Slides: Lesson 5

Understanding Dominion

Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground

Genesis 1: 26 - 28

Dominion vs Domination

Dominion

Given to both male and female

No man was given dominion over any other man

God saying in effect: Rule over my world.  Take care of it.  Subdue it and fashion it with your own creativity”

In this way man would reflect the loving and creative spirit with which he was made in the image of God

Accountable to God

Domination

Control by force or by fear

Personal financial or political gain

Power

Self-appointed authority

Accountable to no one

No regard for consequences

Male-man and Female-man

God created man

God made male and female

Created – “bara” to form out of nothing

Make – “asah” to form out of something already there

The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:7

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed…The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Genesis 2:8

When God placed the spirit “man” in the male, God and man could give and receive love through their spirits.  However, because the man now had a physical body, he also needed someone with whom to share human and physical love.  This is a reflection of man’s creation in the image of God.  God is love.  Man came from love and is made up of love and love cannot dwell alone.

Myles Munroe

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and birds of the air…but for Adam no suitable helper was found”

Genesis 2: 19-20

Man’s Relationships Mirroring God

It is not possible for love to dwell alone

God said is it not good for man to be alone in one body

The woman came about because of love

Love caused her existence

The primary purpose for woman’s existence was to be loved by the male, just as God’s major purpose for the spirit-man was to love him.

The Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man and he brought her to the man.

Genesis 2: 21-22

Meeting A Man in Eden

5 Commands God Gave  Adam

- Just as God drew man from himself and created a spirit being, God drew woman from man and created a physical being
- Rib in Hebrew “tsela” means side or chamber, some say cell, some say rib has regenerative properties
- God drew woman from the man because the receiver has to be exactly like the giver
God did not go back to the soil

- Males and females same essence
- Made using different methods
- Male-man formed “yatsar” of the dust of the earth – to mold as a potter molds clay
- Female-man made “banah”- to build or construct

This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man

Genesis 2:23

- Perfect complement
- Man – spirit
- Physical essence
- Can give and receive love and be in   
  relationship with him
- She is both the same and different
- Male-man giver
- Female-man receiver

These differences are complementary in nature and designed so that the male and female can fulfill one another’s emotional and physical needs while they are spiritually nourished by God and His love, and so together they can fulfill their mandate to have dominion over the world.

Recap

Man was created in the image of God

Man has a spirit

Male and Female are both man

The spirit-man resides in both male and female

Both male and female have direct spiritual access to God and are responsible to Him

Both male and female were given dominion over the earth