Image of God _ The Bible Project
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the concept of divine authority in ancient times, contrasting the self-proclaimed divine kings with the biblical view that all humans are made in God's image, thus bearing His authority. It discusses the human task of 'ruling' the earth through cultivation and creativity, and how this can lead to both good and evil outcomes. The narrative then shifts to Jesus as the ultimate example of human rule, serving others and embodying God's image. The video concludes with the vision of a renewed world where humans, restored in God's image, rule under His guidance.
Takeaways
- 👑 In ancient times, many kings claimed divine authority and made statues of themselves, but Israel's belief system was unique as they never made images of God.
- 🌐 God created humans in His image, entrusting them with the authority to rule and cultivate the earth, a task that was not limited to kings but given to all humans.
- 🌱 The concept of 'ruling' in the biblical sense involves the daily acts of work and creativity, including growing food, families, communities, and cities.
- 🔧 Humans have the potential to create both good and evil, as they have the choice to use their authority for the benefit of others or for self-advantage.
- 📜 The Bible depicts the human condition as one of struggle between achieving good and causing suffering due to selfish acts.
- ✝️ Jesus, as the 'new human' or 'image of God,' demonstrated a different way of ruling by serving others and seeking their best interests.
- 🛑 Jesus confronted and took on the consequences of human-created evil and death, offering a resolution through his life and resurrection.
- 🌟 The New Testament writers saw Jesus's resurrection as a new beginning for humanity, with the potential for divine transformation and healing.
- 💖 The Apostle Paul described the 'new humanity' as being filled with qualities like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control, reflecting God's image.
- 🌍 The Bible concludes with a vision of a renewed world where God's servants, transformed by Jesus's life and power, rule alongside Him, guiding humanity into uncharted territories.
Q & A
What was unique about Israel's view of their kings compared to other ancient cultures?
-Israel's view was unique because they did not view their kings as gods, nor were they supposed to make images of God. This was rooted in their belief that the creator God could not be reduced to any one thing in creation.
Why did ancient kings often make statues of themselves?
-Ancient kings made statues of themselves, called 'selem' in Hebrew, to assert their authority and claim to be the image of God, which allowed them to define good and evil and command obedience from their subjects.
How does the Bible define the concept of humans being made in the image of God?
-The Bible defines humans as being made in the image of God by giving them the authority to rule over the earth. This includes the tasks of cultivating the earth, growing food, creating families, and building communities.
What is the biblical perspective on the role of humans in creation?
-The biblical perspective is that humans are called to rule and cultivate the earth by harnessing its potential and creating something more and new, which is seen as humanity's divine and sacred task.
How does the Bible address the problem of humans causing suffering and injustice?
-The Bible addresses this by showing that humans have a choice in how they rule. They can either use their authority for the benefit of others, which aligns with God's definition of good, or they can use it for self-advantage, leading to evil and suffering.
What does the Bible say about God's response to human's misuse of authority?
-The Bible claims that God bound Himself to humanity through Jesus, who showed a new way to truly rule as a human by serving and seeking the best for others, even to the point of confronting and bearing the consequences of human-created evil.
How did Jesus' life and death impact the concept of ruling in the Bible?
-Jesus' life and death on the cross confronted the consequences of human evil and death. His resurrection opened a new future for humanity, showing a new way to be human and to rule with love, service, and self-sacrifice.
What does the Apostle Paul say characterizes the new humanity in Christ?
-The Apostle Paul describes the new humanity in Christ as being filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, integrity, gentleness, and self-control, which are the qualities that restore God's image in people.
How does the Bible envision the future of the world in relation to God and humanity?
-The Bible envisions a renewed world where God is on His throne and His servants, who are humanity, rule over this new world. They take it into uncharted territory with Jesus as their healer and guide.
What is the purpose of The Bible Project, and how can people support it?
-The purpose of The Bible Project is to present the Bible as a unified narrative that leads to Jesus and offers wisdom for the modern world. People can support it by making one-time gifts or becoming monthly supporters, which helps make the videos free and available to anyone.
Outlines
👑 Authority and Image of God in Ancient Times
This paragraph discusses the concept of authority in ancient times, particularly in the context of the Bible. Kings often claimed divinity and made statues of themselves, called 'selem' in Hebrew, which were seen as idols or images. However, Israel's belief system was distinct as they did not view their kings as gods and were prohibited from making images of God. This belief stemmed from the idea that God, as the creator, cannot be reduced to any created thing. Instead, God made humans in His image, granting them authority to rule and cultivate the earth. The task of ruling, which was typically reserved for kings, was thus democratized in the biblical narrative, making every human responsible for the stewardship of creation. The paragraph also touches on the human propensity for both good and evil, and how Jesus, as the 'new human' or 'image of God,' demonstrated a new way of ruling through service and love, ultimately transforming the human condition.
🌟 The Bible Project's Vision and Outreach
The second paragraph shifts focus to The Bible Project, a channel dedicated to exploring the Bible's narrative and its relevance to modern life. The creators produce various video series that delve into the design and messages of biblical books or trace themes throughout the Bible. They aim to make these resources freely accessible to everyone, regardless of location. The paragraph concludes with an appeal for support, highlighting that the project's continuation and the provision of free materials are dependent on the contributions of viewers. Supporters can contribute one-time gifts or become monthly supporters, and in return, they gain access to high-resolution videos, study guides, and posters.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Authority
💡Image of God
💡Idol
💡Creation
💡Rule
💡Good and Evil
💡Human Condition
💡Jesus
💡Resurrection
💡New Humanity
💡Transformation
Highlights
Ancient kings often claimed divine authority and made statues of themselves, called 'selem' in Hebrew.
Israelite belief held that the creator God could not be reduced to any created thing, setting them apart from surrounding cultures.
God's unique interaction with humans is exemplified by not allowing images of Himself to be made.
Genesis introduces God as the ultimate authority who speaks and creation obeys.
Humans are created in God's image, given the task to 'subdue the earth and rule it', a task not limited to kings.
The concept of 'ruling' in the Bible is redefined as the day-to-day acts of work and creativity.
The human project involves growing food, families, communities, and cities, expanding humanity's reach.
The Bible presents a challenge to humans: to use their authority for the benefit of others or for self-advantage.
The human condition, as depicted in Genesis, includes the capacity for both good and evil.
Jesus is presented as the resolution to humanity's struggle with ruling, by serving and seeking the best for others.
Jesus's life and resurrection offer a new way to be human, embodying the true image of God.
The New Testament writers view Jesus as the 'new human', offering a path to restore the divine image in humanity.
Apostle Paul describes the characteristics of the new humanity: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, integrity, gentleness, and self-control.
The Bible's narrative concludes with a vision of a renewed world where God's servants rule under His guidance.
The Bible Project produces video series to explore the design and message of the Bible's books and themes.
Support from viewers enables The Bible Project to create free and accessible educational content.
The Bible Project aims to make the Bible's wisdom relevant to the modern world through various video series.
Transcripts
so if you lived in ancient bible times
odds are you lived under the authority
of a king and many of these kings
claimed that they were
gods and they would even call themselves
the image of god
meaning they had authority to tell
people what to do order things to be
made
yeah they got to define good and evil
and these kings would often make statues
of themselves which in hebrew were
called
selem often translated as idol or image
but for israel they didn't view their
kings as
the god in fact they were never supposed
to even make
images of god it's exactly right and
that was really unique for that time and
culture
this is rooted first of all in israel's
belief that you can't reduce the creator
god down to any one thing
in creation but there's another reason
people aren't to make images of god
because god has already made images
of himself when did he do that well
let's go to page one
of the bible and the first person we
meet there is god
he's the one with authority over all
creation he speaks and creation obeys
and he defines what is good and not good
in other words
he alone is king but then surprisingly
as the pinnacle of all of god's creative
work he makes
humans and he calls all of them the
image
of god so he gives all humans the
authority to rule
exactly that's what he goes on to say he
tells the humans to subdue the earth and
to rule
it and so this task that once belonged
only to elite
kings is here in the bible the task of
every human being this was a
revolutionary statement in its day
because all humans are being called to
rule and to participate in the human
project so what does this mean i mean
how are we all supposed to rule
so the picture we get in genesis is
gardening gardening
yes gardening so they rule the earth by
cultivating it by harnessing all of the
earth's raw potential and then making
something more and new
out of it so growing food for each other
yes
but that also includes growing families
then which
become neighborhoods and then they
create communities where people are
going to work and take care of each
other and
build businesses and cities that will
expand to new places and so on
so ruling is really the day-to-day acts
of
our work and creativity yes we take the
world somewhere this is humanity's
divine and sacred
task yeah and this all sounds really
nice
and humans have designed some pretty
great things
but just as often we create things that
cause a lot of suffering
and a lot of injustice so maybe we
shouldn't actually be ruling
yeah so the bible addresses this in
genesis what happens is that god gives
humans a choice about how
they're going to rule so are they going
to use their authority for the benefit
of others which is god's definition
of good or are they going to turn away
and define good and evil for themselves
and use their authority for
self-advantage and in the story they
choose to define good and evil on their
own terms
and so this is the bible's depiction of
the human condition
so sometimes we pull off amazingly good
stuff but just as often despite our best
intentions we act selfishly
and we create evil in the world and so
we're stuck
as mediocre rulers making a mess of
things
but that's not the end of the story so
the bible goes on and it makes this
claim
that all of this was resolved when god
bound himself
to humanity through jesus and he
showed us what it looks like to truly
rule as a human
so what does it look like well jesus
ruled by serving
and by seeking the best for others by
putting himself underneath them
and loving not just his friends but also
his enemies
and that's not a typical way to rule and
not only that
jesus confronted the consequences of all
the evil and the death that we
have created by our messed up ways of
ruling
and he takes it i mean he lets it kill
him
and so when the new testament writers
looked back to jesus's resurrection they
see a whole new future opening up for
all humanity
jesus is a new way to be human yeah
that's why they called jesus
the image of god or the new human
and not only that they also believe that
jesus's divine life
and power is now available to heal and
to transform us to become our life
and power and this sounds really nice
but what does it really look like
so practically the apostle paul said it
looks like people being
filled by jesus's own presence and
spirit
filled with love and joy and peace and
patience and kindness and
goodness and integrity and gentleness
and self-control
he says this is the new humanity that
god wants to create in
us so that we become people in whom
god's image is being restored people who
will move the human project
forward and that's actually how the
story of the bible ends it's a renewed
world where god is on his throne and his
servants are all around him but they're
the ones
ruling over this new world taking it
into new
uncharted territory with jesus as their
healer
and their guide
thanks for watching this channel we do
this because we believe the bible is one
unified narrative that leads to jesus
and has profound wisdom for the modern
world
so we're making different video series
uh some that walk
people through the design and message of
books of the bible or whole sections of
the bible yeah we also do a series that
take one biblical theme and trace that
through the whole narrative arc of the
bible kind of like the one you just
watched
and we have a lot more series coming up
that we have planned
the bible project is possible because of
your support so
some people give one-time gifts and
there's a growing number of monthly
supporters as well and we're all behind
this
we want to make these videos free and
available to anyone anywhere
yeah so you can join us be a part of
this go to jointhebibleproject.com
you can give there there's also
downloadable stuff like
full res videos and study guides posters
it's all for free and it's all because
of your guys support so thanks a lot
yeah thank you guys
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