Created to Have Dominion: Fruitfulness and Multiplication

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:27-28)

Having created man — male and female — in His own image and likeness, God then gave them their assignment:

• Be fruitful and multiply.
• Fill the earth and subdue it.
• Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing.

God’s way is that every living thing reproduces after its own kind—every flying thing, every creature of the sea, every land animal, all vegetation—each brings forth according to its kind.

The making of man was a very unique event in all of creation. God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Man was created to be like God; we might call him a “god-class” of being, or a being of the “god” kind.

So the command God gave to Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply means that they were to reproduce after their kind. That is, they were to reproduce that which they were in their created nature—the image and likeness of God.

Now, God is a God of abundance, increase and multiplication. Everything operates on the principle of seedtime and harvest. A seed is sown and reproduces itself in multiplied fashion for the harvest. So God gave the blessing to Adam and Eve to reproduce the image of God and multiply His this god-likeness in great abundance.

We were created not only to be like God, but to reproduce and multiply His image and likeness over all the earth.