Be fruitful. Those are words we may not be accustomed to hearing on a regular basis, but no truer words have ever been spoken – especially for believers. Why? First words matter. They set the tone for what comes next, serving as the foundation upon which everything else is built.
These were the first words human ears ever heard from God. Genesis 1:28 (KJV) states…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.
The Amplified Classic version of this same text is even more striking: And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.
Wow! That brings a whole new dimension of understanding!
In Hebrew, the word fruit means “to bear fruit, be fruitful, or branch off”. Overlaying the word fruit with this definition, we can take from this verse of scripture in both translations to mean that mankind was to bear fruit, be fruitful, branch off. God expected (and still does) for the first spirit beings to reproduce what was in them – Himself. In vv. 26-27, God established that the primary intent of man’s existence on earth was to reflect Him; His DNA would pulsate through every vein.
He reinforces this in John 15:4-5, helping the disciples to understand that they were also to bear fruit, but the only way they’d do it would be to abide in Jesus. They wouldn’t be able to do it in their flesh.
These “first words” of God’s, undergirded by Jesus, is not a suggestion, but a command. The mandate of God is for us to bear His fruit out of our re-created spirits, replenishing the earth because His original intent was for us (in His image and likeness) to bring it into alignment with heaven. We’re to bear His fruit of being a blessing wherever we are. Instead of being fearful, we’re to take authority over darkness, remembering that as the enemy is under Jesus’ feet, so he is under ours.
Bearing fruit that remains (John 15:16) is to govern every aspect of our lives.
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