I noticed recently that the purchase of homes was up in this country, but the thing that interested me is why man wants to buy a home in the first place. Other than having a place to live, most people buy homes to create equity in a piece of property, and for a tax write off. And for the majority of families, the majority of their wealth is in the value of their home. Unfortunately, if they lose their job they can no longer make payments, and the result is they lose their home and therefore the majority of their wealth.

But there is more to owning land than just wealth, at least Scripturally there is more. You see, God's mandate to man was that he exercise dominion over all things, to include property. In Genesis 1:26, we read God's mandate to man:

"... 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."

The words "let them" refers to man and woman as the basic family unit, and thus the mandate was given to the man and woman collectively, to subdue the earth and to have dominion over it. We understand that God created all land and all the land belongs to the Lord, but God also created man in His own image and therefore within man is this God-like necessity to rule over his own piece of land. Therefore, dominion over things is a basic desire of man's makeup.

Before the fall, man exercised dominion under God and to His glory, but after the fall man's urge for dominion changed as his desire became to rule as a god. This was precisely the temptation of the serpent for we are told in Genesis 3:5:

"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."

So the desire was to "be as gods," and history provides us with a long tale of horror in which man has sought power and dominion as an end in itself as he attempts to "be as gods."

But just because man renounced his dominion mandate to rule under God, does not make it disappear. What happens is, the power of dominion is simply transferred to another person. In the family when the man renounces dominion, it is assumed by the wife. When a man and wife renounce dominion over the family, it is assumed by the state. Likewise, when man renounced dominion over his land, dominion was assumed by the state.

Clearly, there is no hope for man except in restoration of God's mandate for dominion. In this regard, the salvation of man includes his restoration back into the image of God and his mission to subdue the earth and to exercise dominion -- that is dominion under God. This is why the proclamation of the four gospels is the Kingdom of God and its King.

Over the centuries, many Christians, having observed this tyrannical ungodly dominion by man, have become hostile to the concept of any type of dominion, and the result is that they have renounced dominion as being something evil, and the consequence has been disastrous.

You see, when they renounced man's Godly dominion, they came to regard the earth as the devil's realm, the body was despised, and a false sense of humility and meekness was cultivated. With these changes in theology, dominion was regarded as a burden of the flesh rather than a Godly mandated responsibility. In addition to this, Jesus was pictured as meek, helpless, and pacifistic.

In this regard, the word "meek" has been overused and abused. Meek is used in Numbers 12:3 to describe Moses as being "very meek:"

"...above all the men which were upon the face of the earth."

But the witness of Moses hardly agrees with the modern definition of meekness. If we go back and study the life of Moses we will realize that God subjected Moses to more rigorous discipline than any other believer of his day, and Moses accepted that discipline, and he grew in terms of it and became disciplined and strong -- not meek as we understand the use of the word. But he did become "meek" in the sense of being disciplined and having strength in the Lord, and in this regard, Moses was the meekest man of his age. Thus, meekness is not mousiness or a 90-pound weakling, but disciplined strength in and under God.

In Matthew 11:29, Jesus described Himself as: "meek and lowly in heart" (which is rendered "gentle and humble" by Moffatt). In saying this, He described Himself as such in relationship to those who sought Him -- that is, His followers.

However, in His relationship to His enemies, the Pharisees and Sadducees, Christ's conduct was firm, strong, and determined. So as Christ used the term "meekness," it meant, not the surrender of dominion, but rather the wise, merciful, and gracious use of it.

We cannot understand the meaning of meekness in Scripture unless we realize that it is not the surrender of dominion but rather that meekness has reference to the humble and godly use of dominion. Yes, the blessed meek are the tamed of God, those who are yoked to His calling, and it is they who shall inherit the earth.

This is a very important point, for unless this is understood, the gospel is perverted. You see, the purpose of regeneration is to re-establish man's mandate to exercise dominion and to subdue the earth -- and doing so under God -- not doing so to be as gods. The whole purpose of the call to obey the law of God is to make man disciplined and strong in God, as Moses became disciplined and strong.

But what happens then when meek and humble obedience is constantly demanded without the God-mandated goal of dominion being mentioned? What happens when man attempts to prepare himself for service to the Lord without any purpose in mind? Well, the ministry of the church becomes superficial, and the life of the believer, frustrating.

But man's urge for dominion does not disappear simply because the church does not speak of it. Instead it rears its ugly head in other ways, such as in the sinful struggle for power in the church where positions are sought for prestige and power, which is nothing more than another attempt to be as gods. Yes, when Godly dominion is neglected or denied, sinful dominion begins to rear its ugly head. Then life in the church becomes an ugly struggle over meaningless trifles in which the sole purpose is sinful power and dominion. And all too often this sinful urge to dominion is masked with hypocritical meekness.

Therefore, it is very necessary to recognize that the urge for dominion is God-given and is basic to the very nature of man, and one aspect of this dominion is property.

Some theologians also deny that there is any Biblical authorization for private property. Their ground for this is the often repeated Biblical declaration, in Exodus 9:29, among others that: "The earth is the LORD'S."

The earth is indeed the Lord's, as is all creation, but we need to remember that God gave dominion over the earth to man, but He did so subjecting man to His law, and so the possession of property is a central aspect of that dominion. Yes, the absolute title to property is the Lord's; but in giving man dominion, man was given a title of possession.

But when man denies ownership of property, ownership does not leave this world; it is simply transferred to another party, usually, and unfortunately, the state. However, if the contention that the earth is the Lord's and not man's, is applied equally, then it must also be applied to the state; and if so, then the state must be denied all right to own, possess, or control property.

However, Scripture does not place property in the hands of the state but assigns it to the family. It gives property to man as an aspect of his dominion, as a part of his godly dominion mandate to subdue the earth.

If the doctrine of dominion over land, under God, is denied or weakened, then all of God's law is weakened or denied.

While God grants dominion to man under His law, He does not grant to man His sovereignty, for God alone is absolute Lord and Sovereign over all things. And in this regard, it should be pointed out that when we say man collectively is sovereign, or the state is sovereign, then we, in effect, are denying God's sovereignty. In spite of this we have placed sovereignty in the hands of the state, but this should be nothing new to those who study history. For Thomas Paine, in the Rights of Man, assigned the principle of the sovereignty of the nation-state, declaring:

"The nation is essentially the source of all sovereignty,-- nor can any INDIVIDUAL, or ANY BODY OF MEN, be entitled to any authority which is not expressly derived from it."

Thus Paine's god was the state, because by his definition the state becomes the source of all authority, morality, and dominion. This is, of course, nothing more than statism, and it denies God's mandate to have dominion and allows states to "be as gods."

But God's purpose for man is dominion -- dominion of redeemed man over the earth, and again that is dominion under God -- not as gods. In this regard, Paul tells us in Romans 8:19-23, that the very creation around us groans and travails, waiting for the godly dominion of the children of God.

Therefore, the people of God must be schooled on the nature and requirements of exercising dominion, under God. Anything short of this is a contempt for the supreme authority of God.