Recovering Moral Authority
In the Beginning
That stewardship is grounded in God’s command in Genesis 1:26–27 to have dominion over all of God’s creation: “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’”
The Bible tells us that this mandate is so important that we can only carry it out because we are made in the image of God. As such, we are God’s designated representatives, called to extend creation by being fruitful, multiplying, filling the earth, and subduing it (v. 28). Theologian Oliver O’Donovan emphasizes that the work of creation wasn’t completed on the sixth day in Eden. Creation came with its own creative order requiring continual care and cultivation—a purposeful, structured reality ordered for shalom—the peace that comes from living in a just and verdant world. As such, cultivating God’s creation also requires his moral order because participating in that order requires lives aligned with the way God intended the world to flourish.
In other words, moral order is not about defining right and wrong—it’s about orienting our lives toward the God-given meaning first granted in the garden, recognizing we are most fully alive when we live in alignment with that given reality. Augustine of Hippo described this as the ordering of loves: what we love, and how we love, rightly aligned with God’s purposes. This order was present in creation, distorted by sin, but not erased. In fact, O’Donovan writes that the resurrection of Jesus confirms that God’s moral order found in creation still stands, vindicating its continued existence.
Moral authority, then, is the stewardship of that order. It is the work of naming God’s creative order truthfully; helping people see what their lives are for and calling them back when their loves become disordered. It cannot be set aside, because moral order has been with us since creation. When it is abandoned, others will fill that empty space, proselytizing a reality that pulls our loves away from God’s purposes. To lead well, this authority must be reoriented from criticism to cultivation, discipling people to love rightly rather than simply helping them sin less. At its heart, it is a call back to the garden—to the flourishing God created and, in Christ, is restoring.
Jesus’ Moral Authority
If this is the foundation of moral authority, the question becomes how it is actually lived and stewarded in practice—and how easily it can be distorted. The New Testament shows that this has always been a difficult line to walk. Matthew, Mark and Luke all remark on a striking response to the power of Jesus’ teaching—Matthew after the Sermon on the Mount, and Mark and Luke in the synagogue at Capernaum. All three note that his hearers were astounded because he spoke with authority.
