Humanity is commissioned to:
1. Cultivate Creation
(“Subdue it” – Hebrew: kābash)
This command does not mean to dominate violently or exploit selfishly.
In Scripture, kābash means to bring under responsible care so it can flourish.
Humanity is called to:
- Work the earth without destroying it
- Manage resources wisely, not wastefully
- Improve creation while preserving its integrity
Cultivation means partnering with God to help creation reach its intended potential.
Importantly, work existed before the Fall.
This means work is not a curse, but a calling — the curse affects how we work, not why we work.
Work is not a curse—misaligned work is.
Applications of Cultivating Creation
1. In Work and Vocation
- Do your work in a way that adds value rather than extracts value only
- Refuse shortcuts that damage people, ethics, or the environment
- See your profession as a field God has entrusted to your care
Work becomes worship when it serves God’s purposes, not just personal gain.
2. In Business and Economics
- Build businesses that are sustainable, not exploitative
- Steward capital, talent, and opportunity responsibly
- Measure success not only by profit, but by long-term impact
Cultivation asks: Does this grow life—or only numbers?
3. In Leadership and Ministry
- Develop people, don’t merely use them
- Create systems that allow others to grow, not burn out
- Leave people and organizations healthier than you found them
Leadership that consumes people violates the mandate of cultivation.
4. In Creation Care and Daily Living
- Reduce waste and practice responsible consumption
- Care for the environment as God’s property, not ours
- Teach the next generation to respect what God has made
Stewardship reflects trust; exploitation reveals entitlement.
5. In Personal Life and Formation
- Cultivate your own soul through discipline, rest, and growth
- Don’t exhaust what God intends to mature over time
- Honor limits—because flourishing requires boundaries
2. “Be fruitful and multiply” – Develop Culture
Fruitfulness in Genesis is more than reproduction.
It includes:
- Language, art, education, technology
- Social systems, family structures, and community life
- Creativity that reflects God’s image in humanity
Human beings are not just earth-keepers; they are culture-makers.
To develop culture is to express God’s creativity, wisdom, and order in human civilization.
Culture becomes fallen when it is detached from God—but culture itself is God-ordained.
Applications of Developing Culture
1. In Education and Formation
- Teach not only skills, but values, wisdom, and character
- Shape minds to love truth, not merely information
- See education as forming people who can think, create, and serve
Education is culture-shaping, not value-neutral.
2. In Arts, Media, and Creativity
- Use creativity to point toward truth, goodness, and beauty
- Resist cultural narratives that normalize degradation or despair
- Create art that heals, inspires, and elevates human dignity
Art reflects worship—either of God or of lesser things.
3. In Technology and Innovation
- Develop technology that serves humanity, not replaces it
- Ask not only “Can we?” but “Should we?”
- Ensure innovation aligns with ethics, responsibility, and stewardship
Technology is a tool; culture determines whether it blesses or harms.
Human beings are created in the image of God—not machines, not tools, not systems.
Technology is part of human creativity and culture-making, but it is never the image-bearer.
Technology is meant to extend human capacity, not eliminate human responsibility.
When technology replaces humanity:
- Efficiency replaces wisdom
- Automation replaces relationship
- Convenience replaces character
This reverses God’s design, where tools serve people—not people serving tools.
What “Serving Humanity” Means
Technology serves humanity when it:
- Assists human decision-making without removing moral accountability
- Enhances communication without eroding relationship
- Improves productivity without destroying meaning or vocation
In Scripture, tools are always servants, never masters.
4. In Family and Community Life
- Build families that model love, faithfulness, and responsibility
- Cultivate communities marked by trust, hospitality, and mutual care
- Pass values intentionally to the next generation
Culture is transmitted relationally before it is taught formally.
5. In Work, Business, and Leadership
- Shape workplace culture that honors people over mere performance
- Establish norms of integrity, excellence, and accountability
- Understand that every organization is a cultural environment
Leaders are culture architects—whether intentionally or not.
Understand that every organization is a cultural environment
- Values are taught not only by vision statements, but by daily practices
- What leaders tolerate quietly becomes culture quickly
- Systems, habits, and decisions communicate “what really matters”
6. In Faith and Public Life
- Engage culture thoughtfully rather than withdrawing or conforming
- Bring biblical wisdom into public conversations with humility and courage
- Live as a visible witness that God’s design leads to flourishing
3. “Have dominion” – Hebrew: rādāh
Biblical dominion reflects God’s kingship, not tyranny.
God rules by:
- Order, not chaos
- Life, not destruction
- Blessing, not oppression
Therefore, human dominion means:
- Creating systems that promote justice and peace:
Dominion under God builds structures where authority serves people and power protects the vulnerable.
Applications:
- In leadership: Design policies that are fair, transparent, and accountable—not personality-driven.
- In business: Practice ethical decision-making even when profit is at stake.
- In ministry: Create environments where people are shepherded, not pressured.
- In daily life: Use influence to defend those who cannot defend themselves.
2. Turning Chaos into Order
From the beginning, God reveals Himself as the One who brings form to formlessness and meaning to confusion. Dominion means continuing God’s creative work by taking responsibility for disorder and shaping it into life-giving structure.
Exercising dominion is not avoiding chaos, but courageously engaging it and transforming it through wisdom and discipline.
Applications:
- In leadership: Provide clarity of vision, roles, and priorities when others feel lost.
- In work: Organize processes so people can work with excellence, not exhaustion.
- In family: Establish healthy rhythms, boundaries, and values.
- In personal life: Replace reactive living with intentional discipline.
3. Advancing life, dignity, and beauty
God’s rule always results in life, blessing, and restoration. When dominion reflects God’s kingship, it multiplies life rather than consumes it, and it restores dignity rather than diminishing it.
True dominion is proven by the growth of life, the preservation of dignity, and the cultivation of beauty under one’s care.
Applications:
- In leadership: Measure success not only by results, but by whether people grow healthier and stronger.
- In business: Create products, services, and workplaces that enhance human dignity.
- In ministry: Prioritize transformation over numbers and appearance.
- In culture: Promote what is true, good, and beautiful instead of what is merely popular.
Dominion is exercised rightly when leadership produces flourishing for others, not power for self.
This is why Scripture consistently condemns rulers who exploit rather than shepherd.
Humanity is not the owner of creation, but God’s appointed steward.
Dominion means serving creation on God’s behalf, not using it for selfish gain.
Dominion is not the right to exploit creation, but the responsibility to steward it so that life, beauty, and order increase under God’s authority.
Work is not a result of the Fall—it is part of the original blessing.
Image of God and the Dominion Mandate (Genesis 1:28)
Being created in the image of God (tselem Elohim) is inseparable from the dominion mandate. In Genesis 1, God does not first give humanity authority and then call them His image; He gives authority because they are His image.
“Let us make mankind in our image… and let them rule…” (Gen. 1:26)
“Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen. 1:28)
In the ancient world, an “image” represented the authority of a king in his territory. Genesis applies this royal language to all humanity: to bear God’s image is to exercise God’s rule on His behalf. Dominion, therefore, is not domination or exploitation, but representation—extending God’s wise, just, and life-giving order into creation.
This means:
- Image precedes authority — we rule because we represent God
- Authority is delegated, not possessed — we act under God, not as God
- Dominion is stewardship — caring for creation as God would care for it
The dominion mandate explains why image-bearing matters practically. God places His image-bearers throughout the earth so that His character, values, and order would be made visible everywhere.
Theological Insight
Dominion without image-bearing becomes oppression.
Image-bearing without dominion becomes passive spirituality.
But when image-bearing and dominion stay together, humanity fulfills its original calling.
Sermon-Ready Summary Lines
- We do not rule to define ourselves; we rule because we represent God.
- Authority is not a privilege to exploit, but a responsibility to reflect God.
- God entrusted dominion to humanity so that the world would experience His rule through His image-bearers.
The dominion mandate is not about power—it is about representing God faithfully in the world He loves.
The dominion mandate means:
1. Work Is Sacred
Work is not a post-Fall punishment but a pre-Fall calling.
Before sin entered the world, humanity was already commissioned to cultivate, steward, and develop creation (Gen. 1–2).
Work becomes sacred because:
- It flows from being created in God’s image
- It participates in God’s ongoing creative activity
- It serves God’s purposes, not merely human survival
Work is sacred when it is done in alignment with God’s design, not merely for personal gain.
Implication:
Every honest vocation—business, education, art, governance, homemaking, ministry—can become an act of worship.
Applications:
1. Reframe Your Daily Work as Calling, Not Merely Career
Stop seeing work only as a way to earn income or status.
See it as a field God has entrusted to you for cultivation.
- Ask daily: How does my work serve God’s purposes and bless others?
- Approach tasks with faithfulness, not resentment.
2. Pursue Excellence as Worship, Not Perfection for Approval
Because work reflects God’s character, it deserves care and excellence.
But excellence flows from identity—not insecurity.
- Do your work well even when unseen.
- Resist cutting corners when integrity is tested.
3. Reject the Sacred–Secular Divide
God is not only interested in “church work.”
He is Lord over every honest vocation.
- Stop ranking jobs as more or less spiritual.
- Honor business, education, art, and homemaking as holy callings.
4. Work to Add Value, Not Merely Extract Reward
Sacred work seeks fruitfulness, not exploitation.
- Ask: Am I leaving people, systems, and resources better than I found them?
- Measure success by contribution, not only compensation.
5. Practice Rhythms That Honor God’s Design
Because work is sacred, it must also respect God-given limits.
- Embrace rest, boundaries, and Sabbath rhythms.
- Refuse productivity that destroys your soul or relationships.
6. Offer Your Work Intentionally to God
Work becomes worship when it is consciously surrendered.
- Begin workdays with prayer: “Lord, receive my work today.”
- View challenges as opportunities to trust God’s wisdom.
2. Leadership Is for Service
Dominion reflects God’s kingship, not worldly power.
God rules by giving, sustaining, and blessing life—never by exploiting it.
Therefore, leadership under the dominion mandate means:
- Authority exists to serve those under it
- Power is exercised to protect, not to control
- Influence is measured by flourishing, not fear
Influence is measured by flourishing, not fear means that leadership is proven by the growth, health, and maturity of people—not by how intimidated, dependent, or controlled they become.
In practice:
- Fear produces compliance; flourishing produces commitment
- Fear suppresses initiative; flourishing multiplies responsibility
- Fear keeps people small; flourishing helps people grow
In short, If people thrive, develop, and become stronger under your influence, authority is being exercised rightly. If people shrink, remain silent, or merely survive, influence has shifted from stewardship to control.
Leadership is validated not by position, but by the health and growth of those being led.
3. Authority Is Responsibility
In Genesis, dominion is delegated authority—not ownership.
Human beings rule under God, not instead of God.
This means:
- Authority always comes with accountability
- Power must be exercised with humility
- Decisions must consider long-term impact, not short-term gain
Authority is not a privilege to enjoy, but a responsibility to steward.
Where authority lacks responsibility, dominion turns into domination.
Closing:
The dominion mandate reminds us that humanity was created not to rule for self, but to steward for God.
True dominion is not measured by control or power, but by how much life, dignity, and purpose grow under our care—all for the glory of God.
budi hidajat 