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(Next Reading Wed 25th Feb)
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NOTES from 28th January 2026
2026 LU LIFE CHURCH HOPE & JUSTICE A Year THROUGH THE SCRPTURES
The Bible consistently weaves the themes of social justice and hope from Genesis to Revelation, rooting them in God’s own character and his redemptive plan for creation.
Genesis: Creation and the Foundation of Justice
The foundation of social justice begins in Genesis with the declaration that all human beings are created in the image of God
Today’s Scripture Reading NSJV (Genesis 1:27).
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our alikeness; let them have dominion/authority over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
This establishes the intrinsic worth and equal dignity of every person, regardless of social status, race, or gender, a revolutionary idea in the ancient world. The original mandate includes human responsibility for caring for the earth (stewardship) and for one another, setting the stage for a society of love and belonging.
The biblical narrative starts with God creating human beings as his image-bearers (Genesis 1:26-27). Their role is to be his vice-regents to rule over and care for his good creation.
Genesis 1:26-27 records the creation of humanity in God’s image and likeness, establishing a unique identity, value, and purpose for both male and female. God grants humans stewardship or “dominion” over the earth, including fish, birds, livestock, and wild animals. This passage defines humanity’s role as God’s representatives.
Key Points to note
- Divine Image: Humans are uniquely created in the “image” and “likeness” of God.
- Shared Dominion: Both men and women are given authority to rule over the earth’s creatures.
- Male and Female: Humanity is explicitly created as male and female.
- Purpose: These verses establish that every human possesses inherent dignity, value, and a specific, noble purpose.
- “Let Us”: The use of plural language (“Let us make”) is often understood as a reference to the Trinity or divine council.
- Role of Stewardship: The dominion mentioned is not for exploitation but stewardship, caring for the earth on behalf of the Creator.
- Foundation of Human Identity: This passage is foundational for Christian theology regarding the worth of human life.
NOTES from 11th February 2026
2026 LU LIFE CHURCH HOPE & JUSTICE A Year THROUGH THE SCRPTURES
How many Books are there in the Bible? There are 66 Books. 39 Old testament and 27 New Testament.
What do you call a person who has been liberated from the rule, enslavement, or dominion of sin (separation, unconsciousness) and the finality of death? The Super Wednesday Scripture Readings will encourage and bring hope with a wonderful positive playout of the Redemption Emancipation Story; you and I, and all humanity’s story, so far.
A recap from our last class: we looked at the Role of Stewardship: The dominion mentioned is not for exploitation but one of stewardship, of caring for the earth on behalf of its Creator. We also looked at the Foundation of Human Identity: The Scripture verses we looked at for this is genesis 1 v 27. This passage is foundational for Christian theology regarding the worth of human life.
However it is obvious that something went wrong between that setting (intentional design – Gen1:27) to where we are today. Like explorers our further studies will retrace the Genesis story from our perspective of where we are in life today and how are retaining or not retaining the role of dominion and upholding our human identity as was originally intended.
For this we will advance to the 3rd Chapter of Genesis reading from verse1-24. Here it tells how the first Adam disobeyed God, and how sin, hiding, separation and death entered the story of our world. The story thus far is not so much about Adam’s failure to obey commands and instructions, but the transfer of humanity’s authority, loss of identity, and implication of what this meant for humanity to this day.
The reading it describes the dominating nature of sin or separation from God, the original blueprint for humanity. However humans behaviours became de-humanising behaviours, both how they treated themselves and how they treated each other, and we still see these behaviours in our societies today, and engrained with our systems.
These play out as social and economic exploitations and injustices. Such emerge from a segregated world view of Heaven and earth, or of God and humanity. But LIFE does not and will not abandon what was created in image-and alikeness of Itself as we will see in today’s reading. (Genesis 3:1-24 and Romans 5:12-14).
Genesis 3:1-24 Fall/failure of Humanity: the serpent tempts Eve to eat forbidden fruit, she gives it to Adam, they disobey God, realize their nakedness, hide, and are then judged and expelled from the Garden of Eden, with consequences including painful labour, hard toil, mortality, and expulsion to guard the Tree of Life. These sets up a stage in the story for humanity’s struggles and sense of separation from God.
The Temptation & Disobedience (Verses 1-7)
- Serpent’s Deception: The cunning serpent questions God’s command, asking if they truly can’t eat from anytree, then denies God’s warning, claiming they won’t die but become like God, knowing good and evil.
- The Act: Eve sees the fruit is desirable, takes some, eats, and gives it to her partner Adam, who also eats the forbidden fruit.
- Awareness: Their eyes are opened; they realize they are naked and sew leaves together for coverings.
The Fall/failure: Genesis 3 v1 24
1Now the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
The tree of good and evil was planted as a reminder, as soon as they ate of it they did the opposite, they forgot. Humanity fell into this state of forgetting who (purpose) and what (reason) they are.
Romans 5:12 -14 explains that sin and death entered the world through one man, Adam, affecting all humanity because all are considered to have sinned in him. Paul highlights that death ruled even before the Mosaic Law, establishing Adam as a representative “type” of Christ, where one man’s action brought universal condemnation.
Key Meaning Breakdown (Romans 5:12-14): Universal Sin and Death (v. 12): Sin entered the world through Adam’s disobedience. Because Adam represented all humanity, his sin resulted in a “fallen” nature, meaning death spread to everyone. Death Before the Law (v. 13-14): Even between Adam and Moses, when no written law existed, people died. This proves that death was not just punishment for breaking specific rules, but a direct consequence of Adam’s initial transgression. Adam as a “Type” (v. 14): Adam is a “type” (a pattern or foreshadowing) of Jesus Christ (“the one who was to come”). While Adam brought death to all, Christ brings life. Core Concept: One act of disobedience brought condemnation and death to all. One act of righteousness obedience brings justification and life to many. These verses explain that just as humanity inherited a sinful, mortal nature from Adam, believers receive righteousness and eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Key takeaway: Even as the Tree of Good and Evil was intended as a reminder for Adam and Eve to be mindful of who and what they are. And what is that? They were intended to be eternal beings having access to the tree of life. Even so our scripture reading (Romans 5:12-14) expands the story to shows that humanity has once again granted access to eternal life, through Christ. Christ represents the Tree of Life.
And by granting humanity access to the Tree of Life again humanity have the opportunity and possibly and potential to Hope. Fuller understanding of this is this – eternal life is maintained by having access to and eating of The Tree of Life. By partaking of the Tree of Life humanity awareness is open to God, they choose good, right, and pleasant. Adam and Eve opted for Treason to bypass their identity which was their alikeness to their Creator. In the Redemption Emancipation Story humanity have access to favour, and opportunity to restore identify, authority, and dominion.
The Redemption Emancipation Story is Humanity’s reason for Hope and Justice.
