Presently, mankind likes to think it has dominion over the environment and all of the creatures on our planet. When we take a closer look at our relationship with God’s creation, we see devastating natural disasters and animals attacking and killing humans. These events are demonstrations of how little control mankind actually retains.

If we acknowledge that we do not have authority over creation in our fallen world, then who does?

In the book of Job, we find Job after suffering loss, ailment and hardship. He was face to face with God, asking why he was being mistreated and forsaken.

In Job 38-39 God’s reply to Job’s question uses many animals and aspects of nature to demonstrate His infinite knowledge of creation. God proves his power and wisdom, in turn exposing man’s severe limitations and understanding. By pointing out how little Job knew about the planet, God demonstrated to Job that man is in no position to question the Creator of the universe. Then God asked Job some questions about one of his most powerful creations:

Job 41:1-7

1 Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook

or tie down its tongue with a rope?

2 Can you put a cord through its nose

or pierce its jaw with a hook?

3 Will it keep begging you for mercy?

Will it speak to you with gentle words?

4 Will it make an agreement with you

for you to take it as your slave for life?

5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird

or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?

6 Will traders barter for it?

Will they divide it up among the merchants?

7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons

or its head with fishing spears?

The word leviathan means whale in the Modern Hebrew language. God’s detailed description of the creature in Job 41:12-34 describes what is thought to be a giant crocodile or ancient sea dinosaur.

The leviathan was a very real and very powerful creature of the sea.

God uses the mighty leviathan to illustrate mankind’s powerlessness and lack of dominion over the environment, animals, and God’s creation as a whole:

Job 41:8-11

8 If you lay a hand on it,

you will remember the struggle and never do it again!

9 Any hope of subduing it is false;

the mere sight of it is overpowering.

10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it.

Who then is able to stand against me?

11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?

Everything under heaven belongs to me.

If man lacks God’s intimate knowledge of creation, then who are we to attempt to subdue it or question God’s activities pertaining to His creation?

In verse 11, we find the answer to our question; who has authority over God’s creation?

He does.

“Everything under heaven belongs to me.”

We are also told who has dominionover everything in Psalms:

Psalms 24:1

1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it;

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The following verse shows us that Jesus, the Son of God was able to control the weather:

Matthew 8:23-37

23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.

24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.

25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Here we see the disciples full of fear and powerless against nature while God has the ability to command it.

There are multiple verses in The Bible that speak of mankind’s subjugation under another being after sin entered the world:

Ephesians 2:1–3

1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

Revelation 2:13

13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

The Bible makes it very clear that Satan does not have power over God, however the reference to Satan as a Prince and to him having a throne tells us that he has been given power and dominion.

Satan’s dominion on Earth explains much of the death and destruction that we witness and ultimately mankind’s inability to subdue the earth.

These verses show us that God and Satan have control over the world while mankind is ultimately powerless.

So what do we have dominion over?

The following verse in 1 Corinthians tells us that not even our own bodies are ours:

1 Corinthians 6:19

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

If even our own bodies don’t belong to us, but belong to God, then how are we to claim ownership over God’s creation?

God is the creator of all things, therefore, He is the owner of all things. We are part of God’s creation; not the authority of it.

We live in a time where mankind has profited greatly from the exploitation of God’s creation. God desires for mankind to protect the earth’s inhabitants and environment, even now after the fall.