Genesis 1 Equal in Being – Imago Dei

1. Nurturing the NationsReclaiming the Dignity of Women in Building Healthy Cultures Genesis 1 Equal in Being – Imago Dei

2. Outline • The Bible: The Grand Narrative • Humankind: The Crown of Creation • The Structural View: Man is Like God • The Relational View: Community – Male and Female • The Functional View: Stewards of Creation • The Creation Mandate: Create Culture

3. The Bible: The Grand Narrative • The primal story to explain all of human existence • It is about relationship • The Divine Community – The Trinity • Between God and Creation • God and His People • Christ and His Bride • Man and Woman

4. Dis-order • Dis-order of Atomism/Sexism which crushes women • Dis-order of Monism/Feminism which seeks for women to disappear – to become like men

5. Flow of Biblical History • The Creation • The Fall • Redemption • Proto-redemption • The work of Christ • Consummation

6. Distinction Between Being and Function • Being: refers to our existence, substance, or fundamental nature. It refers to our being made Imago Dei. • Function: refers to purpose, responsibility, or role.

7. Three Distinct Models of Social Relationships • Sexism begins with inequality of both being and function. • Feminism begins with interchangeability of both being and function. • Complementariansim affirms equality of being and diversity of function.

8. The Identity • The word man: adam • Generic term for the human race, humankind, or mankind - female and male • Stands in contrast to the particular • Õiysh [eesh]: man (as opposed to woman) or husband • Õishshah [ish-shaw’]: woman (as opposed to man) or wife

9. The Trinitarian Model Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule….”

10. He creates in His image – community adam (unity): Õiysh and Õishshah(diversity) God is Community

11. The Imago Dei: male and female are Equal • Origin – made by God (Genesis 1:26) • Imprint of God Himself (Genesis 1:26) • Source of identity – God named and defined them as male and female (Genesis 1:27) • Mandate – to create culture and develop the earth (Genesis 1:26-28) “They shall rule…”

12. The Imago Dei: male and female are Equal • Blessing (Genesis 1:28) • Moral and Rational agency • Freedom – free agency, to obey or disobey • Broken communion with God and creation • Redemption (Gal. 3:28; 5:1) • Hope in Christ’s return and a rich inheritance in Christ

13. Imago Dei: Three Facets • Has: describes the structural view that man has an image that is “like God.” • Is:describes the relational view that man is“community.” • Does: describes the functional view of what man does - stewards creation.

14. Mankind: Like and Unlike God • Like God: communicable (shared) attributes of God • Unlike God: incommunicable (not in common with man) attributes

15. God’s Incommunicable Attributes • Set 1: Exodus 3:13-14; Isaiah 40:28-29 • Set 2: Psalm 102:25-27; James 1:17 • Set 3: Psalm 90:2; Rev. 1:8 • Set 4: I Kings 8:27; Psalm 139

16. God’s Incommunicable Attributes • Self-Existence – I AM WHO I AM (Exodus 3:13-14; Isaiah 40:28-29) • Unchangeable – God never changes (Psalm 102:25-27; James 1:17) • Eternal – God stands outside of time (Psalm 90:2; Rev. 1:8) • Omnipresent – God stands outside of the universe (I Kings 8:27; Psalm 139)

17. Adam is “like God” • Being Human is to be God-like and different from the rest of creation • Communicable (shared) attributes of God • Mind – Attributes of Intellect • Heart – Moral Attributes • Will – Attributes of Purpose

18. The Relational View – Community • The Social View • The Divine Community created the human community • Required for the Societal Mandate (Genesis 1:28)

19. Complementary:Male and Female “His sexuality is not simply a mechanism for procreation which Man has in common with the animal world; it is rather a part of what it meant to be like the Creator. As God is a fellowship in himself (Trinity) so Man is a fellowship in himself, and the fundamental form of this fellowship, so far as Man is concerned, is that of male and female.” Paul Jewett

20. Two Modalities “It tells us, too, that it took two different modalities to represent this divine image. It took male and female.” Elisabeth Elliot Mark of a Man

21. “Mother-heart” of God:The Eternal Feminine • Love: Self-sacrificing • Compassion • Nurture/Succor • Instructor/Teacher • The “heart” of God: responding, intuiting, sensing, perceiving

22. “Father-heart” of God: The Eternal Masculine • Protector • Provider • Redeemer-Kinsman • Headship: Servant-leader • The “mind” of God: initiates, defines, organizes, brings order, sets bounds

23. The Family • The Trinitarian family: Father, Son and Holy Spirit • The human family: Father, Mother, Child(ren)

24. The Functional View • Adam: female and male is steward of Creation • The developmental view • Related to the second part of the Creation Mandate to “… fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over …. (Genesis 1:28)” • Humankind was made for a function or purpose.

25. A Shared Purpose • The Imago Dei: male and female have the co-responsibility for stewarding creation • They have a common origin and a common destiny: • Co-create – Pro-create • Co-rule – Vice-Regents • Co-steward – Developmental Mandate

26. Mankind’s Purpose “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14

27. Vice-regents • Men and women are to function as the Kings and Queens of creation. • They are God’s vice-regents, created to rule in His stead.

28. Imago DeiA Summary We have been made “like God” (Structural View) to fulfill the Creation Mandate by filling the earth with Community (Relational View) in order to fulfill God’s purpose to develop the earth (Functional View).

29. Family of Words • Cult: the “worship or reverential homage rendered a divine being.” • Culture: “the temporal manifestation of a people’s faith;” “ religion externalized.” • Cultivate: “tilling and preparing the earth for growth or the culture of the mind, the culture of virtue.”

30. The Cultural Mandate • The mandate is comprehensive • Time – all of human history • Space – all of the earth • Sectors of society: family, business, governance, science, education, the arts, agriculture, etc.

31. The Creation Mandate • Two Components • Domestic (procreate) • Public (dominion) function • Wholly Integrated • Stewardship is comprehensive • No Dichotomy

32. Corresponding Responsibilities • Male and Female each involved in both spheres • Each has a primary responsibility and a secondary responsibility: • Female is primary in the domestic sphere (procreation) and secondary in the public sphere (dominion) • Male is primary in the public sphere (dominion) and secondary in the domestic sphere (pro-creation)

33. The Beginning and the End of the Cultural Mandate • Set 1 • Genesis 1:26-28 • Genesis 2:15 • Set 2 • Isaiah 60:4-13 • Revelation 21:2, 22-26 • Set 3 • Revelation 22:1-5

34. The End of the Mandate “Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations— their kings led in triumphal procession.” Isaiah 60:11