The Imago Dei

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At a Glance

What is your purpose as a Christian? To glorify God? To become Christlike and shine His light? Yes, but how… where does God most clearly lay out His purpose for humanity? In Genesis. This is when God created the world overflowing with beauty and potential, placed humans in it, and presented His first commision for us. Together we will unpack what it means to be made imago Dei, in the image of God. Understanding this concept is critical, and there are consequences if we do not. Learn how an understanding of imago Dei can change individuals, businesses, communities, and nations so that they flourish in the mission God’s given them.

What You'll Hear
  1. The importance of understanding imago Dei (1:05)
  2. Creativity is biblical (22:45)
  3. Worldviews that reject imago Dei (26:00)
  4.  How do people not see that we’re made in the image of God? (29:11)
  5. Look to Genesis 1 and 2 to learn about what it means to be human (34:05)
  6. How did the Fall affect the creation mandate? (40:25)
  7. How can you fulfill the creation mandate? (53:01)
  8. When and why did Christians and non-Christians alike forget imago Dei? (59:07)
  9. Conclusion (1:09:09)

Randall Hoag is the president of Vision of Community Fellowship and the president of Food for the Hungry International Federation. Before that, he served as the president of Food for Hungry International. Randy has a lifetime of experience in Christian community development. He worked for many years, not just leading organizations, but also at the grassroots level, leading work in Bolivia and launching Vision of Community Fellowship.

Using the link above, you can read the transcript, listen along, and adjust the speed of the podcast while you listen.

I'm a human being made in God's image. God's given me the capacity and this position of dominion, by which I can look at that seed and create new things that didn't exist before. And you don't get that idea anywhere else except the Bible.

Scott (21:17)

Go Deeper

The Kingdomizer Training Program

More than a million people have now been trained in 115 countries.

Our Kingdomizer Training Program was first designed for missionaries, indigenous pastors, and workers in relief and development. As these individuals explored our basic biblical worldview teaching, they began to experience personal transformation that would ripple into their families, churches, communities, and even nations.

If you have a heart for the poor and a love for the Bible, we invite you to explore how you can be part of God’s transforming work in the world, and learn why thinking about a biblical worldview can make all the difference in people flourishing. Get started with our completely free Kingdomizer Training Program today!

Discipling Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Cultures

Have Christians underestimated the power of God’s truth to transform entire societies? In Discipling Nations, Darrow Miller builds a powerful and convincing thesis that God’s truth not only breaks the spiritual bonds of sin and death but can free whole societies from deception and poverty. Completely revised and updated for the third edition, Discipling Nations will challenge, reenergize, and equip Christians everywhere who labor to see His kingdom come, His will be done.

Against All Hope: Hope for Africa

Africa has been mightily blessed. Her natural resources make her the wealthiest of the world’s seven continents. She possesses a rich heritage as the womb of the Judeo-Christian faith. Her people comprise her greatest wealth. Being imago Dei, they possess vast internal capital. On top of all this; there is the incredible potential that exists through the dramatic recent growth of the church. Yet despite these countless blessings and riches, Africa remains undeniably the most poverty-stricken and broken continent on the planet. When one examines global poverty indices and measurements, it becomes apparent that things are improving everywhere in the world with one glaring exception – Africa. How can it be that Africa continues to languish?

This 60-page booklet examines the situation in Africa today from the vantage point of a distinctively biblical worldview and argues that true hope for transformation lies with the rapidly expanding African Church practicing a wholistic ministry and taking biblical truth boldly into every sphere of society.

The Forest in the Seed: A Biblical Perspective on Resources and Development

In The Forest in the Seed, Scott Allen and Darrow Miller set out to answer these questions: What resources do we need for truly Christian community development, and where do these resources come from? The transformation of impoverished communities requires resources, yet our worldview determines our vision for what resources we have and which are most important. The Bible reveals God as the source of all resource. He is “Jehova Jireh,” the God who provides for His creation. But do we have eyes to see the vast array of resources He has already provided us? Do our development activities help others discover their God-given resources or hinder them? The Forest in the Seed touches on the topics of economics, poverty, worldview, and community development. Download the free resource now!

Quotes
  • 11:16 “He made man in His image with the ability to rule. And when I think of helping the poor, the first thing we think of is–they are imago Dei. But what does it mean to be imago Dei? It means to have that command that He gave to Adam and Eve, to rule. And we think, well they can’t rule because they don’t have money and power and things. But that wasn’t God’s starting point. It was, no, you will rule. And that’s what it means to be human–to rule.” Dwight
  • 14:21 “And people who are impoverished. They’re made in the image of God… and they have the ability to create resources themselves. But when we view them as poor, when we put them in that box and say, ‘Oh, you are poor, you have nothing.’ ‘Oh, but we will help you.’ You maintain their poverty.” Darrow
  • 21:17 “I’m a human being made in God’s image… God’s given me the capacity and this position of dominion, by which I can look at that seed and do something with it, I can do something almost godlike. I can create new things that didn’t exist before from a seed. That’s an incredibly biblical idea. And you don’t get that idea anywhere else except the Bible.” Scott
  • 30:13 “If there is no God, there is no science.” Darrow
  • 51:03 “We can have as much poverty as we want to pay for.” Darrow

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