Did God Give The First Adam Dominion Over His Flesh?

Hi Mike,

I hope you can give me clarity concerning this false doctrine known as “Dominion theology”. I quote this from a hub page.

“He gave man the dominion to rule the earth. MAN GAVE THAT DOMINION TO SATAN. God requires man to give that dominion back over to God because of the shed blood of His only begotten Son. If we don’t give that dominion back over to Jesus, we will have the same fate as the god of this world, Satan, the father of lies.”

And then this same person said this:

“We are not saved through fire, even after death, but are saved by the blood of the Lamb, which has already been shed for us, and we must submit our will to His by our own choice. Adam and Eve had a choice; that is why they fell. Why? BECAUSE GOD GAVE THEM AUTHORITY. They gave that authority to Satan, who still has the power over unbelievers. Jesus took the authority back when He died on the cross.”

I have not been able to understand this false teaching that has completely taken over several friends of mine. I know that the scriptures teach man has no free will. I know that the scriptures teach that ALL is of God. Would you please direct me to something that really explains these lies? I cannot for the life of me understand this particular false doctrine. “It is that because man failed to obey God he gave up his rights of authority and dominion that God gave him in the garden”.

These words in particular as quoted from above.

“God requires man to give that dominion back over to God…” (??)

Where do they get this?  Everything they now believe all pivots from this:  “Man had dominion”.

Thank you, Mike,

S____

Hi S____,

It is good to hear from you.

Thank you for asking about this doctrine.

You ask, “Where do these false doctrines get this information?”

That part is easy to answer. They get their false doctrines from the very serpent that deceived Adam and Eve.

Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

But you also ask about:

Gen 1:28  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 verse does, in the King James Version, appear to give Adam dominion over all the creatures of the earth… “ever living thing that moves upon the earth”. But the Hebrew doesn’t speak of this in the present tense at all. Here is this verse with the two preceding verses:

Gen 1:26  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.
Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Gen 1:28  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.

Giving man dominion over the earth and all in it is mentioned in both verse 26 and 28, so that is indeed what God is in the process of doing, but in the Hebrew all of this is being spoken of in the ‘Qual’ stem.

I will click my TVM (Tense, Voice, Mood) module on my E-sword software, and I will cut and paste these verses so you can see that these words are in the ‘Qual’ stem.

Gen 1:26  And GodH430 saidH559 [H8799], Let us makeH6213 [H8799] manH120 in our imageH6754, after our likenessH1823: and let them have dominionH7287 [H8799] over the fishH1710 of the seaH3220, and over the fowlH5775 of the airH8064, and over the cattleH929, and over all the earthH776, and over every creeping thingH7431 that creepethH7430 [H8802] upon the earthH776.
Gen 1:27  So GodH430 createdH1254 [H8799] manH120 in his own imageH6754, in the imageH6754 of GodH430 createdH1254 [H8804] he him; maleH2145 and femaleH5347 createdH1254 [H8804] he them.
Gen 1:28  And GodH430 blessedH1288 [H8762] them, and GodH430 saidH559 [H8799] unto them, Be fruitfulH6509 [H8798], and multiplyH7235 [H8798], and replenishH4390 [H8798] the earthH776, and subdue itH3533 [H8798]: and have dominionH7287 [H8798] over the fishH1710 of the seaH3220, and over the fowlH5775 of the airH8064, and over every living thingH2416 that movethH7430 [H8802] upon the earthH776.

Where you see two numbers following a word, and the second number is in brackets, ‘[ ]’, the bracketed number gives us the Tense, Voice, and Mood of that word. The words we are concerned with are the words which give us the tense in which the holy spirit is speaking. Did God ‘create (as a past event) Adam in His image’, or is that an endeavor which is still in the process of taking place?

Notice in verse 26, the words ‘Let us make’, as well as the words ‘let them have dominion’, are both associated with the bracketed number [H8799] which I have emboldened.

When I click on the number [H8799], this is what we read concerning the TVM of that number:

H8799
Stem – Qal   See [H8851]
Mood – Imperfect  See [H8811]
Count-19885

We are told that the stem is ‘Qual’, and we are instructed to “See [H8851]”. When I click on that number I am told what Stem – Qual means:

H8851
Qal

Qal is the most frequently used verb pattern [in the Hebrew Old Testament]. It expresses the “simple” or “causal” action of the root in the active voice.

Examples:
He sat,  he ate,  he went,  he said,  he rose,  he bought

This form accounts for 66.7% of the verbs parsed.

But now let’s look at the ‘Mood’, which we are told is the “imperfect” mood, and we are instructed to “see [H8811]”.

When we click on [H8811], this is what we find about what the holy spirit is saying here in these verses concerning the dominion God is giving to mankind:

H8811
Imperfect

The imperfect expresses an action,  process or condition which is incomplete, and it has a wide range of meaning:

There is the answer we are looking for. God is making man in His image and that making of man in His image is “an action,  process or condition which is incomplete“.

This is the completion of that process:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

“The first man Adam” was not the finished product, “in the image of Him that created him”. “The last Adam” is “the new man” who is the finished product, “after the image of Him that created him”.

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

“Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom” simply because “the image of the earthy” is not “the new man… raised a spiritual body…  after the image of Him that created him”.  The “earthy… first man Adam” was never intended to have dominion over the earth and the sea, both of which are mere symbols of our rebellious, carnal, natural minds and hearts.

Sea:

Eze 26:16  Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Earth:

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

Knowing all of this, here is how those verses should have been translated:

Gen 1:26 And saying is the Elohim, Make will We humanity in Our image, and according to Our likeness, and sway shall they over the fish of the sea, and over the flyer of the heavens, and over the beast, and over all land life, and over every moving animal moving on the land.
Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them.
Gen 1:28 And blessing them is the Elohim. And saying to them is the Elohim, “Be fruitful and increase and fill the earth, and subdue it. And sway over the fish of the sea, and over the flyer of the heavens, and over the beast, and over all the earth, and over all life moving on the land. (CLV)

I hope this answers your question concerning the meaning of Gen 1:26-28, and I pray you can now see that those verses are speaking of the beginning of a process and not of the finished product. “Creating is the Elohim humanity in His image”.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike