In the Dominion Mandate, Dr. Mensa Otabil answers critical questions regarding the purpose and meaning of life.
Book Title: The Dominion Mandate
Subtitle: Finding and Fulfilling Your Purpose in Life
Author: Dr. Mensa Otabil
Year of Publication: 2013
Publisher: Kairos Books
Number of Pages: 210 (including references)
Book summary
Why are we here? What is my purpose in life? What am I, or are we, supposed to be doing here on earth? Anyone who has ever lived and walked on this earth has, at some point, asked one or all of these questions. This book answers these questions extraordinarily well.
In The Dominion Mandate – Finding & Fulfilling Your Purpose in Life, Dr. Mensa Otabil explores the creation of man from God’s perspective, and explains in-depth, from the biblical account of creation, the core mandate of man on earth.
He states in the introduction that, “It is a basic human function to question the fundamental purpose and meaning of life.”
Based on my understanding of the book, man has one mandate – and that is to have dominion (Genesis 1:26). This mandate is to be carried out or expressed in four ways.
Consequently, the book is divided into four parts; each part examines one of the expressions of the mandate God gave to man/mankind at creation, according to Genesis chapter 1, verse number 28, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28 NKJV).
The Four Elements of the Dominion Mandate
- Be Fruitful
- Multiply
- Replenish the Earth
- Subdue the Earth
How does a person become and remain fruitful? What does it mean to be fruitful? How do we, in daily life, replenish and subdue the earth?
Dr. Mensa Otabil includes the story of George Washington Carver as an example, illustrating how the boy from very humble beginnings carried out his dominion mandate in a cultural-socio-political environment that was designed to make that impossible.
Typical of the teachings of Dr. Otabil, he takes the time to define and explain key words and terminologies, and their implications within the context of the subject of the dominion mandate.
Why I Like This Book
The Dominion Mandate provides answers that many hearts and minds are yearning for – understanding why we are here and what each person can do, within their own circumstances, to live up to their mandate as originally intended by God. As a trainer passionate about teaching self-discovery and self-leadership, the book offers practical answers.
Additionally, the book reiterates something I have personally come to believe for a long time now – the fact that I am (we are, you are) God’s masterpiece, according to Ephesians 2:10. The book expounds on how everything God created was a prelude to his ultimate creation, the masterpiece, MANKIND. This point just rings my bells!
Further to being God’s masterpiece, the book also affirms the fact that we are created with (inherent) God-like qualities to succeed at whatever we focus on, with joy, just like God. “God did not only intend to create man; He also intended to endow man with God-like qualities.”
Last but not the least, is the painstaking, detailed, life-based walk-through of the four elements that make up the dominion mandate.
Chapters 2, 3, 4, 10, and 16 were particularly attention-grabbing and thought-provoking for me, probably because of what I do.
Key Topics
- God’s Purposes
- God’s Processes
- The seed principle (if you are a regular guest here, you would know I have a thing for seeds and plants)
- Six steps to becoming fruitful
- The creative spirit
- The anatomy of a multiplied fruit
- Five dimensions of replenishing the earth
- How to subdue the earth
- Faith and the dominion mandate
“It is a basic human function to question the fundamental purpose and meaning of life.”
Augustina O. Oti-Twumasi is a communications strategist, and L&D practitioner. she loves to inspire change in herself and in others. She does this through her work as a Training and Workshop Facilitator, Learning and Development Consultant, Creative Writer, Life Coach, and Integrated Marketing Communications Strategist.
