Tags
1 Corinthians 15:22, 1 Corinthians 15:56-57, 1 Corinthinas 10:13, Dominion of death, Dominion of Sin, Eternal Life, Genesis 1:26-27, John 6:40, Romans 6:14, Romans 6:9
As I was reading my Bible this morning, the word dominion came up twice in a few short verses.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. Romans 6:9 (ESV)
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:14(ESV)
This got me to thinking about what dominion meant, and why death and sin once had it. I went to my favorite source for word definitions, Webster’s 1828 Dictionary and found that Dominion means:
1.Sovereign or supreme authority; the power of governing and controlling
2. Power to direct, control, use and dispose of at pleasure; right of possession and use without being accountable;
When I did a Bible search, dominion first occurs in Genesis, when Adam and Eve are given dominion over the earth.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
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.” Genesis 1:26-28 (ESV)
People were given a positive dominion over the earth, to control and use of its resources. Humans had the power to use this authority wisely. But then sin came into the garden and the entire human race. And with sin came death. And fear of death gained dominion over our lives.
Until Christ defeated death, and was raised to life eternal. Now there is a way for the dominion of death to be broken.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22 (ESV)
“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:40 (ESV)
Faith in Jesus’ deity and perfect obedience to the law, and belief in his death for our sin and resurrection from the dead, break the dominion of death over us. We are alive forever now. We will go from this world immediately into the presence of Jesus.
So where does sin have dominion? While we are still living on this earth, our sinful nature is still a part of us. But as Paul points out in Romans 6:14, sin no longer has dominion over us. It’s power is not complete, because we have immediate access to God through the Holy Spirit in us.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. I Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)
There may be wars of dominion that rage in our hearts, but Christ has won the victory!
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15: 56-57 (ESV)
Soli Deo Gloria,
Diane