Who are we?

Main Point: God is establishing His kingdom through His people as they live in His presence, reflecting His purposes in the place He gives them.

Psalm 100:3 ESV

3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Discussion

What were your biggest take aways from the readings this week?

What are two questions you have coming into this week’s group session?

Sovereignty of God and Sabbath

What was your experience?

Was this assignment difficult? Why or why not?

What did you learn about God and about yourself?

How can you incorporate this spiritual discipline in everyday life?

Does anyone want to reshare their “Life Story”?

Read Genesis 1:26-28

Why is this passage so repetitive? How does its message challenge cultural views?

Doctrine of Humanity

What does it mean to be an image-bearer?

Human’s don’t have the image of God—Humans are the image of God.

God created us in His image

Genesis 1:26 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

The image of God is the special status that all human beings have as those made to reflect our Creator’s character and commissioned to carry out his purposes to the world.

“The doctrine of humanity is the most inconveinient doctrine because you can’t treat people transactionally” (Kyle Worley)

Everyone we engage with, whether we like them/not, they are all image bearers of God.

Matthew 22:39 ESV

39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The question: Who are we?

Everything about us is graciously given to us by God.

We don’t decide who, when, where, and what we are.

You didn’t decide where you were born, who your parents are, what your last name is, whether your male/female, how tall you are, what your eye color is, what your culture is.

Our identity is given to us by God—not something we achieve, but something we receive by God.

“...it follows from the doctrine of human creation in the image of God that this image extends to the whole person. Nothing in a human being is excluded from the image of God. And he is such totally, in soul and body, in all his faculties and power, in all conditions and relations. Man is the image of God because and insofar as he is truly human, and he is truly and essentially human because, and to the extent that he is the image of God.” - Herman Bavinck.

Then God gave us a task—a mission. What is it?

Genesis 1:28 ESV

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Our purpose is to extend the glory of God to all of creation.

Nothing else in creation was created like we are to do what we do.

We are to govern and command the rest of the creation.

We are to bring to order what is disordered.

God has given us a physical task to reflect Him in this work.

We are to fill the earth, subdue it. Exercise dominion.

Nothing else in creation has this job.

Our most mundane and ordinary is a divine task—It’s not worthless.

How should the image of God change the way we view our everyday lives?

Do our bodies matter?

We are our bodies and we are our souls.

“God doesn’t have a body—Why does it matter?”

God is Spirit—not in physical form.

In His essence, He is not confined to a physical body.

We can only imagine an embodied experience.

We are creatures not just of body, but of body and spirit.

Christianity is a worldview that holds both body/soul together.

Most worldviews emphasizes one more than another.

Gnosticism—”The only things that matter are spiritual”

The Christian worldview emphasizes both spiritual and physical life.

Colossians 1:15–16 ESV

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

If you want to see where heaven/earth meet, look to Jesus.

Jesus is the image bearer. He’s the One who created heaven and earth, and takes upon Himself physicality for our sake and salvation.

How are we different from God?

We have limits.

We need to breathe, sleep, eat, community.

We are finite beings and have limits.

How is this contrast to God?

Anytime we go up against a limit given to us by God is an opportunity for us to reorient our lives around the One who made us.

When we don’t get enough sleep—our bodies feel it.

When we don’t eat—we’re affected.

When we’re lonely—we experience a disconnect.

This is because God has wired us all in a particular way with particular limits that if they are not fulfilled, we’ll know that we are not living as God intended.

We are creatures and creatures have limits. What are some ways you are currently experiencing your limitations?

In what areas of your life is God inviting you to embrace your limits?

Distinctions: Male and Female

How important is the distinction that God made between male/female?

How does this doctrine effect the way we engage cultural elements today?

Discussion

Human history demonstrates that we are prone to fail to see the dignity of every image-bearer. Why do you think this is so?

Who are you most tempted to devalue? Who is easiest for you to value? Why?

What role do we play in God’s kingdom?

Pre-Work 11.5.25

Turn and Tell: With whom can you share something you learned in this session? What do you plan to share with them?

Begin Prayer assignment

Read Genesis 3-11.

Read “What went wrong?” from You Are a Theologian.

Christian Formation Assignment: “Prayer”

One of the richest ways tfor us to live out both our doctrine and affections in the Lord, rightly view ourselves, and effectively love our brohters and sisters is through prayer. Pray is a multi-faceted practice; there is room for both intimacy and reverence, both individual and community focus, bot communion with the Lord and requests for the Kingdom.

The reigning King of all creation bends His ear toward us, His children.

Assignment

In order to strengthen your understanding of prayer, you will carefully craft your own written prayer. The goal with this assignment is that you will pause, examine your prayer life, and exercise different muscles than you’re used to. Additionally, I want you to begin thinking about your prayer like the psalms—written from an individual perspective but in a way that can benefit the community and be used together in a gathering of the saints, whether that’s with a few friends or in a Sunday service.

Expectations:

Spend time reading through prayers that model and give careful though to writing your prayer.

Pick a genre of prayer (praise, confession, thanksgiving, confidence, lament, remembrance, etc.)

Pick a topic (creation, providence, salvation, peace, work, parenthood, anxiety, marriage, the Lord’s supper, baptism, mission, etc)

Limit the length of your prayer to a paragraph at most; it can even be just a few sentences. Work on the economy of words—few, but rich.

RESOURCE: VALLEY OF VISION