The Image of God

Welcome to our new blog! Yesterday, several of us met for lunch and tried something new for HeBrews. Each of us drew a "Word Teasers" card from a box. The card had a word, phrase, or topic that is tied to our faith.

As we went around the table to share our highs and lows, each person shared their card. Then we decided (as a group) which card to talk more about. We will try this method out for a few weeks and see what everyone thinks.

Yesterday we talked about two of the cards in depth: the cross (what it means, why some people wear it as jewelry) and the image of God. I want to dive in a bit deeper on what the image of God is and what it means for us today. I'm going to break this down into a few sections so you can choose where is best for you to dive in: Bible, Theology, and Song. Each section has follow-up questions you can think about if you want.

I hope you will add your comments about this and anything else you'd like to talk about on the blog. And if you have a topic to suggest for a future HeBrews discussion, go to the Contact page on this blog (you can send anonymously if you'd like). And share this new blog with your friends!

Bible:

• Then God said, "Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, and the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth." God created humanity in God's own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them. - Genesis 1:26-27, CEB (Common English Bible)
• "The Son (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the one who is first over all creation." - Colossians 1:15, CEB

What do you think it means that we are made in God's image? How do we reflect God's image today, and how don't we reflect God's image today? Knowing that Jesus is the image of God, what can we do to try to reflect God's image in our own lives?

Theology:

• "imago Dei: This Latin phrase translated "image of God" is one of the basic concepts of the Christian doctrine of human being. The phrase derives from Genesis 1:27: 'So God created human beings in God's image; in the image of God he created them.' Various answers have been given to the question of what constitutes the image of God in humanity. Among the proposals are self-consciousness, the capacity to reason, freedom of choice, and the unique abilities that enable humanity to have dominion over other creatures. Some twentieth-century theologians (e.g. [Dietrich] Bonhoeffer, [Karl] Barth) have argued that life in right relationship with God and others constitutes the image of God. For Christian faith and theology, Jesus Christ is the perfect realization of the image of God (Col 1:15)." - Daniel L. Migliore, Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014), 453.

We are all made in God's image, but because of sin we fall now short of that standard. If we consider Jesus the perfect realization of the image of God, (1) how do we seek to live more as someone made in God's image and (2) how do we seek to see others as also made in God's image?

Song:
One of my favorite bands is Switchfoot. Just this morning, I received an email about their newest song: Native Tongue. As soon as I heard it, I thought of our conversation about the image of God. Here are a couple of the lyrics that stand out to me:

"Feel your heartbeat bang the drum
Open your eyes and fill your lungs 
The same word from where the stars are flung 
Love is the language, love is your native tongue"

"Back before we learned the words to start a fight
Back before they told us that the haters were right
He spoke the truth, 'let there be' and there was
Love is the language, love is your native tongue"

"So sing it out, get loud, get
Louder than the darkness and the doubts, eh
Louder than the curses and the shouts, yeah
Your lips, your lungs, your native tongue"

Take a listen and let me know what this song says to you. Here's a link to the full lyrics.

What does the song say is our "native tongue?" What other ("non-native") languages do we speak? Where do we learn how to speak our "native tongue?" Read 1 John 4:7-21. What does this say about our "native tongue" - especially how we learn it and why we speak it? How might this relate to our discussion of the image of God?

My door is always open. My phone is always on. If you ever need to talk or want to talk ... if you ever need to pray or want to pray ... if you ever need help or want help ... let me know. My prayer for you, always, comes from the words of Ephesians 3:14-21. May you always be rooted and grounded in the sure knowledge that God loves you more than you could ever know. The grace of Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit gives us strength and guidance that will never leave us. Grace and peace be with you. ~Pastor Keith

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