IMAGO DEI: IN OTHERS

Our baseline:

Jonah 1:1-3, 9

2 Kings 14:25

Jonah 4:1-5

James 3:9-10

Colossians 1:16

Our hope:

Jonah 4:5-11

Luke 19:10

Ephesians 2:14-19

Our command:

Matthew 22:37-39

2 Corinthians 5:16-17, 18-19

1 Peter 2:9

Matthew 5:44

Leviticus 19:18, 33-34

Isaiah 1:17

Hebrews 12:14

Micah 6:8

John 13:35

Christians identity is received not achieved, for the Imago Dei rests on every human not by effort but by the indiscriminate grace of God.

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS

1. Read Jonah 3-4. What heart-related obstacles did Jonah have that made it hard for him to care for the Ninevites?
2. What are some hostilities at work in our world’s culture today? In our nation’s? In our community’s?
3. How should the church respond to these hostile obstacles? How can you join in?
4. When you think about loving others in your life, what personal obstacles come to your mind?
5. In what ways is participation in division, gossip, slander, and various forms of discrimination not only a sin against God but also a way of dishonoring the imago Dei in others?
6. Jesus came into contact with many different people from many different walks of life. Can you think of examples in which His attentiveness, care and concern displayed the value He placed on them?
7. Read Micah 6:8. What opportunities do you have to live out these in regard to people who are different than you?

Can you think of ways in which people in each category are treated as lesser than?

People you disagree with politically

Minority races and ethnicities

Those of a different sexual orientation

Refugees

Poor and  homeless

Unborn babies

Mentally or physically disabled

How does the imago Dei inform us about how they are to be treated?