The First Commission

Read Genesis 1-2

“In the beginning, God created…” Two things stood out to me as I studied this passage through the lens of the Kingdom of God. First, that God is both Creator and King of this new kingdom, and second, that He commissions humans to rule it for Him.

As a Creator and a Kingdom-builder, our Triune God (1:1-2) acts with intentionality: the kingdom He builds has purpose! Before He sets out to create anything, from fish to plants, God declares what He will make and why. God is also careful to evaluate His work as He works, addressing one aspect of Creation at a time—a lesson for me as an artist in both pacing and critique! Everything is reviewed after it is made and deemed good before He moves on. This is a kingdom with intentionality, purpose, and design. It is good.

So when it comes to creating human begins, we read that God creates humanity in His own image, and He creates humans with the express purpose of “ruling” this new, good kingdom (1:26). In fact, these two things seem to be related; there’s something about human beings as image-bearers of God that is connected with our role in ruling the earth: “…Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule…” (1:26).

In both creation accounts (Genesis 1:26-30 and 2:15-17), God is deputizing humanity to play a significant role in this kingdom that He has created. We are not creators in the same way that God is, but He invites us to co-create with Him. We are not kings like God is, but we have a kingly commission to co-rule (the word ‘radah’ in Hebrew is a royal word) the newly created world with Him. God doesn’t just create on His own, He creates in and through humanity. God doesn’t just reign on His own, He reigns over His creation in and through Adam and Eve then, and through all of us today!

Now, we all know how the story turns out. Adam and Eve do not follow the guidelines for living and ruling that God gave them in these first two chapters and things do not go according to plan once we hit Genesis 3. But in Genesis 1 and 2 we see the careful creation of a kingdom by a King who cares for everything and gives purpose to everything in His kingdom. We see a generous, trusting King who is willing to allow His creatures to create and to rule on His behalf. And it is good.

by Liz Carver