Born from Breath, Made for Dominion
By Gabriel Voorhees
Everything about our identity begins in the garden. Creation itself was the first prophetic act — a partnership between the Word and the Spirit. In Genesis 1, the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the deep, and the Word of God went forth: “Let there be…” It was the union of Word and Spirit that birthed all visible creation. Romans 4:17 tells us that God “calls those things which do not exist as though they were.” This is not just a description of what God does — it is a revelation of who He is. He is a speaking Spirit, and when He speaks, reality bends to His voice.
When God created mankind, He did something different from every other act of creation. The animals, the seas, the stars — all were spoken into being. But with humanity, the Word paused, and the Spirit moved in a more intimate way. “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) Humanity was both formed and filled — earth and heaven united in one being. The prophetic DNA of God was placed within us, for His breath carries His word, and His word creates. Note- if He spoke us into being- we would not have the authority of the word, as we would have been created by it (like a tree or a cow). Our authentic authoritative and creative voice was breathed into us by Him. A gift of Himself into us.
To be human, then, is to be a prophetic being — made in the image and likeness of a Creator whose words shape worlds. The tongue, James tells us, “is set on fire by heaven or by hell” (James 3:6–10 paraphrased), meaning our words still carry creative or destructive power. We were not created to be reactors; we were created to be initiators — those who partner with heaven to release what is unseen into the seen. Like in Genesis the spirit hovers and the word travels- we too hover over the chaos of this world, and the word was sent to us, and that breath of authority still resides in mankind. Just as God’s Word went forth and the Spirit brought it to life, so our spirit is designed to carry His word and release His will on the earth.
When Genesis 1:26 declares, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” it reveals both identity and assignment. The image speaks to who we are (our nature — spirit, soul, and body), while the likeness speaks to what we do (our function — creating, ruling, and reproducing His nature). Out of this identity, God gives the first commission: “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.” Dominion was never meant to be domination — it was meant to be stewardship through relationship. We were to extend heaven’s order across the earth, but we were never meant to do it alone. The first “context” of prophetic authority was family — Adam and Eve walking with God, co-laboring as sons and daughters, hearing His voice in the cool of the day.
This is the healthy foundation of prophetic life: identity rooted in intimacy, and authority flowing from relationship. Before Adam ever ruled, he walked with God. Before he spoke, he listened. Prophetic manifestation is not born from striving but from communion. It is the overflow of being connected — spirit to Spirit — with the One whose words form galaxies and whose breath fills our lungs.
When we discover that we are spiritual beings — not earthly creatures trying to have spiritual experiences, but spiritual sons and daughters living temporarily in earthly vessels — everything shifts. Our purpose, authority, and prophetic capacity come back into alignment. We remember that we were made to host His presence, echo His voice, and extend His family across creation.