“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground'” (Genesis 1:28).

Fill the earth – and subdue it.

Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and over every living creature.

I like it.

What’s there not to like about it? This pretty much sounds like a green light to do with the created world whatever pleases me. That’s what the Bible says. Right?

Hmm…Not so fast.

The Hebrew word for subdue means to “rule,” “have dominion,” and “dominate.” The understanding is that human beings have been given the responsibility to rule over, have dominion, and dominate the world around us to purposefully use them.

For instance, in order to grow things and keep things beautiful in a garden, one has to tend to the garden. The gardener has to rule over, have dominion, and dominate the natural order of things so that weeds and overgrowth can remain under control so that plants and flowers may grow. If you do nothing, it leads to chaos.

The Hebrew word for rule means to “subdue,” “bring into bondage,” “subjugate.” Much like the word translated as subdue, this means that human beings have been given the responsibility to bring order by subduing and subjugating the created order.

Behind both these words is the understanding that the human being is placed on earth for a purpose. The purpose is to do God’s will. When we forget that and put ourselves as the ultimate authority, we abuse and misuse God’s created world.

God created the world with a purpose. And God placed us in his created world to bring about his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

We are most fully alive when we fill the earth and subdue it for God’s kingdom purposes.

“The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys” (Job 42:12).

For the past several months, both Pastor Brad and I have been writing about the dangers of the prosperity gospel. Prosperity gospel makes the Christian faith all about health and wealth. It is both dangerous and false. It is dangerous because it will only lead to disappointment when life’s storms come our way. It is false because it is not biblical.

Having said that, you need to know that God has no problems with Christians being wealthy. We have many examples of people in the Bible who are wealthy: David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Abraham, and many in the New Testament. Rich Christians in the New Testament were key to help provide the funds and spaces for worship, evangelism, and supporting the apostles.

God is not against Christians having things. What God is against is things having Christians.

How can you tell the difference?

• When it comes to spending and managing funds and goods, if the mighty dollar determines what you give and what you keep, money’s got you.
• If what you give and what you keep is determined by God and his word – beginning with tithing (giving ten percent) – then you are genuinely managing and stewarding wealth and goods.

Money, goods, and resources are tools to be used to further God’s kingdom. When you give to God, riches and goods are used to impact eternal destinies. Nothing that we withhold and keep from God is transferred to eternity. We leave everything behind. The only things we can save for eternity is what we give.

John Piper says, “God gives his people money so that we can use money in a way to show that money is not our god.”

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (Matthew 7:24-27).

When the New Testament world referred to normal Christians, they were viewed as radical Christians. Normal Christians were viewed as radical Christians because they lived a life that was so different than the lives around them. The hopes and dreams of normal Christians were so unlike the hopes and dreams of everyone around them. So, in time, normal and radical became synonyms in the New Testament world.

You see, there is no such thing as a follower of Jesus Christ who doesn’t follow Jesus Christ.

“Follower of Jesus” is not a title but a description. Christians were called followers of Jesus because that’s what they did. What Jesus said, the disciples did. Fully submitting to Jesus and his teaching was not viewed as radical but as normal.

The problem is that modern day Christians have made radical and normal antonyms.

But when it comes down to it, there is no such thing as a follower of Jesus Christ who doesn’t follow Jesus Christ.

Remember, a follower of Jesus is not a title – Christian is not a title. A follower of Jesus is a description of how Jesus followers live.

Got it?