Biblical View on Issues

Front Page Article
"The Lenses of Reformation
Concerning ESG II"
By Patti Amsden

An early reading of Genesis reveals that God created mankind to be in right relationship with God and with the works of His hands. Part of rightly relating includes representing God and God’s interests in the earth. This role is called the Dominion Mandate. To accomplish the assignment, man was given authority to act and power to enforce his decisions.
Reformation lens #1 – At the original creation of mankind, God placed the future of the earth into humanity’s care and under humanity’s power.

Adam and Eve and all their future heirs were included in the honor and responsibility to exercise the Dominion Mandate. Because the number of heirs was destined to grow and the area of occupied land would expand until the whole earth was inhabited, mankind would have been required to cooperate with one another in the exercise of power, authority, and control over the earth. Pre-fall man without any sin condition would have been capable of walking in right relationship with one another.
Reformation lens #2 – In the original Dominion Mandate assignment, every person would have been commissioned to exercise personal authority without compromising right relationship with his or her neighbor.

The scope of the Dominion Mandate includes division of land, assets, and intellectual property as each individual exercises control over his or her assigned or boundaried area. Owners must gain knowledge and exercise wisdom when making choices. Each owner has the God-given right to benefit from his good stewardship or suffer negative repercussions from foolish or unwise use of authority. Commandments six through ten explicitly forbid one person to interfere with his or her neighbor as that neighbor exercises the Dominion Mandate.
Reformation lens #3 – No person may interfere with another person’s power of choice or breach the God-appointed domain of a neighbor by bringing harm to the person, property, family, reputation, or work product of a neighbor.

Post fall, mankind remained under the Dominion Mandate; but because of his sinful mature, mankind developed a plethora of ways to confiscate private property, coerce the will of others for self-gain, and threaten illegitimate use of power for self-promotion. Due to sin, mankind neglected the responsibility of remaining in right relationship with his fellowman. History has recorded the actions of mankind’s attempts to accumulate power for earthly dominion at the hands of individual criminals, warlords over rival gangs, dictators in authoritarian governments, and warlocks aligned with demonic agendas.
Reformation lens #4 – Power exercised over one’s neighbor outside of a God-appointed sphere of authority is evil and outside of right relationship promoted by the Dominion Mandate.

As reformers, we must love God, love His precepts, and love our neighbor. We must recognize the illegitimate use of power whether that power is being used by one person over another person or whether that power is being exercised by one group of people over another group of people. The Dominion Mandate does not support the use of scripturally prohibited power. The Ten Commandments apply to the individual and to the collective. At all levels of culture, God forbids mankind to usurp free-will choices of others. At all levels of culture, God requires men to honor the boundaries of others and work to promote the good of our neighbor.