Doing Justice and Loving Mercy: Compassion Ministries, Mentor's Guide, MG16

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D O I N G J U S T I C E A N D L O V I N G M E R C Y : C O M P A S S I O N M I N I S T R I E S

The following questions were designed to help you review the material in the second video segment. In that segment we saw how the ground and basis for our executing justice and demonstrating mercy among the poor in the city is our commitment to the biblical affirmation of the imago Dei in every boy, girl, woman, and man. Every human being, regardless or race, background, or culture, is worthy of our care because they share in God’s unmatched, unique, and irreplaceable imago Dei . Each human person and all human groups are unique and precious. Each are bearers of the imago Dei and are to be considered as precious and irreplaceable. Explore these concepts through the questions below, and support your own arguments with Scripture. 1. What is the definition of the “image of God” ( imago Dei ) given in the last segment. In what ways is this affirmation of the image of God in human beings both a unique affirmation as well as a special one? 2. Do the Scriptures offer us an explicit definition of the image of God mentioned in Genesis 1 in humankind? What are some of the traits mentioned of God that we know human beings to also share? 3. How does the biblical teaching express the fact that all humankind was made in the imago Dei ? Are there any human beings who, for some reason, no longer share this image? Do even the most rebellious and irreligious human beings, regardless of their individual or communal state, share in the imago Dei ? What is the biblical evidence for your answer? 4. In light of the imago Dei , what are some of the ways in which the Word of God describes the implications of the imago Dei in humankind? How ought these various implications transform our understanding of human persons, even those we find distasteful or obnoxious? 5. How do the Scriptures describe God’s inclinations and feelings toward those who are poor, oppressed, and broken? What are the implications for this in understanding the poor as special objects of God’s unmerited, unconditional favor and grace? Explain your answer with Scripture. 6. What is the significance of the fact that human beings, regardless of their background, can be so transformed and renewed as to become partakers of the divine nature through faith in Jesus Christ? Can all human beings come to share this new nature?

Segue 2

Student Questions and Response

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