In the first chapter of Genesis, we see God's plan for mankind and the earth, a plan of harmony between God and man, between man and woman, and between man and the earth.  As God breathed His own breath/ spirit into man, He also gave man dominion over all the earth, to rule and to manage---to maintain the original harmony of "walking" with God, "walking" with one another, and "walking" with the animals. 

By failing to be of one spirit with God, man also lost his harmony with other men and with the earth; only the Spirit of God can maintain balance and harmony over creation.  Now, man and woman are out of step with one another (the next generation intensifies the alienation with God and with one another).  And the earth is out of step with man, now producing "thorns and thistles" along with fruitful abundance.  Death has entered the Garden of Paradise, as the skins of animals are now necessary to cover the nakedness of man and woman. 

In Jesus Christ, the curse is reversed:  God once again enters finally and definitively into human history and walks with man; He will never again withdraw His Presence from us.  He can no longer be driven out by man's refusal to welcome Him because One Man, as High Priest for all men, established forever the Presence of God on earth.  Jesus took upon His own head the rebellious thorns produced by disobedience; He took upon His own body the blows of man's alienation with his brother.  In His own body, He reconciled all things and re-established the original harmony between God and man, man and man, and man and the earth---He made all things new again. 

Now, through the reign of Jesus Christ in the hearts and souls of men, the Spirit of God once again hovers over the earth to overcome darkness, to restore order and balance, to bring the reign of God.  Jesus is the Beginning and the End-Point of all creation; in Him, mankind and the earth itself reach their fullest and most perfect potential.