RULING MY GARDEN
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Genesis 1:28
Adam was told to subdue the earth. That was ‘to rule and bring it under subjection.’ Subjection to what? The laws of the Creator. He was to take the principles of heaven, the ones God revealed to Adam as He walked with him in the garden, and bring them into effect on the earth.
As children of God, as ones who walk and talk with God intimately, our mandate is the same. We are to have the mind of Christ, learn the ways of heaven intimately, and bring those spiritual laws into effect in the world. When we encounter obstacles, we put on our soldier’s uniform and take care of it.
I was surprised several years ago to discover that when God formed the church, the very Greek word for church, ‘ekklesia’, is the word for ‘legislative body’. What is the church legislating? They are God’s corporate agent to rule and bring the kingdom of heaven to the earth.
I have a garden to rule, a sphere of influence to affect. Through prayer, through the use of my spoken words, through the speaking of scripture, I radically change my environment to be conformed to something that bears the imprint of how things run in heaven.
Jesus, as the last Adam, showed us how to rule. He lived in prayer. Constant prayer. He never moved, traveled, healed, spoke – without asking His Father what to say or do next. And when He spoke, He quoted the scriptures. Isaiah 49 says that He was born to speak the Word and His mouth would be a sword. Talk about affecting your environment!
Adam, through sinning, abdicated his authority. Jesus won it back on the cross and has, through the great commission, given it back to His disciples. Today’s agenda is set before me. Rule and subdue the earth.
I can’t pretend to know what to do unless I get on my knees and soak in the Word. Fill me with Your message and set my feet to rule. Amen.
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Tuesday, 14 January 2020.
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