More Than Medicine
More Than Medicine
DWDP: Gen 1; 28-31 The Dominion Mandate
Join us on More Than Medicine as we challenge conventional narratives with a bold exploration of the biblical mandate to "be fruitful and multiply," focusing on the eye-opening experiences from my recent journey to Thailand. We unravel the connection between sparsely populated areas and widespread concerns about overpopulation, suggesting that the root causes of food shortages are more aligned with sin and governmental inefficiencies than a crowded planet. Through the lens of scripture, we contrast the biblical view of life and children as blessings with the more secular approach that often prioritizes birth control and smaller families. This episode invites you to reflect on how these perspectives influence trust in God’s sovereignty, especially within Protestant faith communities.
Celebrate the transforming power of God's amazing grace with us as we conclude our reflections on the divine teachings of Genesis, chapter 1. We express our gratitude for the lessons learned and invite you to continue this spiritual journey as we delve into Genesis, chapter 2. This episode promises a deeper understanding of the Bible’s teachings, with a focus on Jesus Christ as the living word. We extend our blessings and encourage you to engage with our ministry through future discussions or by visiting our social media pages for more information. Join us as we explore faith, family, and the enduring wisdom of the scriptures.
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Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, Dr Robert Jackson.
Speaker 2:Papa, can you tell me a story? Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotion with Dr Poppa. Gather around, grab your Bibles and let's look into the written word, which reveals to us the living word, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, I want to thank those of you who prayed for me and Ms Carlotta while we were on our trip to Thailand. It was a blessed event and we were able to share the gospel with about 60 pastors and their wives, and maybe at a later event I'll share with you some more details about that trip.
Speaker 2:Well, today we're in Genesis, chapter 1, verse 28 to 31, and let's read the scripture. First, god blessed them and God said to them Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Then God said Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth and every tree which has fruit, yielding seed, and it shall be food for you and to every beast of the earth and every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life. I have given every green plant for food, and it was so. God saw all that he had made and behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. All right, so here is the very first command, the dominion mandate Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Now it's interesting that this same mandate was repeated to Noah and his sons after the flood, because, you realize, at that time the entire population of the planet had been decimated and removed by the flood, so it was only Noah, his three sons and his three sons' wives, plus Noah's wife. So the mandate was repeated to them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. It's interesting that nowhere in scripture has that mandate to be fruitful, to multiply and fill the earth. That mandate has never been rescinded.
Speaker 2:Contr. Contrary to the concerns of population explosion alarmists, the earth is not even close to being overcrowded. In fact, when I just flew to Thailand, I flew over vast swaths of Canada and it's not even close to being overpopulated. I flew over parts of northern United States. It's not even close to being overpopulated.
Speaker 2:I am confident that God in His omniscience knew at the beginning, and still knows, the capacity of planet earth. If he blesses and provides for every sparrow, as Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount, he will provide for you, o ye of little faith. Well then, doctor, why are there food shortages and famines? Well, that's a good question. Famines, like all natural disasters, are a consequence of the fall of man that has left our planet groaning under the curse of sin. In Romans 8, 22, the Apostle Paul tells us For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together. Until now, you see, the entire planet groans because of the consequence of Adam's sin, multiplied by the sins of every one of us. Food shortages in the era of advanced technology is almost always caused by government inefficiency and government corruption, especially in third world countries where starvation is frequently used as a tool against oppressed subcultures. Keep moving.
Speaker 2:Obedience to this command brings blessing because, as Psalms 127 promises, children are a gift of the Lord, but the fruit of the womb is a reward. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. This command is exactly contrary to the command of the secular world which says limit your family to 1.8 children. The biblical worldview values life, values a multiplicity of children and values a proliferation of children. Also, the biblical worldview values a long life, values longevity. The cultural worldview devalues life, rejects children, restricts childbearing and disrespects the elderly.
Speaker 2:Now let's compare a biblical worldview with the secular cultural worldview. The biblical worldview says to be fruitful and multiply. It says that children are a gift and the fruit of the womb is a reward. The cultural worldview values abortion and birth control and the limitation of family size. The biblical worldview says that children are a gift, whereas the cultural worldview views children as a liability and an excessive expense. The biblical worldview values the response of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who, when the Holy Spirit offered to her the opportunity to be the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, she said in submission to the Holy Spirit, be it done to me according to your will. The cultural worldview views abortion and birth control as a rejection of God's sovereignty over their individual lives and maintains self-autonomy and maintains self-control using abortion as birth control and birth control devices as a way to maintain their self-autonomy.
Speaker 2:Let me ask you a question, especially Christian women. When Christian women say to God Lord, I want you to be in control of my entire life, my family, my future, my finances, how does birth control fit into that? How can they say Lord, I want you to be in control of my entire life, except for this one portion of my life. I reserve the right to control this area of my life entirely to myself. How can you be completely submitted to God when you use a birth control device to control one area of your life completely? Let me ask you another question. Why is it that when I tell people that I have nine children, they ask me oh, are you a Mormon, are you a Catholic? Why don't they ask me oh, are you a Protestant? Why is it that Protestants aren't known for having a multiplicity of children? Are Protestants not people of faith? Are Protestants not known for trusting God? Are Protestants not known for being obedient to the mandate to be fruitful and multiply? I submit to you that many Protestants need to repent. They need to begin to trust God with every area of their life, including their ability to procreate.
Speaker 2:The biblical worldview values the elderly. The cultural worldview values euthanasia and neglects the elderly to death or intentionally kills the elderly, and I promise you that happens in our hospitals every day, where the elderly and the infirm are dehydrated or either starved to death, on a daily basis, and I've seen it with my own eyes more times than I care to repeat. Now let's move on. The scripture says then to subdue it and rule over it, to have dominion over it. This is the cultural mandate, the dominion mandate. This is the cultural mandate, the dominion mandate. First, it requires intensive study of the earth and its phenomenon and number two, the utilization of the knowledge for the benefit of both man and the animals. This is God's commission for science and technology. Science is the disciplined study of the physical world around us. Technology is the application of this knowledge in useful ways to benefit both man and the animals, in such ways as medicine and agriculture and horticulture and engineering, all manner of other areas of study. God created man as stewards over the created world.
Speaker 2:In Psalms, chapter 8,. Let me read this scripture to you. It's very interesting what the psalmist said in Psalms, chapter 8, verses 6 through 8. Psalms, chapter 8, verses 6 through 8. Psalms, chapter 8, verses 6 through 8. The psalmist says you have made him talking about man to rule over the works of your hands. You've put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the sea. You see, even the psalmist recognized that everything on the planet was put under man's stewardship. Now look at verse 29 to verse 30. We read this previously.
Speaker 2:Originally, both men and beasts were intended to be vegetarians, and God provided vegetation for them everywhere. It is unclear if this changed for animals at the time of the curse or after the flood. In Isaiah 11, verses 6-9 and this is describing the millennium it says that the lion will eat straw like the ox and at that time they will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain. So you see, in the end time there will be well, not the end time, but in the millennial reign of Christ there will be well, not the end time, but in the millennial reign of Christ the lion will eat straw like an ox and there will be no further destruction or hurt or harm at that time in the millennial kingdom. And so there will be a return to the idyllic conditions that existed in the Garden of Eden, idyllic conditions that existed in the garden of Eden.
Speaker 2:God concluded day six by saying that it was very good, in verse 31. To have been very good, god's creation must have been without blemish, without defect, without disease, without suffering, and there could have been no survival of the fittest, as the scientists around us claim that there was in the evolutionary protocol. There could not have been survival of the fittest for millions of years. That required stronger animals to kill and devour weaker species in order to survive. The original creation was a place of joy and life and security in the presence of the Creator. Both humans and animals were vegetarians. So what happened to this Edenic paradise? Well, you already know, god gave Adam and Eve only one restriction when he said of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. Lucifer entered the scene and he enticed, he tempted them and the aid of the forbidden fruit, bringing about the fall of man.
Speaker 2:Following the rebellion, or this rebellious act of one man, death entered God's creation, not just the spiritual death of Adam and Eve that separated them from God, but physical death, physical death of Adam and Eve, physical death of the creation, the animals, and God made them a covering to hide their nakedness, as we'll learn in chapter 3. And in order to cover their nakedness, an animal had to die. The Bible tells us that without the shedding of blood there's no remission, no atonement, no covering of sin. Now, we don't know this for certain, but in all likelihood a lamb had to be sacrificed, had to shed its blood in order to cover their nakedness, which was an adumbration, a foreshadowing, a picture of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the perfect Lamb of God. And the Bible also tells us in chapter 3 that the ground was cursed, the serpent was cursed and the world was no longer a perfect world and there entered in disease, suffering, natural disasters and death.
Speaker 2:When I was in college, I shared the gospel with one of my professors. He was a big, tall man, about six foot six, and I was terribly intimidated by this professor, but I respected him greatly and I went to his office one day and asked permission if I could share my testimony and share the gospel with him. And he was very respectful and he sat quietly and listened to me share my testimony and share the gospel. And when I finished he very honestly told me that he had a difficulty with the gospel and it was because his two-year-old child had died of some sickness and he couldn't understand how a loving God who was all-power, all powerful, could allow his two-year-old child to die. Now, I was a baby Christian at the time and I really didn't understand many of the things that I understand now and I really couldn't give him an adequate explanation.
Speaker 2:But I have to say to you, brothers and sisters, that God is loving and God is all-powerful. And it's our fault that there is sin and suffering in the world. It's because of Adam's sin, it's because of our sin that there is sin and death and suffering in the world today. And when my professor looked at me and said, why? Why? And I have to say to you, if we didn't experience the consequences of our sin, the consequences of our rebellion, we would never understand that we need a savior from our sin and we would never cry out to Jesus for his deliverance. We would never cry out to Jesus for his deliverance. We would never cry out to him for mercy. Listen, jesus has overcome this broken world.
Speaker 2:In Romans, chapter 5 and verse 8, god demonstrates his own love toward us and that, while we were yet sinners, christ died for us. And in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15,. The Bible tells us in verse 45, 1 Corinthians, chapter 15,. In verse 45, as it is written the first man, adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. You see, adam was a living soul, but his sin brought a curse on planet earth.
Speaker 2:Jesus became a life-giving spirit. He gave his life to purchase our redemption and we commit our lives to Him. We put our trust in Him. His blood purchases our redemption. The whole story is a glorious, glorious story of God's love for you and me that he would give His own Son to purchase your and my redemption. What a wonderful Savior. What a wonderful Savior. What a wonderful God. What an amazing love. What amazing grace. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was once blind, but now I see, and the only reason I've been found and the only reason I see is because of God's amazing grace. Well, that brings us to the end of Genesis, chapter 1. We'll start in Genesis, chapter 2, next week and I hope that you will stay tuned and we'll continue to learn the lessons in life that God teaches us in the written word, which reveals to us the living word, our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you real good.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books, or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their webpage at jacksonfamilyministrycom. This podcast is produced by Bob Slone Audio Production at bobslone. com.
