| Genesis 1:28 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
God was not saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and then subdue it." He was saying that the purpose of filling the earth was to subdue it.
Genesis 1:26 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
rule (radah) = to have dominion.
Man was to rule the earth under the divine authority of God. Adam wasn't expected to do this alone. 1:28 clearly explains that his posterity was to share in subduing and ruling. So, this has nothing to do with elbow-to-elbow people. It is about populating the earth with those who will have dominion over creation. Man abdicated his primary responsibility through the sin of Adam. Christ, the second Adam, took up the abdicated role of dominion. The church now fulfills the command in Genesis through the preaching of the gospel, waiting for the return of the Messiah who establish His kingdom, and dominion, forever.
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