Dominion Beyond Earth: The Cultural Mandate in Space

The Mandate That Reaches the Stars

When we stand beneath a night sky, we’re not only gazing into beauty. We’re looking into our job description. From the very beginning, God’s first words to humanity were not only blessing but also commission: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion…” (Gen. 1:28). This wasn’t a temporary assignment to Adam and Eve in a garden; it was a calling for the entire human race.

For centuries, we understood “fill the earth” as a geographical challenge. We sailed seas, crossed continents, and planted communities in every corner of the globe. Today, the phrase takes on a cosmic horizon. The “earth” in our mandate is part of a creation that includes the heavens, the Sun, Moon, and stars. Psalm 8 reminds us that God has placed “the moon and the stars” under humanity’s care, which hints that our dominion is not meant to be capped at the edge of our atmosphere.

If we believe that God made humanity in His image, then our creativity, curiosity, and capacity to build are not accidents. They are reflections of Him. The same Spirit who led our ancestors to plant crops in new lands now invites us to consider habitats on new worlds.

Dominion as Theological and Missional Imperative

The “Cultural Mandate” (Gen. 1:28) and the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) are often taught separately, one about stewardship of creation, the other about making disciples. In truth, they are twin threads of a single divine purpose. The first Adam was tasked with filling and ruling the world; the second Adam, Christ, reissued that mandate in redemptive terms: fill the world with disciples, and bring every aspect of creation under His loving reign.

Protestant evangelical theology has long seen dominion as stewardship, not exploitation. This is not license to strip-mine Mars or build colonies for vanity’s sake. It is a call to cultivate life, order, and flourishing wherever human presence extends. Technology, engineering, and governance in space must be shaped by the same principles God gave for tending Eden: responsibility, creativity, and worship.

Missiologically, this means that as humanity extends its habitation to Mars or the Moon, the Church must extend the gospel there too. Wherever there are human cultures, there must be gospel witness. Evangelical thinkers now seriously discuss what indigenous Martian churches might look like, congregations that worship in one-third gravity, sing hymns under domes, and contextualize Scripture for those who have never seen an ocean or Earth’s blue sky.

Theologically, such expansion could be a further unfolding of the Imago Dei across creation. Herman Bavinck suggested that only a humanity spread across vast reaches of time and space could fully reflect God’s image. Colonizing Mars could be a step toward that fullness, not as a humanistic triumph, but as a doxological act, filling the heavens with communities that bear Christ’s name.

Bridging Theology and Technology

Our time in history is unique. For the first time, human technology makes it possible to act on the cosmic dimension of the Cultural Mandate. SpaceX’s Starship, NASA’s Artemis and Mars roadmaps, China’s crewed Mars ambitions, and nuclear thermal propulsion programs all signal that multi-planetary life is within reach.

From a theological perspective, these are not just engineering milestones. They are opportunities for faithful stewardship. Just as the printing press once multiplied Bibles, so reusable rockets and in-situ resource utilization could multiply gospel presence beyond Earth. The skills needed to survive on Mars, closed-loop life support, resource recycling, collaborative governance, resonate with biblical virtues of stewardship, community, and perseverance.

Furthermore, history shows that culture always accompanies technology. The first settlers on new soil bring their language, customs, and beliefs. If Christians are absent from the pioneering waves to Mars, the spiritual foundation of those societies will be laid without the gospel. Dominion divorced from the Great Commission becomes hollow; Great Commission work without dominion leaves creation care incomplete.

Preparing the Church for Dominion Beyond Earth

If this vision feels overwhelming, remember that it begins the way it always has, with obedience in the small things. The settlers of Plymouth did not start by planning railroads; they began by planting seeds. Likewise, the Church’s preparation for Mars begins now, here:

• Casting Vision. Teach believers that space is not beyond God’s concern. Preach the Cultural Mandate and the Great Commission together, so that young engineers and future astronauts see their careers as mission fields.
• Training Cross-Cultural Disciples. Missionaries to Mars will face cultural gaps greater than any on Earth. We must draw from global church-planting models, simple, reproducible, Scripture-centered discipleship that works in any environment.
• Building Partnerships. Churches, mission agencies, and even space agencies should collaborate. Just as chaplains serve on naval ships and Antarctic bases, so too should they serve in Martian habitats.
• Developing Theology for New Contexts. The questions of Sabbath on a planet with a 24h 39m day, communion with hydroponic bread, and baptism in limited water must be thought through now, not later.

Dominion beyond Earth is not about conquest for human glory, but stewardship for God’s glory. Our task is to ensure that when the first seeds of human society take root on Mars, they are watered with the gospel. The stars are not a distraction from our mission. They are part of the mission’s destination.

And so, as we prepare to set foot on other worlds, we do so not as conquerors, but as caretakers; not as self-made pioneers, but as servants of the King whose reign has no end, not even at the edge of the galaxy.