You may find it particularly helpful encouraging those in the group to make notes as you watch this week’s video. There is a lot of great content which it will be helpful to keep track of for your discussions later.
Welcome
[10 minutes]
Group leaders, for this activity you will need: pens and paper.
Write down the name of every person in the room on a piece of paper and randomly assign a name to each person in the room. Then get each person to secretly draw a picture of the person on the piece of paper, making sure not to write the name on the picture or include too many obvious give-aways. When you’ve all finished, place the pictures in the middle of the room and see if you can guess who’s who.
Word
[15 minutes]
It’s often said that human beings are made in the image of God. This is a theme we find repeated throughout the Bible. Split into 3 groups, each taking the following sets of verses. Ask the questions: What do these verses tell us about being made in the image of God? Then feedback to the group:
Gen. 1:26-27; Gen 5-9
2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3
Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18; Col. 3:10
Watch
What does it mean to be made in the image of God? Dr. Christa McKirland [19 minutes]
Discuss
[30-40 minutes]
Key Questions
What stood out to you from Christa’s discussion of the Genesis passages? What questions do you have about this?
Christa picks up on the themes of temples, idols, and priests. Using the passages above, compare how these themes feature in the Old and New Testaments. What does this reveal about the image of God?
Christa talks about how the focus shifts from human beings made in the image of God to Jesus who is the image of God. In what ways do you think this shift is significant?
Further Questions
How does the theology of the image of God discussed in this video connect to the previous sessions we have considered (you might particularly want to think about connections with Incarnation, Creation and Atonement)?
Witness
[15 minutes]
Group leaders, for this activity you will need: a selection of newspapers and some highlighter pens.
Christa described how everyone has an untouchable value because they are each made in the image of God. Let us stop and think about how we see this in those around us.
Take a selection of newspapers and spend some time finding stories which you think reflect something of humanity as made in God’s image.
Worship
[15 minutes]
Christa encourages us that the presence of God through the Holy Spirit makes possible an intimate relationship with God today. She described this as providing a source of light and empowerment for our daily lives as we try to follow Jesus. Take some time praying for one another that we may be filled with the Spirit and empowered to follow Jesus in the week following. You may want to do this in smaller groups if your group is fairly large.
Christa talked about how theology doesn’t make us experts in the divine, and that the more we learn, the more aware we are of how little we know. What do you think it looks like to be humble in engaging with theology?
Want more?
Marc Cortez, 2018. ReSourcing Theological Anthropology: A Constructive Account of Humanity in the Light of Christ (Zondervan)
John F. Kilner, 2015. Dignity and Destiny: Humanity in the Image of God (Wm. B Eerdmans)
