The second aspect of God's intention in giving man dominion is to recover the earth (Gen. 1:26-28). Man is to have dominion over the earth, to subdue it, and to conquer it. To conquer the earth means that the enemy is there already, that a war is raging. Therefore, we must fight and conquer.
The young people who are preparing to enter into marriage must realize that marriage is a battle. Many of us know this by experience. Even when we were on our honeymoon, we were on the battlefield, fighting with our husband or wife. If we did not fight outwardly, we fought inwardly. Every area of life—school life, work life, family life—is a battlefield. The enemy never sleeps. All day long he is on the alert, not only in the family life, but also in the church life. Even in the church life, Satan and all his messengers are busy. On the earth a warfare is raging. God's intention is to recover the earth.
The earth was and still is usurped by Satan. Look at today's society. Look how the enemy is still usurping the whole earth.
God wants to regain the earth. The earth has become a crucial place, a place that Satan wants to hold and a place that God wants to regain. The battle is over the earth. Whoever gains the earth is the winner. If Satan can keep the earth under his hand, he has the victory. If God can regain the earth, He will have the victory. The Lord Jesus has not returned because the earth is still so much under Satan's usurping. This is why God needs the church. The church must fight the battle to regain the earth, if not the whole earth, at least some stepping stones, some outpost for the Lord Jesus to put His feet upon. The earth is crucial.
This point has been fully proved by Psalm 8. Psalm 8 begins by saying, "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" It also ends the same way. There is no doubt that the Lord's name is excellent in the heavens, but, in a sense, the name of the Lord is not excellent on this earth. His name is not excellent among so many of the fallen people. We need to pray, "Your name be sanctified" (Matt. 6:9). Oh, the Lord's name must be sanctified on this earth. The problem is not in the heavens; the problem is here on earth.
God desires that His kingdom come to this earth and that His will be done on earth (Matt. 6:10). Now we can understand the prayer which the Lord Jesus established. He said, "Let Your name be sanctified; let Your kingdom come." Certainly this means to come from the heavens to the earth. The prayer continues, "Let Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth." God's will is now being done in heaven. But on the earth there are many frustrations, hindering God's will from being done. We must pray, "Let Your name be sanctified; let Your kingdom come; let Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth." We must fight to recover the earth.
At the time of the millennium, the earth will become the kingdom of God. This is revealed in Revelation 11:15. When the Lord Jesus comes to inaugurate the millennium, the whole earth will become the kingdom of God. Then the earth will be regained by God.
In eternity, God's habitation will come down from heaven to the new earth (Rev. 21:1-2). Many Christians dream of going to heaven. That is a good dream and, undoubtedly, all of us will be there. However, God desires to come down to earth. We like the heavens, but God likes the earth. We are going up, and He is coming down. Hallelujah! Let me tell you the truth: when we get to heaven, the Lord will say, "Children, let us go down. Let us go down to take over the earth." In eternity, the heavens will not be God's habitation. God's habitation will be the New Jerusalem, and the New Jerusalem will come down from the heavens to the new earth. This proves that God's desire is to possess the earth.
Satan, the usurping one, will not only be cast out of the air, but also cast out of the earth. According to Revelation 12:9, Satan will first be cast down from the air to the earth. Then Satan will be bound and cast out of the earth into the bottomless pit (Rev. 20:2-3). There will be no more spiritual smog. We will have fresh air, and the earth will be cleansed of all defilement. That will be during the millennium. At the end of the millennium, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). After the millennium, we will have eternity in which God's eternal habitation will be on the new earth. God wants the earth.