Jesus came preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, saying, “Repent” (Mark 1:15), or “change your mind and your belief system.” His mission was to destroy the works of the devil, which included man’s sin nature and sense of inferiority and to restore mankind back to his original state of having dominion over all the earth.

Psalm 115:16 says, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath He given to the children of men.” That is referring to us, the sons of God.

Keep in mind, Satan cannot invade what is covered by faith. What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified Bible) says, “Now faith is the assurance …(the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see…” I’m of the opinion that Adam never took ownership, the “title deed,” to the “Eden” estate. When he refused to take his “dominion,” Satan saw an opportunity and said, “I’ll take it.” Adam surrendered his authority and dominion over to Satan and we have had trouble ever since.

In the beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus was tempted. Luke 4:5-7 says, “And the devil taketh him up to a high mountain and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to him, ‘All this power will I give thee and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me all shall be thine.’”

What’s the lesson in this story? It is that if we, the Church—the body of Christ (the last Adam) – do not take dominion (ownership) over this planet, over our cities and communities, over the demonic kingdoms, someone else will and we will continue to see murders, corruption, poverty, crime, divorces, illiteracy, diseases – you name it – at an all-time high.

So whom does this world belong to? According to the Bible, it belongs to us through Christ. God put all the silver and gold and cattle on a thousand hills here for you and me. He did not put it here for the devil and his crowd. He even says the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous (Proverbs 13:22).

Hear, again, what Psalm 115:16 says, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” The Apostle Paul writes to the church at Corinth, “Therefore, let no man glory in men, for all things are yours . . .” 0. These two verses clearly give us a revelation of ownership which we could personalize and say, “All things are mine.” Verse 22 repeats that “all are yours.”

If you were like me growing up, you were taught, “Well, God owns it all, and whatever is going wrong in it, we are leaving it all up to God to fix it.” Well, look at Hebrews 1:2 and Romans 8:17. Hebrews says, “Hath in the last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by who also he made the worlds.” The Charles B. Williams Translation says it like this: “His Son (Jesus) is the lawful owner of everything” (Hebrews 1:2). Now don’t stop there. Romans 8:17 says that we are “…heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.”

From these two verses we can conclude that whatever He (Jesus) got, we got. Nothing is left out. So God is holding us accountable for what goes on here in the earth.

In Galatians 4:1, The Amplified Bible, Paul writes: “. . . As long as the inheritor (heir) is a child and under age, he does not differ from a slave, although he is master of all the estate.”

“The estate” is this entire earth all that Jesus got back when He paid the full price of redemption. We are responsible for reclaiming everything that Jesus redeemed (Jesus died to provide). And when you have proof of ownership, which is your faith or the “title deed,” God will back you up, enforcing Satan’s eviction notice.

Again, when the Bible says, “All things are yours,” it means that if there is anything good or beneficial about the things of this earth that would enhance our lives or advance the Kingdom, we have a right to them, just as Jesus did when He said to two of His disciples, “Go your way into the village . . . Ye shall find a colt tied . . . loose him and bring him to me . . . If any man say unto you, ‘Why do ye this?’ Say ye that the Lord has need of him … and they brought the colt to Jesus.”

From the beginning, Adam had the authority and ability to put Satan out of the Garden of Eden, to ban him forever, but he didn’t. He even refused to protect his wife. Why? Because he never took ownership. When he ate of the forbidden fruit, his dominion was gone in a split second.

Jesus, the last Adam, came and, through the plan of redemption, got it all back. Jesus purposed to replace the existing world order and Satan’s reign with God’s order – the reign of the Kingdom of God here on earth. This is the main mission of the Church today: the message of the Kingdom of God, which not only includes salvation but also transformation. Any and everything out of line with Heaven’s government is to be brought under subjection, “Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”

How do we start? By taking ownership.

Bill Winston is pastor of the 20,000-member Living Word Christian Center in Forest Park, Ill., and founder and president of the nationally accredited Joseph Business School, which has a partnership location in Miami.

‘If we, the Church—the body of Christ (the last Adam) – do not take dominion (ownership) over this planet, over our cities and communities, over the demonic kingdoms, someone else will and we will continue to see murders, corruption, poverty, crime, divorces, illiteracy, diseases, you name it, at an all-time high.’