It is good now and then to stand back from the small world that we as individuals inhabit and think about the relationship that we have with God, the world and each other – and then ask that strange question, what is ‘being human’ all about?
Genesis 1 tells us God created human beings in His own image, and the following chapter has them formed from the dust of the ground, and God giving them breath. To be formed ‘In God’s image’ has in the past been a claim of kings.
The United Nations declaration of Human Rights does not define a human being, and the secular world looks at us through the eyes of the biologist, describing us based upon our evolution from other species, after gaining advantages, strengths, and talents along the long evolutionary road our ancient ancestors travelled.
Over these four studies, we look at a range of passages from the Bible that speak into ‘being human’ from a Christian viewpoint. Some will be very familiar, others possibly less so, and we will look at the writings of its prophets, poets, apostles, and others to speak into this theme. Hopefully, we shall see that our lives, though short in the bigger picture of God’s purposes, are still precious and have a real purpose, both in the here and now of our everyday lives, and in God’s eternal plan.
We are, as Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:10, God’s handiwork.
‘What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honour.’ (Psalm 8:4,5)
The study is formatted such that each individual study can be printed off on 2 double-sided sheets of A4 for distribution to a group, or distributed by email. If you're using it with more than one group, it would be appreciated if you could consider purchasing one study per group!
The five studies have all you need for a small group discussion, with useful images, plenty of commentary, discussion questions and prayers.
1) A Physical Life
2) A Spiritual Life
3) The Experiences of Life
4) The Life of Faith
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©John Birch · Prayers written by the author may be copied freely for worship. If reproduced elsewhere please acknowledge author/website
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