The Lord wants man to rule over His creation - Day 10

“For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭8:5-8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I am an animal lover; I always have been, always will be.

Since I was a child I have thought to be able to communicate with animals. I so desire that they would not be afraid and flee from me.

When I hear stories of the 13th century Italian friar, Saint Francis of Assisi, I must admit that I think longingly about being able to have that sort of interaction with animals. He cared for them, even prayed for them, and according to many accounts, preached to the animals. Now, he was not leading them to salvation; he was leading them to rejoice at the greatness of their Maker. As yet, we do not generally see people operating with that sort of communication and control with animals. What I have personally seen is animals responding to prayer.

As you are probably aware, when man was created, he was given dominion over the earth, over all things in the earth. Man was given the right to name animals because man was the master over them. And we know that our dominion went beyond the animal kingdom into all aspects of this creation.

I have seen the elements responding to the Word of the Lord. I have seen my father command tornadoes to change their path, and, at other times, he spoke words that calmed tremendous storms. Alternately, I have seen him pray down rain onto parched soil and rebuke excessive rain. Before him, his father was known for having the ability to control weather. In my own life, I have seen the Lord respond to words spoken over storms and other types of weather situations. Perhaps you have seen similar things in your own life. But, as great as what we may have seen has been, it pales knowing that taking back total dominion awaits us.

Jesus came and illustrated control over the elements by commanding storms to cease and by walking on water. Food multiplied in His hands and He was able to bypass the whole process whereby water (rain falling upon a vineyard) is turned into wine (the rain is absorbed into the vine where it plumps up grapes and the grapes are then pressed of their juice, etc.). Additionally, He commanded fish to swim into a net! [We have further illustration of the ultimate control we will have with our glorified bodies in seeing that He was able to walk through walls.]

The idea of complete dominion is difficult for us to grasp. Yet, Jesus—all man and all God—illustrated those things that would come to pass. He—through His sacrifice—won back the dominion we had forfeited.

The prophet Daniel saw the One Who would have all power and dominion.

“I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.”

‭‭Daniel‬ ‭7:13-14, 18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I really wonder about anyone who can read this prophecy from Daniel without getting very excited about all that God has made available for us through Jesus Christ.

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

God—taking on the form of man—reclaimed dominion over all things for our benefit. Understand, God already had dominion over everything; He came in the form of a man to secure that dominion for us.

“For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2:5-9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In our portion from Psalms today, we see that along with David marveling over God‘s awareness and care for us, he extols the fact that the Lord created man to have dominion over all creation.

Now, you may not be currently ordering tornadoes around or preaching to animals; but never forget what you were created to be. And also understand, in times of need, the Lord gives us access to His dominion—not only for the needs of that moment—but to remind us of what is to come!

For today let us know and understand what David knew:

The Lord wants man to rule over His creation.

#100dayswithdavid