At least for a season of time, Adam had a perfect, unhindered relationship with the Father, a perfect existence. Adam was the only man the earth has seen where God was the father and the birthing mother. Adam’s reflection of God was perfect, he was genetically engineered by God with perfect DNA that was unmarred and untouched by sin. He was not birthed into sin, like all of us, there was no sin to confound or confuse his spiritual senses, at least for a season. Like Jesus (our perfect example), Adam experienced God the Creator unhindered. This fact and the fact that God gave to him certain commands and authority allows us to see an example of what God intended true apostolic leadership to be like.

ADAM WAS TO HAVE DOMINION AND TO SUBDUE

God commanded Adam to have dominion and to subdue. This fact is the basis for his apostolic leadership. Adam had ultimate authority as a direct result of 1) God sending him and 2) his revelation of God. God sent the first Adam, just as He sent the last Adam, both were sent by God and if dominion were to be realized on the earth it would not be by their own authority, rather the authority of the sender (John 7:16,29). In fact our perfect model of apostolic leadership, Jesus, said that the authority that He operated in was not His own (John 14:10). One of the key premises of authority in terms of apostolic leadership is that the authority belongs to the sender. The apostolic leader is the agent acting on behalf of the one who sent him. This is so much the case in apostolic leadership that those who receive apostolic leadership are receiving the sender just as much, if not more, than the one who is sent (John 13:20; I Corinthians 4:17). In fact we can say that the apostle should be in every way possible, one with the sender, for this reason is why such great discernment must go into the calling of apostolic leaders. While it certainly carries the idea of an ambassador or representative it is in fact much deeper than that.

In light of this apostolic representation of the sender we must understand that there are two levels of authority represented by the apostolic leader, 1) The earthly sender and 2) God. All authority belongs to God, it is His to disseminate as He sees fit. Nothing that any leader can do can increase his authority unless God gives it. Man can try to increase in influence, skill, position, rank and many other attributes pertaining to leadership, but ultimately authority is given. This authority is given by God and recognized by man. Without the recognition of that authority by man any dimension of authority or leadership will be hard to operate in it.

Secondly, Adam had divine communion with God. Adam had a revelation of God comparable only to Jesus’ revelation of His own Father. This revelation of God that Adam had qualified him to operate in the authority necessary to subdue the earth. Authority is a direct result of revelation. What is more, because of his revelation of God, that is his view of God without the veil of sinful flesh, he was uniquely qualified to rule (have dominion and subdue) on the earth. Once Adam and his equal partner (Eve) had accomplished dominion upon the earth they would have had the ability to rule justly. God would have allowed Adam to rule supremely over the earth as His representative, God would have had total confidence in his ability to rule as a sent ruler (apostolic leader) or reflection of Himself. The very fact that God Almighty was and is willing to let man represent Him on the earth (even after sin was introduced) is a sobering reality of the intensity of the grace of God. Jesus, the last Adam, stated that, "My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me" (John 8:16 NKJV, italics added). Before the fall of man, this too, was the human race’s quest - to make perfect judgments, just as the Father would. This ability to judge justly could only come as a result of the revelation of God and is part of what makes apostolic leadership unique.

As the first apostolic leader sent to the earth Adam was given special commands or duties, I call these, apostolic mandates. These first apostolic mandates that were given to Adam serve as a template for all apostolic leaders:

1. Be fruitful

2. Multiply

3. Fill the earth

4. Subdue the earth

5. Have dominion

6. Tend and keep the garden

7. Name all the animals

These mandates should be applied to our practice of leadership today. Without a clear picture of what these things mean and symbolize it will be difficult to implement the type of leadership that God intended for man to practice.

The command to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28) is more than a command to procreate. The deeper implication is to produce fruit, more importantly to produce life. The apostolic leader should leave an abundance of life in his wake as he ministers and is sent from place to place. Apostolic leaders by their very nature should be ones who command a greater performance from the lives of those they lead. The production of "greater life" should be a byproduct of their energy and vision. This is born out by Jesus Himself who said that He came so that you could have life, and life more abundantly (John 10:10). An earmark of the true apostolic is the level of life of the people they encounter. An apostolic leader can leave behind a legacy of prosperity, but the lives that the apostolic leader influences must also produce fruit. In the natural children are blessings but unless your children have children and so on there is a sense of failure in the "fill the earth" mandate. For there is no amount of talent or gifting that could allow one person, by his own efforts to "fill the earth" in its entirety. Apostolic leadership is a type of leadership that requires joint effort and momentum.

This mandate to produce life is something that requires a specific nature, by virtue of being a human being and as a result of sin there is a predisposition to negativity on the part of mankind. When faced with any form of confrontation most people flee, it is the natural flight-or-flight response to stress that all humans have. If indeed God has sent you then the option of "flight" does not exist. The apostolic leader must operate in a paradigm of "filling the earth" and the earth cannot be filled if confrontation causes fleeing. As an apostolic person God will sovereignty give the grace and nature to continue in the face of adversity and accomplish His purpose. Paul disciplined himself and pressed on toward the high mark, Jesus faced adversity and did not flee from it and as a result of His staring down and defeating death we now can experience greater life today!

The Garden of Eden was under attack; the presence of Satan in the garden is evidence of that. When we examine the words used in the Hebrew for dominion and subdue radah and kawash they mean to subjugate, tread down, dominate, scrape out, conquer, violate, or bring into subjection. God essentially told Adam that his role on the earth as an apostolic leader would in fact involve violence. This is born out in the New Testament when Jesus said, the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force. Satan was seeking to rob, steal and destroy anything he could from Adam, namely his apostolic authority and government, a government whose defining characteristic was peace. For Adam to defeat the enemy he would need to be violent toward the enemy. The apostolic leader cannot be passive - there must be an active strategy at work to keep the momentum and climate in order.

Apostolic leadership (i.e., the government of God) breaks the yolk of the enemy; it involves the destroying of principalities and powers. Just as other ministries break certain yolks - the prophetic breaks the yolk of discouragement, teaching breaks the yolk of ignorance - so too the apostolic breaks a specific yolk. The apostolic breaks the yolk of oppression over regions and brings peace. Whenever Paul and his apostolic team entered a city it seemed uproar of some kind would occur. Why, because there was a disturbance among the spiritual rulers and principalities of the city. Why? Because the true apostolic is the only legitimate government with God’s seal and authority to rule over a region.

When apostolic government arrives the rulers and principalities know their days are numbered. A look at Isaiah 9:6,7 also sheds light on the government of the apostolic. Isaiah is full of symbolism of the yolk and bondage that rests upon the shoulders, yet God’s government rest upon His shoulder and His burden is light and His yolk is easy. The government rests upon the shoulders of God and as a result of his government comes peace. Isaiah declares that of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. The apostolic leader brings peace to an area and breaks the yolk of bondage and oppression brought upon it by regional principalities.

To tend and keep is another important attribute and function of the apostolic leader. To tend is the Hebrew word awbad and it means to work, bring to pass, or husbandman. This implies a great deal of responsibility on the part of the one who is to tend. Even before tilling the ground was necessary for it to produce fruit Adam still had to tend the land. Perhaps what is more significant is that awbad carries the connotation of worship and is translated five times in the Old Testament and worshippers. For Adam tending to the garden involved worship and service. The apostolic leader must never lose the heart of servant in fact it is the heart of the servant that serves as the motivation behind the gift and calling as an apostolic leader. There is no room for self-serving leaders the body of Christ at any level.

Jesus again is our chief model as He came (was sent) to the earth not to be served, but to serve. In fact the very men who would later deny and betray Him, He put aside his garments and washed their feet in the ultimate act of servant-leadership. Verse three of John 13 says volumes of the ministry of this apostolic leader - Jesus knowing all things where given into His hands by the Father and knew where He came from and where He was going laid aside His garments and washed their feet. Jesus was clothed in glory and in the identity of God the Father - He was God reigning supreme as creator. But the scripture says "He laid aside His garments" as if to say He put away His identity as God and washed their feet as a model of true servanthood. Yes, apostolic leaders, do indeed know who they are in God and where they are going (and indeed they ought too, this is not pride or arrogance, in fact it is false humility, the worst form of pride if an apostolic leader denies his authority or place), but true apostolic leadership is willing to "lay aside his garments" and tend, as Adam did, to the work at hand.

To keep the garden is also key in apostolic leadership, as a keeper of the garden Adam was its steward or manager. The Hebrew word keep is shawmar means to hedge about, protect and take heed to self. This is an awesome thing for the leaders of today. Apostolic men in all their duties as rulers, subduers, and worshippers are also to add to their list protectors. Apostolic leaders are in fact protectors of what God has placed under their care, usually people and geographical regions. But they also must protect their own hearts, their own actions, and their own motives. Apostolic leaders are to take heed to themselves, being careful not to abuse their God-given authority or influence. As with all stewards there will be a day when every apostolic leader will have to give account for what they have done with God’s authority. The parable of the talents now come to mind - will God reward you with rulership and authority over even more cities, or will He take yours away and give it to someone else?

Lastly, "to tend and keep the garden" implies a geographic domain. Adam had charge only over the garden. He did not have apostolic commissioning to any other place than in the garden, in fact when he was expulsed from the garden by God Adam lost all authority he once had. No longer was he able to rule, he now became a slave to the earth and had to serve it to even get food from it. This is an important lesson even shown in Paul’s ministry that he would not build on another man’s foundation and stated that there were spheres of authority (II Corinthians 10:13-16). As long as apostolic leaders stay in their sphere and do not promote or send themselves out they will have God’s grace and favor to establish government and rule, but if that integrity is violated then the covering and safety net of the authority of the sender is forfeited.

Naming the animals is profoundly the most significant factor of the apostolic mandate given to Adam. This unique responsibility calls for a high level of revelation and discernment. The ultimate fate and future of every living creature resided in Adam. It was up to Adam to give the identity, roles, meaning and purpose for existence to the animals. Whatever Adam said they were is what God made them to be. The implication of giving a name implies defining boundaries, setting into motion attitudes and behaviors, and creating identity. This is the role of the apostolic leader and a function of the apostolic anointing, to call those things that are not as though they were. This kind of authority and revelation ought to be embedded deep in the DNA of the apostolic leader. This kind of power, to name, requires careful guarding and intense sense of awe before God, as well as special awareness (like Adam had) of God. Because of this mandate an apostolic leader should have a high level of spiritual discernment and revelation.

In spite of Adam’s tremendous advantage in the garden, of a sinless birth, open communication with God. He still failed. He failed in his commissioning and this should serve as a poignant example of the fallibility of man---no matter how great the calling, anointed the ministry or talent as a leader, man is nothing without God. Apostolic leaders must have a pervading sense that God is their only source; he holds the keys to all life and success. It is only by God’s abundant grace that man can do anything, without the hand of God orchestrating everything we do, without the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit man’s only hope is to botch things up.

God sent Adam to combat the works of a fallen Satan and to establish a kingdom on the earth that would give glory and praise to Him. Man when forfeiting the favor of God and decide to become for themselves their own lawgivers, discerning right and wrong by his own criteria, as Adam did will fail in every endeavor that is undertaken. Praise be to almighty Father who in His infinite grace decided one more time to send a man to accomplish His original intent. Now because of the work of The Chief Apostle, the man Jesus Christ, Satan has been defeated and mankind has the keys to subdue and have dominion on the earth.

The greatness of God is also seen in an expression of Adam. Adam was raised from the ground by the supernatural life (breath) of God the Father. Adam’s life was then to be a testimony to man of God’s greatness and man’s ability to rule and reign on the earth as the sent ones of God. Adam was a glimpse of the perfect Man, Jesus Christ, which was to come. Adam failed in his commissioning and set in motion the law of sin for the rest of mankind to be subject to. But God in His ultimate greatness set in motion a plan that would destroy the works of the enemy and still allow mankind a free choice.

There was another man that was raised from the ground and given supernatural life from God the Father, Jesus Christ. He is called the last Adam, by the apostle Paul (I Corinthians 15:45). Jesus Christ the ultimate expression of an Apostle, the very one sent to mankind to redeem and close the breach between God and mankind. Through this last Adam mankind has been given a second chance to walk in the commissioning and fulfill the mandates given by God to the first Adam. Through Jesus Christ mankind has once again the means by which to fulfill the commands given in the garden. We can fulfill the apostolic mandate and multiply, subdue and have dominion over the earth through Jesus. God would not allow His plan to go unfulfilled, nor leave man without any hope of fulfilling His will on the earth. Jesus, as the last Adam, took dominion over the earth, multiplied His disciples, who later "turned the world upside down", and subdued His enemies. In His ultimate act of dominion and ruling, Jesus’ victory over death itself showed His unyielding greatness. His immortality is a testimony of what the first Adam’s life was to be in the garden a perfect existence, in perfect communion with God the Father.