What is God’s purpose for your life? According to Rabbi Schneider, the answer is found at the very beginning of Scripture.
In Genesis 1:28, God blesses humanity and gives a foundational command: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
This passage, Rabbi Schneider explains, reveals two primary aspects of God’s will for His people: to increase and to rule. These aren’t mere suggestions—they are the Creator’s original instructions to humanity, and they still apply today. “God’s plan for you is to increase,” he says, highlighting that this increase includes, but goes far beyond, physical reproduction.
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God’s desire is for His people to grow—not only in number, but in character, influence, and spiritual capacity. Life with God is meant to be dynamic, not static. Rabbi Schneider emphasizes that every day, month and year of a believer’s life is an opportunity for increase. Growth is not just possible; it is the divine expectation.
The call to rule, he explains, does not mean domination in the worldly sense. Rather, it reflects a spiritual authority rooted in God’s presence. Humanity was created to act as God’s ambassadors on the earth—stewards of His creation and representatives of His kingdom. To rule means to bring order, life and godly influence into the world around us.
This calling to multiply and rule carries through the entire narrative of Scripture. In the New Testament, Jesus echoes the same commission in spiritual terms: “Go into all the world and preach this gospel to all creation, to every nation, making disciples of all nations.” The mission remains the same—reproduce and bring God’s rule to the earth.
Rabbi Schneider also touches on the traditional Jewish understanding of this command. Among Orthodox Jews, having children is seen as one of the greatest mitzvot—a fulfillment of God’s first command. For some, this even takes on redemptive meaning as they see each new child as a way of repopulating the Jewish people after the horrors of the Holocaust.
But physical fruitfulness is only part of the story. Spiritual fruitfulness—reproducing the nature and character of God in ourselves and others—is central to this mandate. As believers grow in the Spirit, denying the flesh and choosing God’s ways, they are transformed. “Our spirit in us is expanding,” Rabbi Schneider says. “We’re continually being transformed from glory to glory and from strength to strength.”
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Even in old age, this fruitfulness doesn’t stop. Though the outer man may decay, the inner person can still be renewed daily. In this way, believers continue to bear fruit and walk in spiritual dominion. They carry God’s light into dark places, shifting atmospheres and planting seeds of the kingdom wherever they go.
By embracing the call to increase and rule, believers step into the fullness of their God-given identity and purpose—fulfilling the very first command ever spoken by the Creator.
Abby Trivett is content development editor for Charisma Media.
