God and Human Beings Lesson 1 December 6

God and Human Beings Lesson 1 December 6, 2020 Psalm 8: 1 -9 Purpose: To explore what it means to be made in God’s image

Psalm 8: 1 -2 1 O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm 8: 3 -4 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; 4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm 8: 5 -9 5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm 8 is a psalm of praise and is the only hymn in the Old Testament entirely composed as a direct address to God is not only its addressee, but also its primary subject. The psalm declares God’s sovereignty over creation.

What of nature’s wonders or other features of the created world lead you to marvel that God listens to you?

What of nature’s wonders or other features of the created world lead you to think about your place in God’s world?

What privilege and responsibility does God give to mortals?

What is our role in the created world relative to our Creator?

Four traditional interpretations of what it means to be made in God’s image: • a physical resemblance to God • a mental resemblance to God • our relationship to creation • our autonomy and freedom

Why do you think the student book writer says none of these definitions adequately describes what it means to be made in God’s image?

How does your status as “slightly less than divine” (Psalm 8: 5) inform the way you live your life?

What should you do in your status as “slightly less than divine”? What should you not do?

Pray: Praise and glory are yours, Creator God! Be patient with me. Work on me so I might reflect some glimmer of your image to the world. Amen.

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