By Felix Ngunjiri Gichuri

The Secret of the Power Given to Adam to Name

God did not create ordinary people. He created extraordinary people capable of managing the vast estate called Eden that stretched from Euphrates River to River Gihon which passed through Ethiopia. “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.” (Gen 2:10-14) [KJV]

God created superhuman beings But We Reduced Ourselves to Wretchedness

“And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:26-28)

Adam and Eve were given dominion and authority over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the face of the earth. The couple was moving from place to place giving names to all the fish, birds and animals. The one who gives a name has ownership of the object or subject named. When you give your baby at birth a name, it is because that is your child. This means that Adam and Eve were given every plant and every animal as their possession and to have dominion over them. According to KJV definition, dominion means sovereign or supreme authority; the power of governing and controlling, power to direct, control, hire, fire, use and dispose of at pleasure; right of possession and use without being accountable; as the private dominion of individuals.

All the animals were there to serve them. You can imagine fish swimming to the shore where Adam and Eve were so that Adam could name each of them. They wanted to have an identity and the only person who could give them identity was Adam. Without a name, you cannot access medical care. You cannot be admitted to school or college or get a job. Nobody will agree to employ a nameless person. When you have a name, you identify yourself to a certain group or class. You have an identity. You know who you are, your parents, your friends, age mates who also know you. Without an identity, nobody will know you: pastor, government official, teacher or any other person. Without a name, your name will not be found in heaven. “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:17-20 [KJV]) You may have all the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, over all the power of the enemy and the demons are subject unto you, screaming and crying and pleading with you not to destroy them, but without a name, you will have no place in heaven. Heaven was man’s abode where he was created. He belonged there. He used to have conversations with God face to face. He had been created to exercise God’s authority here on earth. “And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.” (Gen 1:26-30 [KJV])

Adam was created to be fruitful, multiply, be a supplier, rule, reign, to take care of the earth and to conquer it. After God made man, He gave him dominion (Gen 1:26). It does not say that He shared dominion with man, but gave it to him. When He gave it to man, it belonged to man and not to God anymore. God couldn’t take dominion back from the man because “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29), which means that when God gives a gift, He either can’t or won’t take it back. I guess you could say that when Adam received this dominion, he became the god of this world. Adam started exercising God’ delegated authority here on earth.

 Satan was so envious of the immense powers Adam was wielding in the Garden of Eden over everything that was creeping upon the earth. Eden was his headquarters and his unlimited powers extended to the whole world. The devil wanted to have the powers that Adam had. He had to have it by all means and he laid a strategy of how to usurp Adam’s power. Satan came to Adam’s wife, Eve, in the form of a serpent and deceived her into disobeying God. Adam followed suit and did what Satan told him to do instead of obeying God. When he did that, he made Satan his lord. In bowing his knee to Satan, Adam turned over the authority that God had given him. He made Satan the illegitimate ruler of the earth. With that, Satan lawfully became the rightful owner of the world. He used the system that God set up to deceitfully take dominion and authority from Adam unto himself and he became the god of this world. “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) Wretchedness became the description of wicked man. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom 7:24 [KJV])

But thank God, Jesus Christ came to restore us back to the Father in heaven. He came to restore us to the kingdom of God for whoever believes so that we take back the power that belonged to us, the power to have dominion over everything here on earth. He came to restore the Kingdom of God which is the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. After Jesus overcame the temptations of the devil He began His ministry of preaching the Kingdom of God and restoring people to the Kingdom of God so that whatever is done here on earth should be commensurate with what is done in heaven. . “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt 4:17 [KJV]) “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” (Matt 4:23 [KJV]) Preaching the kingdom of heaven is to teach people how to live here on earth in the same way how it is in heaven. He even taught His disciples the language of praise and worship and how to pray to God. “After this manner therefore pray you all: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt 6:9-10 [KJV])

Jesus had to set man free from sin. And because the only way sin can be forgiven is through shedding of blood, He had to shed His own blood for us to obtain forgiveness of our sins for “almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Heb 9:22 [KJV]) “For…in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” (Heb 9:26 [KJV])

When we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior, we are “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Col 2:12-15 [KJV])

We become quickened and completely healed and made whole, our sins forgiven, the writing that was against us having been blotted out and taken out of the way by being nailed on His cross. Everything under heaven that has a name which is against us has been nailed on his body on the cross and He had to die so as to go down to hell to dump all those sins so that as He resurrected from the dead, He resurrected with us and made a mockery and public show of the way He defeated satan at the cross so that we became redeemed to God. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Gal 3:13 [KJV])

That is why Jesus Christ said that “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matt 28:18-20 [KJV])

He commanded His disciples and is commanding us by extension to “preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” (Matt 10:7-8 [KJV]) Jesus Christ has wrenched the powers satan had usurped from Adam and restored them to whoever believes that He is the Son of the Living God who dwells in heaven.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel (the good news of the restored Kingdom of heaven here on earth) to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:15-18 [KJV])

Amen.