Today I watched a short clip on a video game that allows the player to populate and subdue the earth (Land, and Sea) and then the stars as well. This game is limited only to human imagination. It is an economic and society based game that begins with and evolutionary process rather than creation but the goal in the end is to expand the territory and property of a society or world. There are a variety of means through which this is done which are: Warfare, Delegation, Economic, Population…
As is I watched this video, it ignited my imagination and I began to ponder the following question, “Where does man’s drive to achieve, learn, grow, develop, overcome, and conquer or possess come from?” Wherever I turn I can see this drive being perused and fulfilled in all functions of society and at every level. This appears to be a theme of life. So why are we so bent on the pursuit of more and is this an evil or noble desire?
The Sixth Day
In Genesis 1:26-31 we learn that God’s first mandate for man (after humanity was blessed by God) was to populate the earth and rule over it. This is an amazing charge. God had blessed man with the capacity to expand himself and grow a human society. Man was not only called to be an explorer he was called to be the developer and ruler of the earth. These roles are noble and good as God’s mandate for humanity. With that said I believe that this answers the riddle to some extent.
The word “populate” implies that God’s vision is not just a charge for Adam or for a single individual but instead it is a corporate charge for all humanity. We have observed throughout history individuals bent on ruling the world, conquering and trying to actually subdue humanity. Notice that the phrase God uses includes every animal, all plants and land but it does not say rule over one another. I believe the reason for this is that man was not intended for such a role. The headship or ruler of humanity was intended to be God Himself. I am not claiming that there is not a need for government or leadership but what I am saying is that humanity was originally designed to have God as the authority (But this is a discussion for another time).
The Problem of
According to this story, several hundred years after the creation event the population of the earth had grown extensively and decided to settle into one area. As they did this they began to devise a plan of building a great city with an enormous tower. This in itself is not a problem but as anything else it is the motivation behind the action that causes the action to be good or bad. In Genesis 11:3-4, we learn that the driving force behind this action was two fold. First of all they wanted to make a name for themselves and secondly they wanted to “not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” This is where we begin to see what is wrong with the plan, it was flawed at the foundational level. If a building (or city in this case) is begun with a flaw in the foundation then the building itself will be flawed and instable.
When the heart or foundation of an idea starts with Man as the focus it is flawed. In the garden God was the starting point and the foundation of all things. Humanity was separated from God in the fall and from then on began exalting himself to a place of authority and glory instead of God. This is exactly what happened in
As a result of these two decisions God chose to separate the people rather than allow them to continue communication.
Genesis 11:5-7
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
God has gifted us with the capacity to learn, grow, change ourselves and the world around us. However, as long as our motivation is self interested we will never be able to fulfill Gods original mandate for us. We were created with the drive to fulfill this directive on earth but possibly even further maybe into the stars. In a video game we are only limited to our imagination but in reality, if our lives surrendered to God, we are only limited to God’s. And Gods imagination is limitless and borderless.
Topics for another time:
The Role Imagination or Dreaming in the pursuit of Dominion
The Role of Technology in the pursuit of Dominion – Tool Formation
Dominion or Invasion (The Desire to Conquer)
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