Be Fruitful and Mulitply
Lilias Trotter For most Christians, the Creation Mandate is familiar. It's the calling given to man in the garden, the purpose bestowed upon him, the responsibility to care for and maintain the world God has created. The Creation Mandate encourages humankind to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over its creatures. While there are obviously many interpretations as to what it means to have dominion over the earth, one thing is clear: we are explicitly called to "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28). Many people assume this means to bear children, and they are not entirely wrong. God does encourage us to bear and build up younger generations, though Paul makes it clear that not every Christian is called to have a marriage and children. However, to be fruitful and multiply can mean more than simply raising children. Think of the Parable of the Talents. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a parable in which three servants are given different numb...
