The image of God Discussion Paper.

The image of God Discussion Paper.

What are three or four ways the creation of humanity (Genesis 1:26-28) is different from the rest of the creation story?

Who is made in the image of God? Are there any types of individuals who are excluded?The image of God Discussion Paper.

Why would “looking up at the heavens” (Psalm 8:3) give human beings a feeling of being small (Psalm 8:4)?

How does Psalm 8:5-8 show humanities distinctiveness from the rest of creation?

Write down a one or two sentence definition of the “Image of God” based on Genesis 1:26-28 and Psalm 8. 

Study Information:

In the Ancient world only kings claimed to be the image of God and they would often set up images of themselves to be worshipped. The Bible says something radically different, it says that all human beings are created in God’s image, not just the elite or the powerful. This makes the words of Genesis 1:26-28 counter cultural, especially when you remember that the first people to hear these words were the people of God 3500 years ago as freed slaves who had been wandering the wilderness for 40 years and were about ready to head into the promised land.

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The image of God does not mean that we “look” like God in our physical appearance. Instead it is a way that God is elevating human worth, pointing to the distinctness of his people and highlighting that we are designed to reflect God and rule on his behalf in his good creation. The image of God Discussion Paper.To summarize, in God’s good world of Genesis 1 and 2, human beings were given the task and responsibility to reflect God’s glory to the ends of the earth in how they ruled and cared for God’s creation.

However, if we flash forward to Genesis 3 we learn that the presence of sin distorted what God had made “good” and that the image of God is part of what gets distorted. No longer do people naturally do what is right and good in the eyes of God. If we think of the image of a mirror, in Genesis 1 and 2 humanity reflected God like a mirror reflects an image of the person looking into it. The introduction of sin into the world didn’t remove the mirror, but “cracked” it. The image of God is affirmed throughout the rest of the Bible, but we learn in the New Testament that the image of God needs to be remade as we follow Jesus as we are made more and more into his image. Some of the study passages and questions below will explore this idea.The image of God Discussion Paper.

At your community group:

Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week?

Scripture and Discussion Questions:

How does the image of God show us human dignity and worth?

In what way have you been tempted to devalue other people?

As a group read Psalm 139:13-16, James 2:1-7 and James 3:2-10. What examples do these passages give us about how people defame the image of God in others?

Read Romans 8:19-23. How did sin damage God’s good creation?

Read Colossians 1:15, 2 Corinthians 4:4 and Romans 8:28-29. How does Jesus relate to the “image of God”? What happens to the image of God in us as we follow Jesus?

Application/Looking Ahead:

Are there any people you’ve not treated with dignity and respect that you need to repent of? The image of God Discussion Paper.

List out 2-3 places that God has you where you can reflect his image. Spend some time praying for those places and how God is using you there to show his glory to the world.

Read Genesis 2:1-25. We’re going to spend the next 4 Sundays learning more specifically what it means to reflect God’s image in the world and what we are called to do as his people. Take down 15 observations about the garden of Eden, how God formed Adam and look for any commands God gives his image bearers.

The imago dei, means the image of God and the Christian concept of this is that human beings are created in the image of God and that includes the meaning that human beings regardless of race, gender, social status, mental or physical status are made to be honored and shown dignity (Shelly, 2006). This is an important aspect of healthcare because it shows and demonstrates the methods by which nurses and healthcare providers across the board should care for patients. All patients should be shown dignity and respect regardless of their background and there should be an ethical and moral obligation to care for patients as well in this manner as well. The fact of treating others in the image of God is relevant to healthcare as well because it is something that people have always done. The image of God Discussion Paper.Christians were called to healthcare in the early days to care for the sick and wounded and it has been what continues to motivate a lot of people in today’s culture. To look at human beings in a particular light of one of a moral status, it is okay for people to own pets but not for people to own other people. The one thing that I do not agree on for this is the fact that we put down hurt or sick animals but for the longest time we did not allow humans to do the same (Shelly 2006). That is now changing though as states are adopting dying with dignity options that allow a person to go peacefully when they feel their time is ready rather than suffering, just as we do for animals.The image of God Discussion Paper.

If an animal has no hope of being saved then we put them down to end their suffering. At least that is the way that I see the situation and interpret it in my beliefs

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your The image of God Discussion Paper.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. The image of God Discussion Paper.