🌳 The Reclaimed Dominion — Rediscovering the Authority Lost by Adam, Recovered by Christ, and Entrusted to the Believer
2 Samuel 18:8
For the battle there was scattered over the face of all the country and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
Trees don’t fight. Forests don’t slay. Or do they? The realm of Scripture never traffics in exaggeration. If it is recorded, it happened. When Absalom, son of David, was caught mid-air by the branches of a tree, it was not a random accident. It was a divine intervention. A forest fought a battle.
Just as the earth opened to swallow Korah (Numbers 16:32), and as the sun stood still for Joshua (Joshua 10:13), and as a fish prepared Jonah’s transport, we are being shown again and again: Creation is not passive. It is intelligent. It is loyal. It can be summoned. And it can rebel.
This opens up the conversation of dominion. But before dominion can be exercised, something must precede it — priesthood. God did not proclaim worship, prayer, or fasting as first commands, but by walking with man in the garden, He implied communion. Dominion without priesthood is disconnection. Authority without alignment is rebellion. What was given to Adam was not just territory — it was a template of partnership.
🔥 Man’s Original Mandate — Dominion
Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it and have dominion…
This was more than occupation. It was legislation. Man was made to steward the visible world by spiritual intimacy with the invisible One. His rulership was not mechanical. It was relational. And it was designed to function only under the government of God.
But then came the transaction that corrupted this order — a misuse of freewill.
Adam chose wrongly and through that act, transferred the license of dominion to the deceiver. From then on, the earth groaned under a foreign spirit.
When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he said something revealing:
Luke 4:6
And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them for that is delivered unto me…
Who delivered it to him? Adam. There’s no subtlety here. The transaction was clear. But the story doesn’t end there.
👑 The Second Adam — Right Choice, Reclaimed Authority
Where Adam fell through wrong choice, Jesus stood by right choice. He was tempted in every way. Yet without sin. His obedience restored the authority man lost.
Romans 5:19
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
This is not poetry. It’s legal transfer. Dominion returned. But not to the careless. Only to those who, by faith in Christ, also choose rightly — daily.
The same choices that stood before Adam and Christ stand before us every day. Will we obey the Word or follow impulse? Will we seek counsel or act on assumption? Every decision is a re-enactment of Eden or Gethsemane. Every obedience draws us into dominion. Every disobedience delays it.
But this daily dominion must be sponsored. Before you rule, you must hear. Before you govern, you must worship. The engine room of kingship is priesthood.
🌎 Nature Is Not Passive — Earth Helps Those Aligned
Revelation 12:16
And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out…
The earth helped her. Like a servant eager to obey. The same earth that was cursed because of Adam’s fall (Genesis 3:17) now joins the battle again — this time on the side of redemption.
This is not the only place. In Jeremiah 22:29, the prophet says:
O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
The earth is addressed directly. Instructed to record barrenness. This isn’t metaphor. The earth hears. Responds. Reacts.
Isaiah 55:12 says:
…the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
What sounds like fable is spiritual intelligence. These are possibilities believers can access when walking in restored dominion. Creation partners with sons. But only sons.
Romans 8:19
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
🧬 The Templates Are In Your Spirit
The born-again experience didn’t just give us religion. It re-engineered us. It created a new species.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature…
But go one verse earlier:
2 Corinthians 5:16
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh…
Until the believer ascends into his spiritual dimension, the newness revealed in verse 17 will be an illusion.
All the divine templates, the blueprints for exploits, were installed in your spirit at salvation. You see glimpses of them in your dreams. Those unusual feats in sleep where a man runs through troops, scales walls, commands storms, or accomplishes things he cannot yet explain are not fables.
They are echoes. Promises. But the soul must be disciplined to catch up with the spirit.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that eternity is set in the heart.
Proverbs 20:27 calls the spirit of man the candle of the Lord.
Psalm 18:28 declares: For thou wilt light my candle. The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
So cry out. Like David. Let God light your candle.
And prepare. Because next comes priesthood — the power chamber of kings.
🛐 The Priesthood Must Sponsor the Kingship
Acts 6:7
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
If the unadulterated Word of God is preached, the resulting increase in the congregational numbers will be made up of word-filled believers who cannot be deceived. This creates an accountable team of pastors since their members are well equipped and have a low threshold for falsehood.
The error of assuming kingship without priesthood is spiritual disaster. Governance flows from guidance. Dominion without devotion will always become delusion.
Even in Eden, God walked with man. That was not a kingly exercise. That was a priestly template. The priesthood was internalised before the kingship could be exercised. This is why when God found David, He found a worshipper first. His authority in Israel was born from his intimacy in the field. God does not enthrone strangers.
Many have tried to walk in dominion without first encountering the fire of communion. But the engine room of kingship is priesthood.
Malachi 2 is a divine audit of priesthood. It reveals the heart, the responsibility, the danger, and the reward of walking before God as a priest. Read carefully:
Malachi 2:2
If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings…
God does not negotiate priesthood. The moment a priest stops honoring the One who appointed him, he invites frustration. Attendance without miracles. Programs with no power. A cursed blessing.
Malachi 2:3
I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts…
Church services become judgment scenes. The program swallows the priest. The feast becomes dung.
Malachi 2:5–6
My covenant was with him of life and peace… he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity…
The faithful priest lives from revelation. Speaks from truth. Turns many from sin not by shouting, but by walking with God.
Malachi 2:7
For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth…
The priest is not a motivational speaker. He is a messenger of the Lord of Hosts. His lips are sacred tools.
But many depart:
Malachi 2:8–9
But ye are departed out of the way… ye have caused many to stumble… I have made you contemptible and base before all the people…
This is why signs and wonders disappear. The Word loses weight when the messenger becomes misaligned.
Yet the New Testament believer is called into a higher priesthood — not Levitical, but Melchisedekan. The shadow of Levi existed because the substance of Melchisedek was a reality. The embodiment of this eternal priesthood presented Himself to Abraham… PHYSICALLY.
Jesus is our pattern. He is the High Priest after the order of Melchisedek, and we are called into that same priestly order (1 Peter 2:9). The Levites rehearsed what we must now fulfill.
🍼 No One Can Be Spoonfed Forever
Hebrews 5:11–14 tells us that those who remain on milk cannot handle the Word of righteousness. Stunted growth is both a medical crisis and a spiritual one. Paul wanted to speak of Melchisedek, but was restrained by the shallowness of his audience. The church must grow.
There is a season where others intercede for you. But priesthood must eventually be owned personally. When a believer refuses to grow, he forfeits inheritance.
Ephesians 4 clarifies the temporary role of the fivefold ministry. Apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists are meant to equip saints until (that is the word — until) they reach maturity. Not permanently, but until the believer picks up his destiny with both hands.
A mature believer no longer waits for external permission. He is stirred internally by the God who now dwells in him. This was the transition from Eli to Samuel. Samuel learned under Eli. But eventually, God began to call him directly.
📘 Read. Seek. Stop Outsourcing.
Some say the church is weak because of pastors. But I disagree. People chase what they value. There are people who work 9 to 5, raise families, and still manage to complete degrees and certifications. Yet they cannot read Scripture consistently?
This is not inability. It is misplaced affection.
Why is it easier for a man to approach a complete stranger for romance and risk rejection, than to approach the living Word? Fear? Laziness? Or ignorance?
Satan is only as powerful in your life as your ignorance of God’s Word allows. If he knew what the cross would unleash, he would have guarded Jesus from dying.
1 Chronicles 21 shows how terrifying God can be. When David sinned, he was given three options. One of them included falling into the hand of God. That is a fear deeper than demons. Read your Bible. Fear the Lord.
And stop outsourcing your priesthood.
🧱 Training Is for Dominion
Proverbs 22:6 says to train a child when he is young so that when he is grown, he will not depart. The goal of training is to arrive at maturity where personal responsibility kicks in.
Galatians 3 and 4 say the Law was a schoolmaster until grace took over. We start under governors, but we are meant to graduate into sonship.
The purpose of mentorship is deployment.
When pastors equip well and release sons into maturity, the Kingdom wins. This does not render the mentor obsolete. It gives him a higher status — elder, witness, father. There are eternal rewards for such stewardship.
🧭 You May Stay or Go — But Only by His Instruction
Some will be called out like Abraham. Others will stay, like Jonathan. But both must be sent. If God doesn’t know where you are, neither will your assignment.
“Where are you, Adam?” is not just a location question. It is a lament. The angels cannot contradict God’s positioning of you.
The HR department of Heaven is run by the Holy Spirit.
🕊️ Final Charge — Dominion Reclaimed, Priesthood Restored
Dominion is not a slogan. It is a divine trust. A spiritual inheritance that demands stewardship, not assumption. And the path back to it is not paved with noise or titles, but with alignment.
From the garden to Golgotha, from Levi’s shadow to Melchisedek’s embodiment, from priesthood’s whisper to kingship’s roar — the message is one: Come up higher.
The earth is waiting. Creation groans. Territories remain unconquered not because power is absent, but because priests have neglected the altar and kings have forgotten the throne.
God is not looking for celebrities. He is looking for sons.
Sons who inquire. Sons who obey. Sons who burn.
Sons who govern not just pulpits but atmospheres.
Sons who stop outsourcing priesthood and begin to walk in the spirit of adoption.
The hour has come.
The Spirit is poured.
The question remains…
Where are you?
Adade is a Seeker of Divine Truth, known as A Man of The Word. He is a Software Consultant by profession and a frequent columnist in The Ghanaian Times, where he reflects on the intersection of scripture, society, and spiritual clarity. He publishes on social media by the hashtags #actfreshmanna and #actwordnuggets (Facebook and TikTok), where he constantly shares nuggets from The Scriptures.