Sw - Session 3 - Group Study

God and Humankind

Session 3 Group Study

group study one: who is god? In chronological order, study the following Scripture verses and discuss the questions as a group. Read Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning…” Something preceded us, says Genesis. • When was the beginning? • Who or what was in the beginning? • Was there anything before this time? • How do you picture God before creation? Alone? What did he do all day long? Did he just sit there, turn his thumbs, or play solitaire? Was he bored? Read Genesis 1:26 • Why does the text use us and our? • Why not say: “Let me create man in my image?” • What does this tell us about God? • Is God perhaps more than ‘One’? • Might the ‘us’ in God also indicate that God is a being in community that brings light into the darkness? Read John 1:1-2 • Who is this verse referring to? • Who is the Word? • Who was with God, because according to John, something else was with God in the beginning? Read Genesis 1:2 • Who or what is mentioned in this verse that is closely connected to God? • So maybe God was not all alone after all?

group study two: what is god doing and what does this tell us about who god is? In chronological order, study the following Scripture verses and discuss the questions as a group. Read Genesis 1:1 “When God began to create the heavens and the earth”… • What was the first thing that God created?

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• When God created the heavens… what does that include, according to you? • What all did God create in the heavens? • What was the second thing that God created? • When God created the earth... what does that include, according to you? • What all did God create on earth? • What is the culmination of God’s creation? Read Colossians 1:16 and John 1:3 • So did God just create the things we see on earth plus the invisible things of the heavens? • Or did he create more than that? • In John 1:3 we see that ALL things were made through God. What does ALL mean? • What do ‘thrones, dominions, principalities and powers’ refer to? • Have you ever thought of God creating the systems and structures of this world? Discuss the following questions. • So what does all of this say about God and who he is? • What are some of his major characteristics that you can point to, having read and reflected on the few verses above? • Do you believe that God cares just about one part of his creation? • Or does he care about all of his creation; the visible, the invisible and even the systems and structures he created to keep his creation functioning well?

group study three: who are humans? Study the following Scripture verses and discuss the questions as a group. Read Genesis 1:26-27 • Who did God use as model when he created humankind? • Does this make humankind special? Why? • Are women and men both made in God’s image? If yes, which is of greater value – men or women? • What does it mean that God created humans as men and women – as made in God’s image? • What does it imply that we’re created in the image of God? • If God is Shalom, what are we called to reflect? List as many insights as possible. Read Genesis 1:26; 1:27; 1:28; 2:15; 2:17; 2:18; 2:19-20; 2:24 When God created humans, He put them in a number of relationships.

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• What relationships did he place them in? List the seven relationships based on each of the verses listed above.

group study four: what has god called humankind to do? Now that we have established that humans, like God, are relational beings, called to reflect and act out God’s character of Shalom, we can turn to the second question: what has God called humankind to do? In chronological order, study the following Scripture verses and discuss the questions as a group. Read Genesis 1:28 and 2:15 • What is our calling or vocation according to these verses? • What responsibilities did God give the people He created? List the different activities we’re called to. • What does it mean that we have been given dominion on earth? • What conclusions can we draw from the fact that God said “Let them have dominion over … the earth” instead of “Let us have dominion over the earth”? • Does this mean we can do with the creation as we want? Exploit it, destroy it, violate it? Read Psalm 24:1 to answer this question even better. • Who is the owner of the earth? • So if God is the owner, what does that make us? Read Genesis 2:19-20 • When God brought the animals to the man, did he go ahead and name them himself? Why not? • What does this mean? • What does it mean that God gave humankind dominion and real authority over the earth? It is very important to understand this, if we are to make sense of God’s Story and our part in it. • What does it mean regarding God’s power of intervention on earth? • Will God just come and do his own thing, whenever he pleases to do so? Will he usurp the role he has given humankind on a whim, whenever he feels like it? • Or will he tend to work through humans? •

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application journal

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endnotes BASICS Wholistic Discipleship: e Image of God BASICS Wholistic Discipleship: e Image of God Myles Munroe, Understanding the Purpose and Power of Prayer, 12-13

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