Glory and Dominion - Dominion - Part 2

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him Glory in dominion n forever and ever. Amen.
— Revelation 1:5b-6

Last week we looked at Glory through the lens of 2Corinthinas 3:18. The Person of the Holy Spirit provides grace to grow the eternal attributes we acquire in Christ Jesus our Lord and Redeemer Lamb.

We also glimpsed a peek of the Lion King in the throne room. The Lamb who takes away the sins of the world also is the King Who rules. The combination of Glory and Dominion speaks to an inherent relationship with the Father as both Lamb and King.

The Greek word used for dominion in this verse emphasizes the completing of His strength. The King demonstrates His sovereign authority and power to rule by completing the holy task already established and defined. This shadow or promise of a coming physical reality is accomplished spiritually in the Body of Christ.

The context for this verse is the physical manifestation of Christ’s earthly kingdom during the earthly millennium following with a judgment. The dominion of Christ’s physically reign mirrors also His dominion or rule in our own spiritual soul for 2Corinthinas 5:17 Christians. Physical things are typically shadows of spiritual realities.

We live in the sovereign reign of God even though circumstantial distractions tempt us out of a spiritual focus. Our participation in God’s work is possible only through the Holy Spirit. Just as we saw the transforming work of the Holy Spirit bringing glory to God, the Holy Spirit is also drawing us into the life of God. The life of God is a life of dominion!

We catch the dominion perspective in the 66 chapters of Isaiah divided into 39 chapters dealing with the Old Testament and 27 chapters of the New Testament gospel. Isn’t it interesting, that in fact, there are 66 books in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament, itself a testimony to the dominion of God shown in miniature here in Isaiah.

Take these select passages from the 40th chapter,

“Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together,
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” – verses 4 & 5.

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?

Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,
Or what man shows him counsel?
Whom did he consult, and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge,
And showed him the way of understanding? -verses 12-14.

“It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; - verse 22.

“but they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
— verse 31


Dominion says there is no higher authority. Dominion manifests power complete in a perfected state. It is more than authority, it is the inherent power to bring about life, it is the freedom to exercise power both physically and spiritually. Divine dominion means keeping a promise and making everything whole. It is the ability to guarantee a covenant.

Dominion in glory. We saw this last week as the Holy Spirit transforms us into who God is through His communicable attributes. God is outside of our created universe and reveals Himself within creation from outside of it. A 2Corinthinas 5:17 person has within themselves the personal testimony of this reality. It is something (or Someone) bigger than who we are. This speaks to God‘s dominion in our glory.

God is incomprehensible to His created finite people, us! God reveals Himself by light, not blinding light but just enough for us to grasp an image or sense opening our door of understanding to what is beyond our comprehension. This is within the realm of the spiritual and not material. Remember, God is a Spirit. The created universe is contained within the limits of its design. The creation speaks to the dominion of its creator both in and outside of His creation. He has also created within us His own divine nature. This transforming glory testifies within us to the reality of His dominion. He is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, Ephesians 3:20.

Glory in dominion. There is another dominion currently ruling the world in which we live. Paul refers to Satan as the “prince of the power of the air” in Ephesians 2:2. The Greek word used here for power is exousia (εξουσια) which is delegated authority. In other words, the ruler of this present evil age serves under a higher purpose. The Lord of glory, our heavenly Father, is in control. Satan’s delegated authority has divine purpose and those in Christ are participating in it. We have God’s reign in us while in the world and the flesh Satan reigns. The rule of God in us during the reign of the “prince of the power of the air” manifests His glory and His dominion. The 2Corinthinas 5:17 Christian knows peace, joy within themselves amid hostility, suffering and abuse. This is itself an assurance to the believer of God’s truth witnessing the faithfulness of His word in the context of our circumstantial experience, “the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God”, Romans 8:16.

This is the work of the person of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us see both the stench of our own worth as well as the fragrance of the cross. We are born materially structured with finite references. We take the scientific approach of measuring what is observable to understand what we can and can’t see. The Holy Spirit is God. He already knows what is measurable and also knows the height, depth and length of what is not measurable. He has been given to us so that we can know and understand His glory and dominion.

He is the One who opens the scripture to us so that we can grow in grace and knowledge. It is through the Holy Spirit our life in Christ is being renewed day by day, 2Corinthinas 4:16.

There is a tendency to rely upon the Word in the church community to enlighten the mind and therefore the soul. The Word is God’s revelation to us, true, but our soul requires the work of the Holy Spirit to prepare the soil to receive the Word. This is one reason we need to think of grace as a relationship. It depends upon our will to hear the word through the Holy Spirit. We can read the Word and not hear it within ourselves.

Self is a state of darkness. Just as God created light out of darkness it is not visible unless our eyes are tuned into the frequency of the light. We can see infra red light only when we put on lenses tuned to that frequency. We read in Psalms 36:9, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

It is the Holy Spirit who enlightens us to see and hear what is written in God’s Word. The communicable attributes of God within us become fruit of the Spirit. Peter tells us, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” Paul told the Corinthians “We have the mind of Christ”, 1Corinthians 2:16. To the Philippians, Paul commands them in the imperative mode (Phil 2:5) to be of the same mind as Jesus Himself.

We are given all resources necessary to be who we are called to be. All things are within the dominion of God. God is able to say to all 2Corinthians 5:17 people: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” –Romans 8:28.

The Holy Spirit is God! The work He has begun He will continue to perform but we need to open the door of our heart, sit with Him at the tea table and have some chats! (Phil. 1:6, Rev. 3:20)

Share