Series 1 - Lesson 5 - Annotation 1
Why does man ever seek to exercise dominion?
1. In Genesis we are told that God created man in His own image and that the plan for him is perfection or manifestation of God's likeness. This Godlikeness includes dominion over the fishes, the birds, the cattle, over all the earth. Need for dominion arises in man because he finds himself beset with adverse conditions in body or in estate. The need gives rise to a desire to master these conditions. Since the attention of the "natural man" -- I Cor. 2:14, is centered in the outer, he tries to gain dominion over persons, animals, and the forces of nature and to bend them to his will. He is restless, unsatisfied, and dissatisfied until he turns his attention within his own being. Then he sees the beasts of the field as the appetites and passions of his own fleshly body; fishes as his desires and emotions; and birds as his higher, freer thoughts. He attains mastery only through self-discipline; he must achieve victory over his own lower nature.
Man is in reality a spiritual being. This means that in essence he pertains to the realm of cause. Mind is cause; body is effect. Cause has dominion over effect, and man will continue to seek dominion until he becomes conscious of his Divine Source and makes righteously active the spiritual principles that are the essence of his being. Knowledge and use of Truth will make him free.
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Preceding Entry: Explain the "Sabbath."
Following Entry: Why does evil appear in the world?
