“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion . . . over all the earth.” Genesis 1:26
Already in God’s act of creation he makes known his desire
that man should rule. Moreover, he marks out a specific area—namely, the earth—for
his dominion. God’s attention is focused upon this earth, which is destined to become
the center of all problems.
The prayer which the Lord Jesus has taught us is also
concerned with this earth. “When you pray, say: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.”
In the original, the last phrase is common to all three clauses,
not merely to the final one, so that the hallowing of his name, the coming of
his kingdom, and the doing of his will are all “as in heaven, so on earth.”
In other words, there is no problem with heaven; the
problem is with the earth, and it is for the earth that God contends. Shall we
not, in prayer, exercise man’s dominion by claiming this earth for God?
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