Genesis 1st Chapter: 27So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And
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.
This week will we start a series within the series which will list the
characteristics (seeds) of misery. The first seed we will focus on is the seed
of degradation. To make it simple and plain, this is the seed of doubt. This
seed will keep you from stepping out on faith. It constantly tells you
"you can’t do it," or "God doesn’t love you enough to bless you
that way." Now if you let this seed take root then it will overtake you,
and you will find yourself living in a state of degradation. In other words,
you will find yourself continually doubting what you can do to the point of
thinking that failure is not just an option, but the only option. You may even
think that God won’t bless you because of a sin or sins you committed years
ago.
First let’s look at degradation. It is basically an attempt of the enemy to
keep you below the standard that the Lord has set for you (living in
degradation). As followers of Christ, we can associate this lowering of God’s
standard with losing our glory. If we go to Genesis 1:27-28, we will see that
man was created with tremendous glory. God intended for man to do three things:
(1) Replenish the earth, (2) Subdue the earth & (3) Have Dominion over the
earth. This was truly the higher level of living.
So what happened? Well, we all know that Adam and Eve chose to operate
outside of God’s will. That’s when the transition occurred. When Adam and Eve
sinned, the sin was not about the sin itself; it was about the after-effect of
the sin. In other words, getting you do to wrong is not what sin is really
about. It is about the after-effect. It’s about having your glory taken away
from you. Yes, it is about the transition that takes you from the higher level
to the lower level.
We see the prime evidence of this in Genesis 3:17 in which the Lord states to
Adam, "[C]ursed is the ground for thy sake." Let me give you and
example: My dad enjoys landscape maintenance. He takes care of yards that vary
in size, and during my summers I used to go out with him for extra money. One
morning we went to a yard or should I say an estate that was so large it
"Broke me!" We got there eaaaaaarly in the morning and didn’t leave
until laaaaaaate in the evening. Before THAT yard, I really thought, "I
could do this a couple of more summers." But on that day, my GENESIS 3:17 occurred
– "THE LAND SUBDUED ME!!!" I quit and I never went back. Hopefully
you see where I’m trying to take you. Before sin, man subdued the land, but
after sin man became subdued by the land. Instead of living with the conditions
that God gave him, man had to adapt to the conditions satan tricked him into.
In short, one of the best ways to stay out of misery is to stay out of sin.
We are extremely blessed to live in this day and time, not because of
technology or medicine but because of Jesus. The saddest part of our text is
that there was no Jesus for Adam & Eve nor any of their descendants who
lived before the birth of the Saviour. Instead, they had to constantly
sacrifice sheep, cattle and other livestock to cover their sins. However, we
have a Saviour who is always interceding on our behalf to the Father because He
covered our sins on the cross. He restored the glory we once had so that we can
now subdue, replenish and have dominion over the earth. He restored our
authority to rebuke any seeds of misery that are thrown at us. We not only have
the power to rebuke these bad seeds, but we have the power to plant good seeds.
So when the enemy tells you, "You will fail," tell him, "By
Jesus, the high priest of my profession I will not only pass, but I will pass
with flying colors." Hebrews 3:1 states, "Wherefore, holy brethren,
partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our
profession [The heavenly things we profess], Christ Jesus."
Also, don’t ever think God doesn’t love you enough to bless you. He sent His
only Son to give you the authority to be a blessing and to be blessed. He sent
His Son so that you could have the "high quality harvest" that was
destined to be yours before the earth was created. So stop putting yourself down;
you are wonderfully made in the image of God. You are a blueprint created after
His own likeness, and you have the authority to stand before the devil and cast
down anything he throws at you. You are the smart, intelligent and gifted
person God created you to be. Deuteronomy 28:13 says that you are the head and
the tail, above only and not beneath. If you’ve been pursuing a dream, pursue
it. 1 Timothy 2:7 states, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." This is a day that the
Lord has made; we shall rejoice and be glad in it! We won’t walk in a spirit of
fear. We won’t walk in a spirit of doubt. We won’t live in degradation. We will
walk in the glory that God intended for us and in the authority to get heaven
to move on our behalf. So be empowered by the mighty words of God my brothers
and sisters, and go forth and SUBDUE!!!