1. session 1: Who am I and why am I here?
session 2: Why is knowing who God is so important to my identity and purpose?
session 3: Do I have worth and value?
session 4: What role did God give his image-bearers?

2. 1538: Human Anatomy Before Renaissance physician Andreas Vesalius performed dissections of the human body, there were many misconceptions about anatomy. His work revolutionized medicine and surgery.
1796: Vaccinations English country doctor Edward Jenner performed the first vaccination for smallpox after discovering that farmers who had come into contact with cowpox never got smallpox. Some of the world’s deadliest diseases have been eradicated thanks to vaccinations.
1842–46: Anesthesia Doctors became able to perform surgeries without pain because of chemicals such as nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and sulfuric ether. This allowed for more intricate and complex surgeries.
Mid-1800s: Germ Theory French chemist Louis Pasteur proposed that certain diseases were caused by bacteria. Until then, the causes of cholera, anthrax, and rabies were a mystery.
1895: X-Rays German physicist Wilhelm Rontgen accidentally discovered that radiation from cathode rays was able to penetrate opaque black paper. That led to the use of X-rays to see inside the human body without having to cut it open.

3. session 4

4. 1. What blessings and responsibilities did God give people?
Genesis 1:26–31
Psalm 8

5. 2. How does God want us to rule over his creation?
Genesis 1

6. Physically harnessing solar, water, wind for electricity; cultivating land
Intellectually sciences, medicine, mathematics
Morally justice, government
Aesthetically arts, culture, architecture

7. 3. What is our purpose in ruling and caring for God’s world?
1 Corinthians 10:31
Revelation 4:11

8. What are some ways tending and keeping get out of whack?
Though humans are endowed with common grace, the healthy balance God established at creation is not found outside the Christian faith, for example:
Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism tend to neglect developing “the garden” (viewing it as a sort of god, not to be tampered with).
Materialist, technological industrialism tends to destroy “the garden” for short-sighted economic purposes.
Ultra-environmentalism tend to elevate “the garden” above legitimate needs and purposes of human society.
—adapted from Douglas F. Kelly

9. So, what role did God give his image-bearers?
God made people to glorify him by wisely managing, developing, and caring for his creation.

10. Copyright © 2013 Great Commission Publications. All rights reserved.
So What?
Identity & Purpose
Copyright © 2013 Great Commission Publications.
All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission.
All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007
This publication contains copyrighted images from Thinkstock Corporation © 2013, and its licensors. Used under license. Medical breakthroughs: Selected from The Science Channel’s 100 Greatest Discoveries/Medicine list: accessed Adapted from Douglas F. Kelly, Creation and Change (Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1997 © Douglas F. Kelly), 224.
Duplication of copyrighted material is not permitted.
Great Commission Publications
3640 Windsor Park Drive
Suwanee, GA 30024