Dominion is the authority and rule that God has granted or exercises over creation.
In Genesis, God gives humanity dominion over the earth and its creatures as part of the creation mandate.
In the New Testament the word also appears among the ranks of spiritual beings (“dominions”) created through and for Christ.
Ultimately all dominion belongs to God and has been given to the risen Christ, who must reign until every enemy is put under His feet.
Dominion begins with God Himself, the sovereign Ruler of all He has made. At creation He entrusted a delegated dominion to humanity, made in His image, calling them to fill the earth, subdue it, and exercise responsible rule over the living creatures. Sin corrupted this calling, turning stewardship into exploitation and harmony into conflict. Yet the mandate was never revoked. The Old Testament looks forward to a coming King whose dominion would be everlasting. The New Testament declares that Jesus Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He is the last Adam who perfectly fulfills the dominion purpose of the first. At the same time, Paul lists “dominions” among the invisible powers created through Christ and subject to Him. Believers share in Christ’s victory and are called to live under His lordship while exercising faithful stewardship in the spheres God assigns to them. Final and universal dominion will be openly displayed when Christ returns and the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.
- All true dominion originates with God, the Creator and sovereign King.
- Humanity was given delegated dominion over the earth as image-bearers of God.
- Sin distorted human dominion, yet the original calling still stands under Christ’s lordship.
- Christ has received all authority and must reign until every enemy is subdued.
- “Dominions” also designates a rank of spiritual beings created through and subject to Christ.
- Believers exercise limited, delegated authority under Christ in the home, church, and world.
- The final state will display the unchallenged dominion of God and of the Lamb.
- Divine Dominion – God’s absolute rule over all creation, history, and spiritual powers.
- Human Dominion Mandate – The creation calling to fill, subdue, and exercise responsible stewardship over the earth.
- Corrupted Dominion – The distortion of authority through sin, resulting in oppression and disorder.
- Christ’s Dominion – The risen Lord who possesses all authority and is presently reigning.
- Spiritual Dominions – Angelic or spiritual powers listed among the created ranks subject to Christ.
- Delegated Authority – Limited spheres of responsibility given to human beings under God’s rule.
- Final Dominion – The consummation when every knee bows and every enemy is under Christ’s feet.
- Genesis 1:26-28 – “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’… And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion…’”
- Psalm 8:4-6 – “What is man that you are mindful of him… You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.”
- Psalm 72:8 – “May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!”
- Daniel 7:13-14 – “And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away…”
- Matthew 28:18 – “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
- Colossians 1:16 – “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”
- Ephesians 1:20-22 – God “raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion… And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:24-27 – “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’”
- Jude 8 – False teachers “reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.”
- 2 Peter 2:10 – Those who “despise authority” and are bold and willful.
- Revelation 1:5-6 – Jesus Christ “the ruler of kings on earth… who has made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.”
- Revelation 11:15 – “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
- Romans 6:9, 14 – “Death no longer has dominion over him… For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
- Psalm 22:28 – “For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.”
- Isaiah 9:6-7 – “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it…”
Dominion belongs to God alone in the absolute sense. He shares a real but limited dominion with human beings made in His image, and He has entrusted all authority in heaven and on earth to His risen Son. The original mandate to rule the earth still stands, yet it can be fulfilled only under the lordship of Christ and in the power of the Spirit. Sin turned dominion into domination; the gospel restores it as servant-hearted stewardship. Spiritual powers called dominions exist, yet they were created through Christ and remain subject to Him. One day every rival claim will be ended, every enemy will be under His feet, and the dominion of our God and of His Christ will be unchallenged forever. Until that day, live as those who know that all authority belongs to Jesus — and exercise whatever responsibility He has given you in humble dependence on Him.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.