What is the fastest way for Christians to lose their influence in the culture? It might be by forgetting two foundational worldview principles that are so important that God mentions them both in the very first chapter of the Bible. This episode identifies these two principles and how embracing them can change our lives.
As we saw last week, the most foundational biblical worldview principle is in the first verse of the Bible. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Psalm 19 makes it crystal clear that creation speaks, it communicates to every single human that there is an intelligent designer behind the order of the universe, who is eternal (outside the universe) and divine. This is exactly what Paul argues in the first chapter of Romans. “But,” says Paul, “human sin is such an awful, potent, force that it causes sinful to men suppress the truth that there is a creator to whom we owe obedience and thankfulness.” The rising generation needs to know the facts about science and faith. Science is based upon the order of creation and proves that there is an intelligent designer. As Genesis 1 continues, it reveals two more profound fundamentals of the biblical worldview—but which may not be very obvious. Genesis 1 continues.
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven (i.e. Sky). And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So, God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth…..” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was VERY GOOD.
A. The dominant theme of this passage is exercising dominion. First, God shows himself to be the High King who exercises dominion over created matter. We are told that the earth (created matter) was without form and void. God, as Earth’s ULTIMATE RULER, takes action to fill and form what was formless and empty. That is the example that Earth’s SUB RULERS, Adam and Eve, are to follow, since they are created to be God’s image-bearers. So, they are called to exercise dominion over the kingdom God entrusts to them by also taking action to fill and form their kingdom. In fact, humans are assigned such a parallel role to God’s that we are actually given the role of CREATING. Humans create babies, multiplying and filling the earth as well as subduing (i.e. forming) the earth.
But this concept of exercising dominion is not just seen in the unmistakable parallel between God exercising dominion by filling and forming his kingdom and mankind’s purpose of exercising dominion by filling and forming their kingdom. The entire creation story is framed by the concept of kingdoms (i.e realms) being created and then kings being assigned to rule them. Here is what I mean. Notice this parallel: On Day 1, God creates two realms, day (light) and night (darkness). On Day 4, God creates the rulers of those realms, “the greater light to RULE the day” says God, “and the lesser light to RULE the night." On Day 2, God separated out the waters that were under the expanse, creating two realms, the oceans and the sky. On Day 5, he creates the “rulers” of the waters, and the “rulers” of the skies. Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” God uses the same language of exercising dominion in addressing the birds and fish that he would use in addressing Adam and Eve, And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” On Day 3, God creates the realm called land and the vegetation on it. On Day 6, God creates those who will rule the land, the beasts of the earth and livestock and whatever creeps on the ground, as well as man.
God does nothing accidentally. He chose to make exercising dominion the theme of his creation process, making it the backdrop for helping man understand his purpose for humans. First God, himself, exercises dominion over matter, shaping it, forming it, bringing out its potential in his creative work of making Earth. Then God’s manner of creating the world underscores this same exercising dominion principle, first creating the domains, realms, spheres, kingdoms and then creating the ones who are to exercise dominion. With this background, God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth… And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion.
Our fundamental identify as human beings is to exercise dominion over the kingdom entrusted to us by God. Humans are designed to use our creativity to enjoy and bring out creation’s full potential. This foundational principle, that God’s purpose for every human being is to shape culture, bringing out the potential of the earth is the second principle from Genesis 1 that we must help the rising generation to see. Here are three benefits of helping them internalize this foundational worldview.
1. It elevates their understanding of their vocational calling. Ephesians 2:10, when understood in light of mankind’s calling to exercise dominion over the earth, has tremendous power to build up their self-image. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. The call to exercise dominion over the earth is the biblical foundation for understanding the value of “secular” vocations. My children were blessed by discovering a booklet called, the Youth Exploration Survey (published by Life Pathways, Christian Financial Concepts, Inc.), which helped them link their interests and strengths to vocations they might pursue. For example, the survey asked them questions of all sorts on what interested them and linked their answers numerically to five categories of work: helping, doing, expressing, analyzing, and influencing. It is amazing looking back at how accurate these were—and helpful to the kids. For example, one of my daughters realized God made her to be an analyzer who was especially good with numbers. She met with a pharmacologist, worked for a pharmacy her junior year of high school, and took AP chemistry her senior year. That cured her of interest in the scientific side of analysis, so she decided to major at Covenant college on the business side of statistics. It is powerful for our kids to know they were perfectly designed before the foundation of the world to fulfill their unique part of the cultural mandate. Myers Briggs personality tests related to vocation or similar surveys can be extremely helpful to teens who don’t know how to choose a vocational direction.
2. A second benefit to understanding their creation design to exercise dominion is that it helps them know HOW God wants them to make a difference for him. Today, cable news and Internet headlines continually invade our thinking, making us feel like our miniscule part in the world doesn’t really matter. That is heresy! The concept of exercising dominion over various spheres of life is so pronounced in this creation account, not to mention the specific assignment of humans to exercise dominion, it is hard to miss the truth that God wants each of us to rule over every sphere of our lives for the High King. We are not to just, passively, let life happen! That is why this podcast defines our mission not only as Called TO Christ, and Called TO BE LIKE Christ but, thirdly, Called to EXERCISE DOMINION FOR Christ (to implement Christ’s agenda in your role as husband, father, employee/employer, neighbor, church member, steward of resources, ambassador of the kingdom—every sphere of life.)
Dutch journalist, professor, and statesman Abraham Kuyper grasped the exercising dominion for Christ component of his mission. He was fiercely committed to discovering, teaching, and fighting for a biblical worldview to shape all of cultural life. At the age of thirty-three Kuyper picked up his pen as the editor of a weekly newspaper called, The Herald and then The Standard, to battle for over forty years for God’s truth in the world of ideas in Holland. It was in this role as journalist that he would formulate his thoughts about how to apply a biblical worldview to every area of life. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of this newspaper, Kuyper re-enunciated his core conviction about his life and work as a disciple of Christ, i.e., that the Word of God must be applied to all of life.
The Scriptures not only serve to find justification through faith and cast light on the path to eternity, that same Word of God also reveals the foundations of all human life, that is the sacred ordinances which must govern the whole of the life of men in the family and the church, in the state and society at large. The Word of God contains the ordinances for our personal, our family, our ecclesiastical, our educational, our political, our industrial and commercial, our cultural life—indeed, for every sector of human life. (Cited in my doctoral dissertation, Discipling Men’s Hearts Through Kingdom Theology)
Our loved ones don’t have to make the headlines or be a great evangelist to perfectly fulfill God’s purpose for their lives!
3. Understanding the call to exercise dominion also provides our loved ones motivation to know that as Ambassadors of Christ’s kingdom they are partnering with Christ the Redeemer to restore the life God intended for his image bearers. Adam’s kingdom that had been enslaved and broken by Satan and sin is being set free and restored by the Second Adam, who urges his followers to seek to spread his kingdom agenda of righteousness over every inch of planet, Earth, and to pray that Christ’s agenda of righteousness brought by Him from heaven will spread over that planet. We are to pray “May your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Here are five questions to ask ourselves as we seek to know how God might lead us to impact the world around us: (The last four questions are from Restoring All Things by John Stonehouse and Warren Cole Smith, with the comments being my own).
- Who are those in my subculture (friends, work associates, extended family members, neighbors) whom I might lead to Christ and what is my strategy to build a relationship with them to see if that might happen? The best way for the kingdom of Christ to prevail over the kingdom of darkness is for individuals to come to faith in Christ and make Christ king of their lives.
- What is good in our culture that we can promote? Fallen man is still made in the moral image of God. As culture shapers, even fallen men contribute wholesome, just elements to every culture that we can continue and advance.
- What is missing from our culture that we can creatively contribute? This is a great question for entrepreneurs and all artists. God loves creativity because he made us to be like him! He wants us to develop and enjoy all of the potential he put into creation.
- What is evil in our culture that we can stop. Courageous Christians of every age have suffered persecution for the cause of righteousness, i.e. stood against evil.
- Is there something broken in our culture that we can restore. Broken justice systems, prison systems, governments, marriages, families, and especially broken humans who suffer because of their own sin, other’s oppression, or natural calamities call for our compassion.
The second fundamental part of a biblical worldview, the concept of exercising dominion is so foundational to humanness that God not only tells us to do it, he models it in the way he exercises dominion of the formless void of earth. Then he fits his creative work into a structure of creating kingdoms the first three days, followed the next three days by creating the rulers for those realms.
B. The third foundational biblical worldview principle is God’s opinion of his creation, stated six times Genesis 1. And God saw that it was GOOD. After God completes his work of calling the world into existence by forming man and woman, the pinnacles of creation, God steps back in a sense, and looks at his work. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was VERY GOOD. The word, “behold,” invites the reader to view creation from God’s viewpoint. The sheer goodness of the created order, the third foundational principle of a biblical worldview has huge implications. We have time to identify only a few of them:
- Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, cancer, Covid 19 and death were never a part of God’s good, created order. This third fundamental worldview principle from Genesis 1 recognizes that the doorstep on which the suffering caused by sickness, disease, death and natural disasters rests is MAN’s, not GOD’s. When God’s subjects, Adam and Eve rebelled against HIM, in a perfect symmetry of justice, God made their kingdom—the earth—rebel against THEM. Jesus did refute the idea that there is a direct relationship between an individual’s sin and befalling natural calamity. And, of course, in the face of such human suffering, Jesus offered healing and comfort, not blame for mankind’s sin. We must do the same. Nevertheless, this foundational part of the biblical worldview is important to help the rising generation understand. Here is why. We never want them to envy the wicked. We want to help them understand the cost of sin, so that they “abhor evil” as we are commanded to do (Rom 12:9) and to weep over the suffering it brings, as Jesus did at the grave of Lazarus.
- The second implication of the goodness of creation is that God wants Christians to ENJOY and help others ENJOY his good creation—delicious food, refreshing drink, pleasant fragrances, awe-inspiring building projects, toe-curling married sex, heart-pounding drama, enthralling music, captivating art, mind-boggling technology, spectacular flower gardens (I left out vegetable gardens), crashing ocean waves, majestic mountains, dazzling sunsets. To enjoy God’s creation is to brings pleasure to God’s heart just as an artist delights in seeing others enjoy his painting. Dutch Theologian Herman Bavinck taught that understanding the significance of creation is a major building block of a Christian worldview. “It is a theater of God’s glory to be delighted in and used in a stewardly manner. It is God’s good creation.” In creation, “the very goodness, glory, wisdom, and power of God shines forth and is revealed more brilliantly…The world is a theater, a splendidly clear mirror of his divine glory.” And God saw everything he had made. And behold, it was VERY GOOD.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- In your own words, why would you say that God’s method of creation matters?
- What would you say to a Christian today who wants to give up trying to influence the culture of America because God is judging us?
- Why do you think God stressed in his creation of the world that it was very good? How might the idea that God WANTS his creatures to enjoy all the facets of his creation impact an unbeliever’s view of God?
