The world is intended to be the dwelling-place of humanity, as the height of God's creation. Human beings are organised within the world into groupings and nations and have a God-given authority to rule.
The responsibility of human beings to rule
Over the earth
Genesis 2:15–16 See also Genesis 1:25–26, Genesis 1:29; Psalm 8:4–6
Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,
Over the animal kingdom
Genesis 1:28 “subdue” and “rule” do not give liberty to exploit and abuse but responsibility for caring for and bringing the best out of God's world. See also Genesis 9:1–5; Deuteronomy 22:6–7; Proverbs 27:23–27; Matthew 6:25–26; Acts 10:11–13
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”
The response of human beings to God's commission to rule
Failure through abuse
Hosea 4:2–3 See also Genesis 3:12, Genesis 6:11–12; Deuteronomy 28:15–21
Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.
Refusal to fill the earth
Genesis 11:5–7 See also Genesis 4:17
Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building. And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them. Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
Obedience and blessing
Deuteronomy 28:4–5 See also Genesis 49:25
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, as well as the produce of your land and the offspring of your livestock — the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.
The ordering of nations within the world
By language
Genesis 11:8–9 See also Genesis 10:5; Nehemiah 13:24; Esther 1:22; Acts 2:6–8; Revelation 14:6
So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it is called Babel, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth.
By race
Revelation 7:9 See also Revelation 5:9, Revelation 13:7
After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
By territory
Acts 17:26 See also Genesis 13:11–12; Numbers 13:27–29
From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.
By their rise and fall
Jeremiah 18:7–10 See also 2 Chronicles 15:6; Isaiah 19:2; Jeremiah 1:10; Daniel 7:17–18; Matthew 24:7 parallels Mark 13:8, Luke 21:10–11
At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed. But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring. And if at another time I announce that I will build up and establish a nation or kingdom, and if it does evil in My sight and does not listen to My voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it.
By government
Romans 13:1 See also Daniel 2:21, Daniel 4:17; 1 Peter 2:13–14
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.
The world as the object of the gospel proclamation
God sent Jesus Christ to this world
John 3:16 See also Isaiah 45:22; John 1:10, John 1:29; 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:9
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Believers are commanded to evangelise this world
Matthew 28:18–19 See also Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46–47; Acts 1:8
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.