Woke Church

Intro to “Woke Church”: imago dei & its impact on the political views of woke Jesus followers

We are in an election year.

The amount of lies, deception, half-truths, and false teaching that has been packaged & branded as “Christian” has exploded...& exploded in the Black community, like never before.

We live in a time where we as Jesus-followers have to be on our P’s & Q’s! 

This is a time for true followers of Jesus to not only pay attention, but to think strategically about applying the Word of God to all the issues that we are confronted with.

Indeed, in two different places, Paul warns us to be “woke”

- Romans 13:11 (NKJV) And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

- Eph5:14 (NLT) for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

So, I want to interrupt our “How I Got Over” series for a few weeks, so that we can be spiritually “woke” for who we need to be and how we need to think & participate in the way that we vote.

I’m in no way going to TELL you who to vote for; instead, I want to challenge us to think biblically and theologically about the things that are important to the heart of God that will then inform us when it comes time to cast our mail-in/absentee ballots!

One of the most foundational and important theological truths that reveals the heart of God is this one, in Genesis 1:26-27 (NKJV)

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;

This is the central point of a biblical theology, as it relates to the value God places on human life: we are made in the image of God.

In the classical categories of theology, this is referred to in the Latin as the imago dei.

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 in the world.

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

the terms “image” (ṣelem) and “likeness” (dĕmût)

A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis 1:1–2:3—Creation of the World in Six Days: Institution of the Sabbath

The idea of ‘pattern’ or ‘model’

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

The crown of God’s handiwork is human life.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 1:24–31

Being in God’s image means that humans share, though imperfectly and finitely, in God’s nature, that is, in His communicable attributes (life, personality, truth, wisdom, love, holiness, justice), and so have the capacity for spiritual fellowship with Him.

The New Bible Commentary 1:24–31 The Creation of Animals and Mankind

God’s representative on earth.

Holman Concise Bible Commentary God’s Creation Goal (1:1–2:25)

God’s desire was to bless humanity and to enjoy relationship with them.

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

(1) the creation account shows an ascending order of significance with human life as the final, thus pinnacle, creative act;

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

(2) of the creative acts, this is the only one preceded by divine deliberation (“Let us make” in v. 26);

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

(3) this expression replaces the impersonal words spoken in the previous creation acts (e.g., “Let there be,” “Let the earth”)

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

(4) human life alone is created in the “image” of God and has the special assignment to rule over the created order (vv. 26–28

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

(5) the verb bārāʾ occurs three times in v. 27;

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

(6) the event is given a longer description than previous ones;

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

(7) in v. 27 the chiastic arrangement highlights the emphasis on “image”; and

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

(8) unlike the animals, who are said to have come from the land in v. 24 (though v. 25 makes clear that God created them), mankind is referred to only as a direct creation of God.

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

Theologically, it is essential for interpreting the Christian faith with its proclamation regarding human life, the universal sinfulness of mankind, and the sole resolution of sin through the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ.

God made us in HIS image, which means we have value. We reflect aspects of

In the eyes of God, every human being is valuable and special.

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Both male and female are created in the divine image, making them equal to one another.

The Bible assumes that the image/likeness of God is retained despite the fall, sin, and corruption.

Marred, but not lost

Scratch on a CD, glitch in a game

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

When sin marked the human family as disobedient children, however, they did not lose the “image” (9:6; 1 Cor 11:7; Jas 3:9); rather, the “glory” of sonship faded. In the New Testament these ideas of image, glory, and sonship are found closely related (e.g., 1 Cor 11:7; 2 Cor 3:18; 4:4, 6; Heb 2:5–10). By the grace of the Creator the new humanity is created in the “image of Christ” (cp. 1 Cor 15:49) and through his perfect obedience achieves life and glory for believers as his adopted children (e.g., Rom 8:17, 30; 9:23; 2 Cor 4:4, 6; Col 3:9–10).

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 Excursus: Interpreting the “Image of God”

“Image” and “likeness” occur in tandem only in 1:26 and 5:3, but the order of the words differs in 5:3.

The New King James Version Chapter 5

3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

Biblically, there were certain implications to social interactions that were based upon the application of the imago dei:

Murder is prohibited because all people bear God’s image (Gen 9:6).

In the New Testament the same motive is given for avoiding slander (Jas 3:9).

New Living Translation Chapter 3

curses those who have been made in the image of God.

Treating others as “less than” Col3:10-11

and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

He does not categorize humans based upon any of the reasons WE separate and judge each other:

Not by their citizenship

Not by their skin color

- Ac17:26 - He made all humans out of one blood

Not by their national origin

Not by their gender

Not by their income, or ability to make income

Not by how healthy they are

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (6) Sixth Day of Creation (1:24–31)

Theologically, it is essential for interpreting the Christian faith with its proclamation regarding human life, the universal sinfulness of mankind, and the sole resolution of sin through the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ.

The theological implications of the imago dei impacts how we are to treat each other

The truth of our reflecting the image of God should form the foundation of any aspect of the philosophy of our social interactions and, certainly, our political views.

We should strive to see people as God sees them; we should strive to see people treated as those who are made in & reflect the image of God.

Because God saw us as valuable, He thought we were worth saving, He thought we were worth keeping, He thought we were to die for

so He sacrificed His Son’s life

So I could be free, so I could be whole, So I could I tell everyone I know

- Genesis 1:31 “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

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