God’s command to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28 (ESV) includes this phrase: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it… Author Tim Keller explains: “So the word, ‘subdue’ indicates that even in its original, un-fallen form, God made the world to need work. He made it such that even he had to work for it to become what he designed it to be, to bring forth all its riches and potential. It is no coincidence that in Genesis 1, verse 28 God tells us to follow him in doing the same things that he has been doing—filling and subduing.” 

Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller (Dutton, 2012) p. 57