A message from Bobby:
Man’s Dominance in the Garden of Eden
God created man to have dominion over the whole earth and over all living things (Gen 1:25-28). However, one of the living things, the serpent, decided to deceive Eve and tempt Adam and Eve to sin against God (Gen 3:1). That serpent was Satan (Rev 20:2). And since the serpent was one of the beasts in the garden of Eden, man was created to have dominion over it. Thus, Satan and the wicked angelic host could be represented by the beasts in the garden, over whom Adam had been given dominion. Therefore, this explains why Satan would try to trick Adam and Eve to fall into sin. These wicked angels could have been quite unhappy with their position to be lower than man and to be ruled by man.
In the New Testament, angels are called “ministering spirits” sent to “minister to those who will inherit salvation” (Heb 1:14). In other words, God created angels to serve man. Not only that, but man was created to also one day “judge angels” (1 Cor 6:3).
Adam’s Fall (Until the Time of Christ)
When Adam sinned, man lost his position of dominance. He became now lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5). He and the world became subject to the power of angels (Heb 2:5). Satan became the ruler of this world and the whole world was in bondage under him through the power of sin (John 14:30; 1 John 5:19; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Eph 2:2; 6:12).
Before Christ, all people were dead in their sins and under the rule of Satan. Adam’s disobedience separated us from fellowship with God, and man became subject to the rule of Satan, sin and death. Man was condemned and separated from God because of Adam’s fall (Romans 5:18-19).
Satan and his demonic host inhabit heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12), but man had lost his access to God and was constrained to live under the curse of the earth (1 Corinthians 15:47). Jesus called John the Baptist the greatest of all Old Testament prophets (Matthew 11:11), and yet, John said of himself that he was earthly and of the earth, but Jesus was the one who comes from heaven (John 3:31). Therefore, we can conclude that after Adam’s sin, man fell from his high position in heavenly places, where he had a close fellowship with God and ruled over the angelic hosts, and he fell to a lower position on a cursed earth.
Even then, God provided a way for man to connect with Him – through the Old Covenant relationship He established with the Israelites. God could be accessed by the ministry of an earthly high priest and an earthly temple on an earthly city, which would be symbolic (a type and a shadow) of the true, heavenly High Priest, who would come with a heavenly temple in a heavenly city, “not made with human hands” (Heb 9:11), to establish a better Covenant with man (Heb 8:6).
Jesus’ Reign and Man’s Restoration
Jesus came to restore man’s dominion which was lost in Genesis. Jesus came lower than the angels (Heb 2:9), in the likeness of man, but was exalted high above all powers and principalities, and sat down at the right hand of God the Father in heavenly places. Everything and everyone, including Satan and the angelic host, were put under subjection to Jesus. Because of his sacrifice and his perfect obedience to God the Father, Jesus was given all authority, power and dominion (Philippians 2:8-11; Ephesians 1:20-22; Matthew 28:18). And in turn, Jesus gave man authority over all the power of the enemy, over Satan and over all his demonic hosts (Luke 10:19).
Moreover, Jesus brought reconciliation between man and God (Romans 5:10; 2 Cor 5:18), and restored the fellowship between God and man through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:18). Jesus placed man to be seated with him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). John the Baptist said of himself that he was earthly and from the earth because he was in the likeness of the first Adam, but now those who are in Christ have become heavenly in the likeness of the heavenly man, of Jesus, the second Adam (1 Corinthians 15: 47-49). Jesus has made us sit in heavenly places in the Spirit and he is transforming us by His Spirit “from glory to glory” to be more and more in his image (2 Corinthians 3: 17-18).
However, man is still in the process of entering God’s rest (Hebrews 4:9), entering God’s kingdom (Acts 14:22) and defeating Satan and his angels. The battle is raging on between man and Satan for dominance, just as it was prophesied in the book of Genesis that there would be continual enmity between the Seed of the man and the serpent (Gen 3:15). Jesus is called the new Adam, because he has given us the power to have access by the Holy Spirit to God the Father and to be transformed into the image of the heavenly man. When this process of transformation of God’s people is finished, when the bride of Christ (the church) becomes ready, when man’s dominance has finally been restored, then Jesus will return to vanquish Satan and his angels once and for all.
Acts 3:20-21
…that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things…
But first all things must be restored, before Jesus returns. This restoration is about man’s dominance over all creation, including over all the angelic host, being restored. Jesus has given the church the power to conquer / overcome the power of the enemy in heavenly places, and when this happens (as prophesied in the book of Revelation), the end will come (1 Corinthians 15:24-25). Jesus prophesied that the spirit of Elijah must come again and restore all things, as also prophesied by the prophet Malachi:
Matthew 17:11
Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.
Malachi 4:5-6
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
The Final Battle and the Fall of Satan
The Bible prophesies that one day, after a fierce heavenly battle, Satan together with his wicked angelic host will fall from his throne and dominion in the heavenly places:
Revelation 12:7-9
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Then, the believers in Christ will have finally finished restoring the dominion of man in heavenly places over Satan and his angelic host. This victory would be accomplished because
Revelation 12:11
… they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
But please heed the warning – when this happens, there would be great joy in heaven among believers but exceeding sorrow and woe to all those who “dwell on earth” (that is, those who are still not seated with Christ in heavenly places).
Revelation 12:12
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.
In the beginning, man was created to have dominion over all creation. Man was also called to rule over sin (Gen 4:7). However, until Jesus, man could not rule over sin, but sin reigned over man resulting in death and condemnation (Romans 5:12, 18-21). We were slaves of Satan and under the bondage of sin. But when Jesus came and gave his life for us, he gave us the power to be set free from the power of sin and have victory over sin and death through His Spirit (John 8:34-35; Romans 6:8-8, 12-14, 22; Romans 8:2, 11-13). And even though, we are still battling Satan and the desires of the flesh, we have the confidence that one day we will overcome and be victorious over Satan because He who is in us “is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). However, now it’s the time to press on, now it’s the time to grow in spiritual maturity and to train our spirit and body, so that we may gain the prize, so that we may receive an imperishable crown and not be ashamed at the return of our Lord and Savior (1 Cor 9:24-27).
This is not about spiritual salvation (which is by grace alone through faith in Jesus) – Paul was sure that one day he would be with Christ (Philippians 1:23), yet he was pressing “toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Paul desired to reach full spiritual maturity in Christ together with the church and overcome Satan and all his demonic host. This could only be done by obeying the Word of God and being led by the Spirit of God, loving God more than our own lives – then, our testimony would have the power to defeat the giants of wickedness in heavenly places, who continually try to tempt us to sin and do evil. And in the end, the old heaven and the old earth would pass away (Revelation 21:21) and there would be a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13), where God would reign and sin will be no more, death would be no more, and Satan would be no more. In other words, we will be in a better position than the first Adam ever was, because we would not be even tempted to sin against God, but we will reign with God in perfect righteousness and love.
Lincoln House Churches 