Rest: Day 4

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that was made.  

John 1:1-3

In these last days [He] has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.      

Hebrews 1:2

Mankind was created to rule.  Adam’s authority over the created order was decreed by God. He rested in his place of dominion as easily as any royal monarch born to the purple. When Adam sinned, he lost his position, his place of dominion and his rest. When our first parents were cast out of the garden, they, like all creatures in the fallen world, had to work and sweat and fight for their survival.

 In the above Hebrew’s verse, heir of all things does not refer to the original creative act of John 1:1-3. It refers to Jesus’ demonstration of Creation through the miracles and His final victory over sin and death. In doing so, He recovered the dominion that the first man, Adam, lost when he sinned. Christ is heir of all things; we are joint-heirs through adoption if we are God’s children. (Romans 8:16, 17) Jesus is the chief-heir and will retain control over Creation at the end of the age. At that time, He will allocate different responsibilities to His people as He sees fit (Rev. 22:5, 19), thus returning mankind to the place of royal authority that He was created for by God.  (Gen. 1:28-30)

”through whom He made the world” does not refer to the original physical Creation. The word “world” in the Greek is aion which means age or time, not the word for people or space (kosmos). Jesus Christ has charge over the plan of the ages—every moment of our life included—and the power to bring it to pass.

Nancy S.