Dear Partner,

Gen 1:1-3   In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

We know from scripture that the one true God manifests Himself in three parts: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All three are coequal. All are one. Our finite minds have trouble comprehending that concept, but we know it is true because the bible says so. John's gospel tells us that nothing was created without the direct involvement of God the Son, who is also called the "Word."

John 1:1-3   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

So let's take a look at how the triune God exercises dominion in this first act of creation. God the Father wants light. We see the Holy Spirit moving (Hebrew = brooding) over the face of the earth where darkness prevails. (I like to call the Holy Spirit the "Molecule Changer" because He is the one who actually performs the will of God.) The Holy Spirit is there, brooding over the dark earth, fully capable of producing light, yet He is not yet doing anything. He knows the Father wants light, but for some reason He is not yet producing light. Why not? He is waiting for something. What is He waiting for? He is waiting for the "spoken word."

How did the second member of the Godhead figure in creation? He is the WORD of God. The Holy Spirit was waiting for Him to speak, "Let there be light!" Those words released the authority for the power of the Holy Spirit to begin the creative process to produce the will of God on earth; in this case … light! Let's summarize how God exercises dominion:

1. God the Father plans the will of God.
2. God the Son (the Word) speaks the will of God.
God the Holy Spirit performs the will of God.

Then notice in Gen 1:26 God tells the Holy Spirit to give man dominion over the earth:

Gen 1:26   And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Adam was created in perfect fellowship with God. Because of that fellowship Adam was constantly aware of the will of God. His mind was full of the plans of God at all times. Then Adam was to speak the will of God. The Holy Spirit was then to enforce the dominion of man in order to bring about the will of God on planet earth.

We see Jesus functioning this way all through the four gospels. He plainly said He could do nothing of Himself, but only what He would "see" His Father doing. In other words, because He was in fellowship with the Father, His mind was full of the Father's will in every situation. What the Father would plan, the Son would say, and the Holy Spirit would then perform.

John 5:19   Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

How did the Son do it? He would speak the Father’s will, and the Holy Spirit would perform what was spoken. Notice this passage from when Jesus was casting out devils. He plainly says He was doing it by the power of the Holy Spirit:

Mat 12:28   But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

Why is all of this important to us? God's method of dominion does not change. What has changed is man's fellowship with God. When man fell He lost his direct line of communication with the Father. That allowed Satan to begin seeding the mind of man with thoughts of selfishness and evil rather than the thoughts of God. Man's imagination began to produce images on the inside that were in direct conflict with God's original plan for man. Those images held in the mind of man would eventually "conceive" and then action was taken based on evil instead of on good. Jesus said it this way:

Luke 6:45   A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

If we, as Christians, do not purposely fill our minds with the thoughts of God by reading the bible and by listening for His voice in prayer, then our minds will automatically be filled with the thoughts and goals of this fallen world. God intended for man to have dominion in order to bring God's will to earth. That is only possible if our minds are filled with His thoughts. In this day it is more important than ever that we fill our minds with God's Word! It is more important than ever that we "say what He says." The Holy Spirit is still here to exercise dominion for those who will "see and say" the will of God.

Sue and I love you and appreciate you. We thank God for your generous and giving heart. God bless you!

Your friend and co-laborer,

Gary Carpenter

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