[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Genesis 1:26-28
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Reminder:
The most basic Christian life skill is to live from our God-given identity and not from the kind of identity the secular world would have us take up. The three most popular kinds of secular identities are:
- I am what I do (my accomplishments)
- I am what I have (my belongings)
- I am what others think of me (my status).
Our God-given identity is something completely different:
- I am the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). I am a reminder of God’s reign wherever I go, like the statues of the kings of the time when Genesis was written. I am a living image of God, given an active role to partner Go in making the world a better place.
- I am a sinner (Romans 3:9-12). This is not something I was created to be, but something I need to acknowledge to develop reliance on the grace of God. If I don’t, I would either attempt to save myself by being good enough or despair of ever being good enough for God’s love. By the grace of God we are saved sinners.
- I am a child of God (Romans 8:14-17). Paul uses the metaphor of Roman adoption, by which I become a member of a new family so fully that my past life as a member of another family is cancelled and it is as if I had been born into this new family.
Discussion questions:
- The three secular identities mentioned above can each be very harmful if a person embraces them fully. What harm have you seen done by people who fully committed themselves to one of these?
- Why is it difficult for us to imagine ourselves as the image of God?
- What difference does it make for you to think of yourself as the image of God?
- In which ways does the understanding of Christian service as an invitation by God to join him in the delight of making the world a better place differ from an understanding of Christian service as a duty?
- It is difficult for us to admit that we are sinners. Why is that so?
- Why is it difficult for many of us to fully embrace our identity as children of God?
- What benefits are there for us to fully embrace our identity as children of God?
Amen
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