Rightly Dividing Psalm 8:6

"Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:" - Psalm 8:6

The reason I want to go over this verse in detail today is because of some of the false teaching that has come from it today, and it stems largely from a failure to rightly divide the word of truth. Basically, the teaching says that Christians today are supposed to have dominion over the earth, and are supposed to rule the world system. This doesn't work for this reason --->

- The command to have dominion over the earth CANNOT be fulfilled today. Let's look at Genesis 1:26-28 --->

"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.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
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."

A superficial reading of the text might indicate that this applies to everyone throughout history, but when read in context, we notice a very important detail. No one had sinned yet in Genesis 1!  Since man had committed no transgression at this point, he could rule and subdue the earth, and thus fulfill this commandment. However, when we read on in Genesis 3, man sins, and the ground (earth) is cursed. We read in verses 17 through 19 how things have changed for the worse...

"And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

It doesn't seem like in this passage that man can anymore have dominion over he earth and subdue it. Instead, he now has to work hard and labor continuously in order to reap its resources. Before this passage, Adam and Eve didn't need to work to get their food, it was all grown for them. When they sinned, so much changed, including their ability to fulfill Genesis 1:26-28. Now, it seems like the earth has subdued them! However, Psalm 8:6 indicates that this commandment can be fulfilled in the future since it was written well after the fall. How do we know it will happen? Let's take a look at this passage from Isaiah 11:6-9 --->

"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

This passage prophecies the Millennial Kingdom, and we see that people will have authority over the animals in a way that's impossible today. Man will only have this dominion after Christ has returned and begun to reign from Jerusalem. I boldfaced the part about the earth being full of the knowledge of the Lord because that is what needs to happen before man can have any dominion over the earth. The earth today is NOT full of the knowledge of the Lord, and it's evident by how many people reject Him. There is staggering spiritual blindness, and only a small portion of the population really knows the Lord. Between now and then, that will change; Christ will rule on the earth, and Genesis 1:26-28 and Psalm 8:6 will come to fruition.

Today, someone quite different has dominion over the earth. Let's look at 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 --->

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

Man does not have dominion over the earth today; Satan does! He is not named thus in that verse, but it's easy to know it's him because he is blinding people from the gospel. Those who would teach that we are to have dominion over the earth today are essentially saying that we either have to usurp the position Satan has been given (yeah right, like we can do that!), or join forces with him, which no Christian would ever think of doing (or should, at least...)!

Sp, what role does the Christian play today? If our position is not ruler-ship over the world, then what are we, and what do we do? Let's take a look at our primary role, which is given to us in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 --->

"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."

Okay, so we are ambassadors for Christ. Question: Do ambassadors have dominion over the country they are sent to? That's easy, of course they don't! We are on this planet as God's representatives to a lost and dying world that is not even our home, begging the world to be reconciled to a holy and just God who will judge every man and woman someday by Jesus Christ (Acts 17:30-31). If we are just ambassadors here, why bother with trying to have dominion over this earth? It isn't our home, and it will be destroyed someday. Let's take a look at another important role we have in 2 Timothy 2:3-4 --->

"Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."

Just like the aforementioned point; do soldiers have dominion over the country they're fighting in (well, they shouldn't, at least)? No. All a soldier is supposed to do is fight for their own country's cause, not rule over the country they're stationed in. Also, notice that I boldfaced the part about not being tangled in the affairs of this life. Question: If your aim is to have dominion over this world, wouldn't that mean you'd have to be entangled in the affairs of this life? Undoubtedly! The world is a fleshly place, and the only way to be on top is to deal carnally with others and become entangled in things like popularity, power, and politics. Worse than that, you'd have to commit some pretty abominable things to become a ruler in this world today. There is no way you can amass that much power and not have cheated along the way, stepped on a few necks, lied, and who knows what else.

We do have dominion somewhere, but it isn't on this earth. Let's take a look at these passages --->

"And (God) hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in HEAVENLY places in Christ Jesus:" - Ephesians 2:6

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in HEAVENLY places in Christ:" - Ephesians 1:3

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are ABOVE, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, NOT ON THINGS ON THE EARTH." - Colossians 3:1-2

Question: Is it possible to set your affections on heaven, when you are concerned about your "dominion" on the earth? Answer: Nope. As a Christian, you have been seated in heaven, and are given heavenly promises. You are not given carnal promises; 1 Timothy 6:8 even tells us we should be content with only food and raiment (clothing), so seeking world dominion as commanded in Genesis 1 and Psalm 8 only portrays a failure to realize that God is doing something different today than back then, and will do in the future. Any attempt on your part to have dominion in this world will either end in failure, or cause you to stumble into the snare of the devil.

Choose heaven.