KINGDOM DYNAMICS
The Issuing
Authority
God's Original Intention for His Kingdom on Earth
The Kingdom of God is not merely a future reality. From the beginning, God intended the earth to function under His rule, order, wisdom, righteousness and life.
When God created humanity, He entrusted Man with a unique responsibility: to represent Him on the earth, administer His creation and exercise dominion according to His will.
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion…’”
Genesis 1:26Genesis 1:26–31 gives us a foundational picture of God's intention for humanity and creation.
God intended humanity to represent Him on the earth.
Humanity was intended to reflect God's nature and character.
God entrusted creation to humanity's responsible administration.
Fruitfulness included biological multiplication and productivity.
Creation was to be brought under responsible administration for God's purposes.
God provided herbs, plants and fruit-bearing trees as food.
Human dominion included the welfare and nourishment of other creatures.
“And God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”
In that original world there was no sickness, sorrow, fear, anxiety or stress. Everything was ordered according to God's wisdom and declared by Him to be very good.
God's original order also included His righteous Word, the presence of the Holy Spirit, the blessing of the Sabbath and the institution of marriage.
Created in God's Image and Likeness
“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…”
Genesis 1:26–27The Image of God
The image points to the way humanity was designed to reflect the nature and order of God.
God is revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, functioning in perfect unity and harmony.
In a corresponding way, Man was created with spirit, soul and body. These dimensions of human existence were intended to function in harmony.
Internal harmony creates unity of purpose and intent. God desires peace, unity and harmony within Man.
The Likeness of God
The likeness of God concerns the reflection of His nature and character.
- The character of God
- The heart of God
- The love of God
- The temperament of God
- The wisdom of God
- The purposes of God
A person who reflects God's likeness seeks the good of others and desires that every creature fulfil the purpose for which God created it.
Dominion as Servanthood
Biblical dominion is not simply the exercise of power. It involves the ability to shepherd, feed, tender, nurture, protect, guide and serve.
True dominion helps creation move toward the fullness of its God-given purpose.
Why Did God Create Man This Way?
God intended Man to administer and govern His creation on His behalf.
For this assignment, Man had to function in God's image and likeness and remain in complete harmony with God.
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You…”
John 17:20–21God's Kingdom operates through people who are in harmony with Him and with one another.
The Condition for Kingdom Administration
“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:16–17God's command reveals something deeper than a simple prohibition. He was establishing the principle that humanity's life and government must remain connected to Him as the ultimate source of wisdom.
If the soul is understood as a governing centre of man's earthly existence, then it must remain continually aligned with God.
God intended to reign through Man.
God did not want Man to act upon knowledge independent of Him. He wanted Man to function from the same source of life and wisdom from which creation itself came: the Word of God.
Man Must Live by God's Word
“Man shall not live by bread alone; but Man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”
Deuteronomy 8:3Man's life is sustained not only by physical provision, but by the Word of God.
God wanted Man to function from the same source of life and wisdom from which creation itself came.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 1:1All things were made through the Word. God knows what each creature was created for because He is the Creator. Therefore, He knows best how each creature should be guided toward its destiny.
Why the Soul Matters
God created Man so that the soul would function as a major governing centre of his earthly existence.
The soul may be understood through three principal faculties:
The faculty by which Man receives, processes and interprets knowledge, giving meaning to experiences and circumstances.
The faculty through which Man experiences affection, desire, joy, sorrow, fear, aversion and other inward responses.
The faculty of decision and volition by which Man determines his response to received knowledge and understanding.
The shaping of the inner person profoundly affects the way Man thinks, chooses and lives.
The Sources of Knowledge
Man was created with the capacity to receive information from different sources.
Man can receive knowledge from God through his spirit.
Man experiences inward responses through his emotions and other faculties of the soul.
Man receives information about his surroundings through his body and physical senses.
How Knowledge Influences Decisions
Knowledge is processed through the intellect. The intellect interprets information and gives it meaning. That understanding then influences the will, where decisions and choices are made.
How Is Your Intellect Being Shaped?
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”
Deuteronomy 8:3The central question is simple: What is shaping the way you think?
When the Intellect Is Shaped by God's Word
If the intellect is shaped by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord, its reasoning increasingly reflects divine wisdom.
Its decisions will increasingly conform to the will of God.
When Other Sources Shape the Intellect
If the intellect is shaped primarily by words and thoughts from other sources, it will increasingly reflect those sources rather than God's wisdom.
When man's reasoning departs from God's wisdom, his choices and conduct can also depart from God's will.
What is influencing your thoughts, shaping your understanding, and determining your decisions?
The Battle for the Mind
We are continually exposed to information through culture, education, media, technology, society, relationships, experiences and personal desires.
The critical question is not simply whether we receive knowledge. The critical question is:
Which source has the greatest influence over my thinking?
Did God Want Man to Remain Ignorant?
No.
God did not intend Man to remain ignorant of good and evil. Rather, God wanted Man to receive knowledge from God Himself and to live according to God's wisdom.
The deeper issue was therefore: Who would determine Man's understanding of life?
Daniel: Living in a World of Competing Knowledge
“Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself…”
Daniel 1:8Daniel lived in an environment saturated with the knowledge and culture of Babylon, yet he remained committed to God.
His life demonstrates that God's people can live within a world filled with competing sources of knowledge without allowing those sources to determine their identity, convictions and ultimate allegiance.
Our First Investment in the Kingdom
Once humanity had received knowledge from another source, that knowledge could not simply be erased.
However, Man can still learn and saturate himself with God's knowledge until God's wisdom becomes the dominant influence over his thinking and decisions.
The Kingdom starts from within, not outward.
If God's Kingdom begins with God's rule within us, then one of our greatest Kingdom investments is to saturate ourselves with the Word of God.
Kingdom transformation begins with what we receive, what we believe, how we think, how we decide, and finally how we live.
“For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Luke 17:21Our Takeaway Today
01 — Saturate Yourself in the Word of God
Make God's Word a primary source of knowledge, wisdom, understanding and direction.
02 — Examine What Is Shaping Your Mind
Ask yourself what information, voices and influences have the greatest impact on your thinking and decisions.
03 — Make a Commitment
Do not merely receive the teaching intellectually. Make a commitment you will be accountable for.
04 — Establish a Daily Bible-Reading Discipline
As a practical commitment, read at least 10 chapters of the Bible every day — not merely to complete chapters, but to saturate your mind with God's Word.
