5-page paper synthesizing the 3-5 ideas from the readings that made the greatest impact on you, and how those ideas apply to yo

Introduction

In order to create and implement scripturally based business strategies for churches that wish to grow numerically and financially, one must understand what the Bible teaches on these subjects. God is not silent about growth. The DNA found in every aspect of the physical world helps leaders understand that God has revealed the DNA for church growth throughout Scripture. God helps church leaders learn from His Word and directs them through His Spirit to achieve the optimal growth for each church.

This biblical-theological literature review will demonstrate how important church growth is to the Triune God by addressing three main issues. The first section will discuss how growth, an intrinsic aspect of the imago Dei, the image of God, is seen in church growth. The second section will address the importance of community in the process of church growth. Section three will focus on the importance of financial health in the church, which serves as one of the most important gauges for church health.

Jesus said, “I will build my Church” (Matt 16:18) and made provisions for believers to participate with His plan by giving wisdom, power, and the Holy Spirit to accomplish the task of building His Church.⁰ Jesus taught His followers to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (v. 10). As church leaders and believers follow Him, God will answer that prayer and individual churches will reach their maximum potential.

Imago Dei: Humanity’s Reflection of God

Scholars discuss the three verses of Genesis 1:26-28 more than almost any other verses in Scripture.⁰

Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’

The Word of God seems to assume that the reader would readily know and understand the meaning of the phrase “image of God.” James McKeown, in his study of this phrase, assumes that “discussions on the image of God have become quite complicated, but presumably the concept was clear to the writer and to the first readers. We may assume that the writer expected the readers to know what the image of God meant or to understand its meaning by reading the book.”⁰ Nevertheless, the verses themselves give little definition as to what it means to be made in the image of God. A study of the biblical concept of the image of God, therefore, seems necessary.

Understanding the Biblical Concept of the Image of God

Study of the Hebrew term for “image” (selem) yields little insight. The Old Testament uses this Hebrew word seventeen times and four times in reference to being the “image of God.” The other thirteen usages refer to things other than God. Genesis 9:6, declares, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God has God made man.” While this verse helps clarify that the image of God was not completely broken after the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, it sheds no further light on what it means to be made in the image of God.

The Old Testament also uses the Hebrew word demut, translated likeness, twenty-five times, but only twice does it refer to God (Gen. 1:26; 5:1). The other uses of the term carry a variety of applications and meanings. Genesis 5:1 refers to God’s likeness: “This is the written account of Adam’s line. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.” One can further note that Scripture uses both selem and demut together when speaking about Adam and Seth. “When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth” (v. 3). When compared to Genesis 1:26, this verse reverses the order of “likeness” and “image,” which clarifies the insignificance of the word order.

Understanding the meaning of the “image of God” seems elusive and indescribable. Jacques B. Doukhan states:

to seize the exact meaning which lies in each word of the text is hardly possible. The author is free and therefore he may use his words with connotations of his own, and even use the same word with various shades of meaning with the text. Recent works in linguistics have brought out this living character of the parole,⁰ making the lexicon no more the primary reference tool but reducing it to a secondary supporting tool.⁰

Karl Barth expressed a similar frustration over the interpretations of many scholars concerning Genesis 1:26 when he said,

We might easily discuss which of these and the many other similar explanations is the finest and deepest and most serious. What we cannot discuss is which of them is the true explanation of Genesis 1:26. For it is obvious that their authors merely found the concept [of image] in the text and then proceeded to pure invention in accordance with the requirements of contemporary anthropology.⁰

The image of God, although a very difficult concept to verbalize, relates to various aspects and qualities of human life. Based on the biblical understanding, the imago Dei becomes evident in humankind through their work, kingship, free will, and reproduction. The following section will address each of these concepts.

Imago Dei as it Relates to Free Will

Between the Fall of Adam and Eve and the second coming of Christ to restore order and usher in God’s glorious reign on earth for a thousand years, Scripture indicates that imago Dei in its fullness has always been possible. Paul explained: “This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This was accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life” (Rom. 1:17, NLT). Paul explains that humanity’s sinful activities place people in an unacceptable position before God.

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves. For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. Instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people, or birds and animals and snakes. (Rom 1:18-23, NLT)

Paul, in essence, explains the image of God by declaring that since God created the world, God placed knowledge of himself in each person’s heart. Harry R. Boer sheds light on this concept: “It would then seem to follow that the point of describing some entity as the image of God would be to convey knowledge of God.”⁰ Furthermore, Paul explains how one can be made in the image of God and then choose not to follow God’s commands. When people choose not to worship God or give Him thanks for everything He has given them, their minds become confused and dark.

When God gave humanity the ability to make choices, that free-will was absolute. God never rescinds a person’s ability to accept or reject God’s plan. After studying the subject of imago Dei, Boer, a Reformed Theologian, changed his Reformed position. He identifies the problem of rejecting free-will: “The Reformed doctrine of predestination did not merely split the numerical mass of individual human beings into two absolutely disparate parts. It bifurcated the human race, dividing the imago Dei into two eternally irreconcilable segments: the elect and the reprobate.”⁰ He also states that, as people in the Reformed churches persist in their study of imago Dei, their theological positions about free-will has changed:

It is encouraging to note how at the beginning of this century so unsurpassed a Reformed theologian as Herman Bavinck distanced himself from the election-mercy/reprobation-justice motif of these post-Reformation creeds. His disapproval of it bordered on censure. It is ‘all too simplistic and meager,’ he writes, to say that in the eternal state God reveals his righteousness exclusively in those who are lost and his mercy exclusively in the elect.”⁰

A person, made in the image of God, can do things that do not please God because He gave humankind the ability to choose to do wrong. Ronnie Rogers, asserting the free will of man, believes that “an essential component of the imago Dei is libertarian free will with contrary choice. As far as the fall of man, this means that whatever choice Adam did in fact make, he could have chosen otherwise.”⁰ God longs for people to love Him of their own free-will. As a person studies Scripture with the thought of harmonizing the different areas of theology, the more one realizes that Scripture becomes its own best interpreter.

God portrays himself through the uniqueness of each individual. Genesis 1:27 clearly declares that God created humankind in His own image. From theologians to artists, God desires to show His image through people dedicated to God and His purposes. God delights in letting His image shine brightly in His people so that the whole world can see His image. For instance, Job, a righteous man, faces extremely trying circumstances, which ultimately provides a means for other people to witness the image of God (Job 1:6-8). Hebrews 11 also enumerates many heroes of the faith who, through difficult circumstances, allow the light of God’s image to shine brightly to the world around them.

Imago Dei as it Relates to Work

The imago Dei can also be connected to the work God asked humankind to do. In Genesis 1:26, God, either speaking inside the Godhead or to the heavenly host, says: “‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”’ Shortly after God creates man, He tells Adam: “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Gen. 1:28). Boer insightfully states: “There appears to be an intimate relation between the image in which Man was created and the work he was given to do. Just as ‘image’ relates mankind to God as a personal being, so the commands to exercise dominion and to subdue the earth relate Man directly to God’s creational work.”⁰

God leaves man in charge of His creation. Every invention of humankind since God created humanity in His image is made possible by God, who created the world. God left humanity with both the challenge and opportunity of discovering all He had placed in His creation. God delights in watching humankind as they discover various facets of created order; He endows people with the ability, through research and study, to uncover the mysteries of creation. In this process, people have the God-ordained opportunity to give Him thanks and praise. All truth and knowledge come from God. The hidden treasures of the Universe come to light as people closely align themselves to the image God has placed inside their soul.

Imago Dei as it Relates to Kingship

In relationship to work, God commanded humankind to rule. Scholars link the Hebrew word for “rule” (rada) with kingship. According to Robert Davison, “Context is the safest guide to meaning and image and likeness are defined by what follows, to rule.”⁰ Strong linguistic evidence exists to indicate that being made in the image of God infers ruling over the dominion that God placed under man’s care. H. D. Preuss concludes that the meaning of the likeness to God in Genesis 1:26 “emerges only from the broader context (v. 28) and is explained as a cooperative sharing in dominion.”⁰

The New Testament broadens the understanding of ruling with God. Revelation 20:6 declares: “Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” Before the Fall of Adam and Eve, God instructed them to rule over His earthly creation. After the second coming of Christ to this earth, during the millennium, people who participated in the first resurrection will reign with God as priests. Humankind can only reign in the Millennium because God created people in His own image. In whatever ways the image of God was damaged through the Fall, God will restore at His Second Coming.

This concept of rule is further seen in 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” The Greek word for “royal” (basileion) means king.⁰ As people created in the image of God, the New Testament illustrates that believers receive empowerment to accomplish His will in His name. K. S. Wuest states, “The Levitical priesthood were only priests. Believers in this dispensation are king-priests, associated with the Lord Jesus who is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, a king-priest.”⁰ Exodus 19:6 also describes the people of Israel with the phrase “kingdom of priests.”

Imago Dei as it Relates to Reproduction

As part of the imago Dei, God not only gave humankind the ability to rule, He also gave humanity the ability to create through reproduction. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it’” (Gen. 1:27). Just as God created through speaking His word, He enabled people to create through reproduction. Nico Vorster indicates that “humankind’s creation as male and female on the one hand indicates a biological potential to multiply and rule, and on the other hand the social capacity to communicate and cultivate.”⁰ Thus, humankind becomes a creating agent.

Currently, the world population stands at over seven billion. If one considers the number of people who have already died, the number of humans who have lived on earth since the Garden of Eden would be approximately 108 billion.⁰ Tom Smail indicates that humankind is to “become many, in order that they may express their likeness to God in the different ways in which they exercise the authority over his creation.”⁰ In essence, God created the world; then, He created people in His own image and instructed them to fill the earth and take care of what He had created.

Imago Dei as Reflection through People of the Bible

All of the major events and people in Scripture are tied to the understanding of the imago Dei. Abel understood that he was made in God’s image when he offered an acceptable sacrifice to God. Luke 11:50-51 lists Abel as the first prophet; Hebrews 11 identifies Abel as the first notable hero of the faith. As a man created in the imago Dei, Abel’s life still instructs people in how to live by faith in God’s image (Heb. 11:4). Enoch, the seventh from Adam, had so much of the imago Dei flowing through his life that the author of Hebrews declares that Enoch pleased God (Heb. 11:5) to the extent that God translated him to Heaven without experiencing death (Gen. 5:24). Hebrews 11 lists Enoch as the second hero of faith; as a prophet, he prophesied about the Second Coming of Christ (Jude 14). Noah’s life reflected so much of God’s image that God selected him to survive the flood and become the father of all humankind. “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God” (Gen. 6:9). Ezekiel listed Noah as one of the three most righteous people of all time (Ezek. 14:14).

Abraham’s life exemplified so much of the imago Dei that his name is mentioned seventy-two times in the New Testament. He followed God not knowing his final destination and believed God concerning the birth of Isaac even though his wife was barren. God credited righteousness to Abraham when he willingly chose to offer Isaac on the altar. Abraham was known as a friend of God (James 2:21-23). The imago Dei was so evident in the life of Moses that Moses spoke to God as a friend speaks to a friend (Exod. 33:11). God called David a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14). God promised King David that his throne would endure forever and, Jesus, often called the son of David, fulfilled this promise (2 Sam. 7:13).