Redemption is not just about being saved *from* the consequences of sin, it is also about being saved *to* something- to resume the task for which we were originally created. And what was that task? In Genesis, God gives what we might call the first job description: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it."

"Be fruitful and multiply", means to develop the social world: build families, churches, cities, governments, laws.

The second phrase, "subdue the earth" means to harness the natural world: plant crops, build bridges, design computers, compose music.

This passage is sometimes called the "cultural mandate" because it tells us that our original purpose was to create cultures and build civilizations- nothing less.

Author: Nancy R. Pearcey