Just where Adam fell and lost his dominion over the earth, we see Jesus, the second Adam, taking man's place and winning back the lost inheritance. That is why the picture of the new earth and man's sinless state depicted in the first two chapters of the Bible is repeated in the last two chapters with even greater fulness of glory. God's original plan and purpose will be carried out, and this earth, renewed, will be the eternal home of sinless men and women, redeemed by grace.
Sin will be found not to have frustrated, but only to have delayed, the purpose of God. And what is six thousand years in working out the divine plan? In our brief span we may divide human history into ancient, medieval, and modern; but in heaven's life a thousand years are but as "a watch in the night;" and these six watches are to heaven but as one night of grief and of loving ministry in rescuing the lost.
It has cost all that heaven had to give. But the infinite Gift was made, and all heaven has wrought at the work. Of the angels it is written, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" Heb. 1:14.
Bringing Back the Lost Dominion
Of all the worlds that shine in the heavens, declaring the glory of God, this earth is the one that was lost. Its light went out in darkness. It wandered from the fold of God's perfect creation.
Then the divine Shepherd came to find it and bring it back. And the angels that rejoiced when they saw this earth created,—"when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy,"—will again rejoice as the Lord brings back His own,—this earth, redeemed from the curse, shining in the bright universe again with the perfection of the glory of God.
Christ not only redeems lost men, but He is to redeem this lost earth. "The Son of man," He said, "is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10.
By sinning, man lost not only his righteousness and his life, but his dominion as well. Originally man had dominion "over all the earth." Gen. 1:26. As the psalmist says, "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands." Ps. 8:6. He was prince and ruler of the earth. But when he yielded to Satan's temptation, he yielded up that dominion to the enemy, thus placing himself in the power of his foe. Satan thus became the "prince of this world," exercising the dominion wrested from man.
But through Christ, this dominion is to be restored. The prophet of old said:
"Thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem." Micah 4:8.