One of the most important, transformational truths that is critically overlooked in the church today is found in the first three chapters of Genesis. I am talking about the Creation Mandate, or as some call it, the Cultural Mandate. I would be willing to bet that most Christians have not even heard either term. Although obscured, I believe it is paramount to how we are supposed to live our lives. Before the fall, God created man to work. He created man to have dominion over creation. Genesis 1:28 says, “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.” This dominion includes the culture that we live, work, and play in. What is culture? Andy Crouch says it is “what human beings make of the world.”[1] Unfortunately, the god of this world, Satan, has already formed much of the culture of the world. D.A. Carson points out how hostile the American culture is to Christianity in Christ and Culture Revisited:
In much of the Western world, despite the fact that Christianity was one of the forces that shaped what the West became (along with the Enlightenment, and a host of less dominant powers), culture is not only moving away from Christianity, it is frequently openly hostile toward it. Christianity can be tolerated, provided it is entirely private: Christian belief that intrudes itself into the public square, especially if it is trying to influence public policy, is most often taken, without examination, as prima facie evidence for bigotry and intolerance.[2]
Christians on the whole have reacted to secular culture in one of two ways. They have either completely withdrawn from it and isolated themselves from the world, or they have simply copied and modeled their lives, including their faith, after secular culture. One of these two postures can be clearly seen in the majority of churches across America. Which way is right? Neither! This is where the Great Commission comes into play. I believe that the Great Commission and the Creation Mandate go hand-in-hand. As believers, we must go to the World with the Gospel and “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Mt 28:19-20).” Jesus commanded us to teach the world to observe what He taught! To break it down, He told us that we must take dominion of the cultures of the world with the Gospel. And we must teach the people of the world to live the way that Christ commanded. The Creation Mandate was not nullified by the New Covenant! It is still in effect. If Christians thought this way, their lives would be radically changed. They would no longer look at their house and property as simply the place where they live, but as the place that God has placed them to cultivate and subdue for the Gospel. Their families would be culture-forming with the Gospel and would start to transform the neighborhoods around them. Christians would see their children not as a hindrance, but as a blessing from God that have been given to further expand the Kingdom of Christ (His culture). Christians would fight the evil culture around them and the people that are doing it like David did (Psalm 101). I think all too often, Christians are very passive towards evil. We forget that God has given us a sword with which to fight with (Eph 6:17). We must stand up and engage evil where it is present. This means that we must stand up against abortion with a renewed vigor. We must fight against same-sex marriage and pornography. And we must fight with Scripture and prayer. We need to engage evil with the Gospel, because only God can regenerate hearts, and ultimately, I believe, only revival in our land will create a culture that submits to Christ’s authority.
Soli Deo Gloria!
