Genesis 1:28. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
The first two chapters of Genesis explain to us the meaning and purpose of all of life before sin entered and ruined everything, and as we learned yesterday, the life that God gave to us is a life of imaging him. We are made in the “image and likeness” of the Trinity. If we were made in the image of a God who was just a monad (a single person) then to image him would primarily be about getting things done. Completing tasks. Productivity. Using creation (including each other) to gain power. Simply subduing the earth and having dominion.
But we image a God who is a loving community living face to face with each other. Our God is relational. Our God is love. This is why subduing the earth and having dominion comes AFTER be fruitful and multiply – Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion…
There’s no doubt that to image God is to make a difference and have impact. To image God is to fill the earth with good things – inventions, buildings, art, music, literature, manufacturing, and education. Imaging God means to subdue and rule the earth through things like mining, farming, chemistry, biology, medicine, and math.
But all of these good things lose their value if they are not done from love and for the good of others. We live in a world of subduing and dominating without love. Ruling without relationship. And let’s be honest, it’s a disaster. We have filled the earth, not with God’s image of love, but with our own image of consumerism, conquest, and power. Sure we’ve built our towers to heaven, but at what cost to our souls? We have our performances and possessions, our houses and cars, promotions and projects, but at what cost to our relationships?
God tells us that before there can be impact, there must first be intimacy. Everything of real lasting value in this life comes from the fruitfulness of relational love. God wants us to learn to love first before we can learn to subdue and have dominion. This is why God didn’t just build a person factory in Eden. He made a man and woman and placed life inside of them so that their love could produce more people. Their intimacy would bring the impact of a growing human race.
Why? Because love is what impacts the world.
“To live is Christ” is to have the fruitfulness of Christ’s life of love. Just as God placed the seed of love into Adam and Eve so that they could fill the earth and therefore impact the world, so too he has placed the seed of Christ’s life of love inside of us. A life that meets every longing we have for intimacy, and in so doing empowers us to have the greatest impact we could ever hope to have. The impact of loving another person. The impact of filling the earth with God’s love through the good news of Jesus Christ.
You: Where in your life might you be trying to have an impact without intimacy? Performance without relationship?
You in Christ: How can you rest in God’s love for you today BEFORE you leave the house to go make an impact?
Christ in you: How can you fill the earth with the love of Christ today?
To Live is Christ 