My objective in this post is to take a look at something that has intrigued me recently and that is how faithful and devoted God is to His Word.
Jesus would rather die on the cross and bear the sins of all mankind than to break His spoken word and promises that were spoken in the Garden of Eden.
My reasoning for that belief is that whenever Adam and Eve had fallen spiritually, God could have changed His mind and started over back then with a new earth, or destroyed the “serpent” in the Garden or He could have started over creating humanity, but He didn’t.
- God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10)
- Christ was appointed as Savior before creation (1 Peter 1:20; Rev 13:8)
- God’s redemptive plan existed before time began (Eph 1:4; 2 Tim 1:9)
Jesus’s willingness to die on the cross and to bear the sins of mankind shows that God’s love and commitment to His Word are stronger than death itself, providing a path for humanity to receive forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ.
To me this shows how faithful God is and how powerful His promises are. And it is my belief that this is why Jesus is referred to as the “spiritual Rock” and the cornerstone in scripture.
Jesus is explicitly identified as the “spiritual Rock” in 1 Corinthians 10:4 when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea:
1 Corinthians 10:4 NKJV “…for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”
Psalm 18:2 KJV “The LORD is my rock and my fortress…”
- Jesus is God
John 1:1 KJV “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John explains in verse 1:1 that “the Word” was with God and “the Word” was God in the beginning.
Then John identifies who this “Word” is:
John 1:14 ESV “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”
Jesus is “the Word”.
So Jesus existed “in the beginning” and is God.
Colossians 2:2 NIV “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,”
- Jesus created everything
John 1:3 NKJV “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
Colossians 1:16 NKJV “For by Him all things were created… things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible… all things were created through Him and for Him.”
Hebrews 1:2 KJV “…through whom also He made the worlds.”
These verses emphatically point to Jesus as the Creator.
- Therefore, Jesus gave Adam and Eve dominion
Genesis records God saying:
Genesis 1:26–28 KJV “Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Therefore since:
- Jesus is God (John 1:1, Col 2:2)
- Jesus created all things (John 1:3, Col 1:16, Hebrews 1:2)
- Jesus was present at creation (John 1:1)
The logical biblical conclusion is:
Jesus Himself is the divine Person who spoke these words and granted dominion to Adam and Eve.
Scripture consistently teaches that Jesus is the Creator of all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2). If all things were created through Him, then the Garden of Eden itself—an earthly creation—was also created by Him.
Genesis simply uses “God,” but the New Testament reveals who that God is.
- Scripture even shows Jesus reclaiming that dominion
After His resurrection, Jesus says:
Matthew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”
This verse in Matthew 28:18 relates to the dominion language in Genesis — showing Christ as the Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), restoring what the first Adam lost.
In Summary
There is no verse that says directly, “Jesus said in Genesis…” but Scripture teaches:
- Jesus is God (John 1:1, Col 2:2)
- Jesus created all things (John 1:3, Col 1:16, Hebrews 1:2)
- Jesus was present at creation (John 1:1)
So when God granted dominion in Genesis 1:26–28, that was Christ, the eternal Word, speaking and acting.