Title: The Image of God
Scripture: Genesis 1:26-27
Speaker: Nate Pickowicz
Well, over the years, the questions pertaining to the origins of life have been discussed at great lengths, but paired with the discussion surrounding the origins of life, there have also been key questions about the value of life, the value of life. Through the centuries, particularly in the West, the issue of slavery has prompted the examination of the inherent value of so-called races. The question is, is one race more valuable because of the color of their skin? Furthermore, the existence of the concept of race finds its origins in evolutionary theory.
I want you to consider the full title of Charles Darwin's 1859 book. It is titled On the Origin of Species. Here's the subtitle, By Means of Natural Selection or The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life.
Arguably, if humanity is merely the product of natural selection through a non-directed evolutionary process, then hypothetically, some races have surely evolved and thrived more than other races and are thus inherently more valuable than others. In fact, Darwin's theory of evolution has co-opted and been borrowed by early 20th century architects of the eugenics movement, and ultimately this was used to justify things like racism, classism, abortion, and even euthanasia. Again, here is the theory, if human existence is merely the product of some impersonal, natural, or even random chance process, then there is no inherent value or dignity for life.
But here's the thing, the Bible teaches something very different. In the opening chapter, as we're going to see, humanity is the special creation of God and not the product of a natural selection or evolutionary process. Furthermore, we were created by God and for God.
And even we possess something that no other living organism possesses, God's image. And that's going to be our focus today. So, if you haven't already gone there, turn to Genesis chapter 1. Now, the creation of the human race comes at the end of a dynamic first week, and we covered most of that week last time.
The first three days of this early week here, God created the light and the expanse and the waters along with dry land. On day four, we saw that He created the luminaries, the sun, the moon, the stars. Day five saw the creation of the birds and of the sky and fish of the sea.
And now, on day six, God has created all the land animals, which includes one specific creature that is distinct from all others, humankind. And while day six begins on verse 24 of the chapter, something remarkable takes place in verse 26. And so, tonight or today, we're going to look at verses 26 and 27.
So, look with me at Genesis 1.26 and 1.27. Then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in his own image. In the image of God, He created him.
Male and female, He created them. Now, there is more here. The events of day six extend all the way to verse 31, which I'm hoping that we'll cover next time.
But today, I want to specifically focus on God's special creation of humanity, focusing on our unique identity. Now, in many ways, this creation is very similar to other works of the Lord. We read in this verse here, the opening phrase, then God said.
Moses records that same phrase several times. Verse 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, and 24 all begin with, then God said. It indicates the means by which God is creating.
It's by the word of His mouth, by divine fiat, out of nothing. And yet, with humanity, the Bible tells us, even in chapter 2, verse 7, that God formed man out of the dust of the ground, which we're going to get to before too long here. Of course, this is the very same ground that He created already.
But in verse 26, it's less really about the substance of the creation and more about the specialness of the creation. And with the creation of humanity, mankind, God would introduce a very unique kind of life on earth. But it's prompted by a statement made by God in verse 26, where the Lord says, let us make man in our image according to our likeness.
Now, this phrase, this one phrase has been fodder for scholars for eons. I mean, this one little tiny phrase has caused so many theologians to scratch their heads for thousands of years. Well, why? Well, for starters, there's the question of, well, who is the us and the our? Who is that referring to? Number two, who is God talking to? And then number three, what exactly is God's image? Well, Jewish, Christian, and secular scholars have all offered numerous theories about the language of this verse.
Some have posited that when God was speaking and saying, let us make man, that He was somehow speaking to angels, that that was His desired audience, was to tell the angels that, let us make man in our image. Others have suggested that this was written by Moses in a way to be sympathetic to the polytheism of the Near Eastern culture, which I think is absurd, to be honest with you, but that's one theory out there. Perhaps the most acceptable view across the board, according to textual scholars, is that this plural of us and our reflects the so-called royal we.
It's a singular designation in the plural. I tend to think that that is correct in terms of how the language was constructed, because for all of Jewish history, even to the time of Jesus, Israel understood that God is a singular deity. They point to the statement in Deuteronomy 6, 4, a very, very famous statement, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
So, Judaism is a monotheistic religion. Christianity is a monotheistic religion. But the question is, but why is it written this way? Even though I do believe that Moses intended the statement to be understood in the royal sense, the royal we, I believe that Moses is writing better than he knows.
Because even though Moses and all of Israel didn't know that God is triune, God knows that He's triune. All right? In fact, the general word for God in the Old Testament, Elohim, is a plural noun, a plural noun. Technically, you could render Elohim as gods.
But for all of Jewish history, the word has been understood singularly, God. Well, why is that? Well, because through the process of biblical revelation, we have come to know that there is one God, monotheism, one God who exists eternally in three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Again, triunity or trinity.
And while this is not explicit in Genesis, it is certainly hinted at. Again, just look at the verse itself, then God, plural noun, said, let us make man in our image. However, even more than just the hints of the grammar itself, we have numerous examples in the Old Testament of the existence of multiple divine persons.
Just listen to this. Consider Psalm 2-7. This is Psalm 2-7, I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord.
He said to me, you are my Son, today I have begotten you. And so, this is God talking to God, calling Him my Son in the Old Testament. Or Psalm 110.
Psalm 110, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. So, you have David, who is the author of Psalm 110, David speaking about the Lord talking to his Lord. Well, who is the Lord over the King of Israel? Well, it's God.
So, you have God speaking to God in the Old Testament. Proverbs 30 verse 4, who has ascended into heaven and descended, who has gathered the wind in His fist, who has wrapped the waters in His garment, who has established all the ends of the earth. Now, this is no doubt speaking about God as Creator, right? And then the verse says this, what is His name or His Son's name? Surely you know, He says.
So, a reference to God, and then a reference to the Son of God in Proverbs, all right? So, we see this over and over again. What about the Trinity? Isaiah 48, 16 records the voice of God to the people. He says, come near to me, listen to this, from the first I have not spoken in secret, from the time it took place I was there, and now the Lord God has sent me and His Spirit.
This is Old Testament speaking of three persons of the Godhead. And so, clearly, even if it's not specifically delineated, even though the Old Testament does not say the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, there's evidences in the Old Testament so far for the existence of God as Father, God as Son, and God as Spirit. And while I do believe that Moses intended one God in terms of the grammatical construction of what he writes, God intended the Godhead.
And so, when God speaks, He expresses the desire to make man in our image and likeness. So, what does it mean here? We mentioned earlier last time that God created everything out of nothing by divine fiat. The Hebrew word is bara, which means to create.
But here, it's interesting because in verse 26, if you look at your text, He doesn't say, let us create man in our image. He uses a different word. The Hebrew word is asah, which is not the word for create, but the word referring to fashioning or making something.
And again, if we were to look over at chapter 2 verse 7, we see God made man from the dust of the ground. So, we're going to get there at some point. But this is more than just God's method.
God designates a special creation, specifically that He's going to make in God's image someone according to His likeness. Again, this is different than the other creation. These two words for image and likeness is selam and demut in the Hebrew.
Over the years, many commentaries have tried to distinguish, is there a difference between the image and the likeness? Is there something there? Most modern scholars today just think that they're synonymous terms, that they're put in there as a repetition, as a reinforcement of the concept, and that's certainly true. But this word selam, image, refers to something that has been carved like a statue. In ancient pagan cultures, they would carve statues of their gods, and they would place them at the boundary markers outside to indicate which deity ruled that ground.
That was an ancient pagan practice. But here, we see God fashioning humanity into His own image and then placing us throughout all of the earth, again, marking that all of the earth is God's possession, and the image of God is inherent everywhere. This word for man in the Hebrew is adam, which is where not only a generic word for man or humanity, but it's also the name of the first man, Adam.
But we need to ask the question, what exactly in man, in humanity, is the image of God? And what ways do we bear that image? As you can imagine, scholars and philosophers, they've waxed eloquent about this concept. What does it mean to bear the image of God, or in the Latin, is the imago Dei, the image of God? Well, for starters, we know that God did not fashion us to reflect His physical image and likeness. We know this because the Bible affirms that God is spirit.
God is incorporeal. He's intangible. You can't see Him.
You can't touch Him. You can't feel Him. Even though the Bible uses anthropomorphic language to describe things like God's eyes and ears and mouth, arms, hands, feet, the Bible uses that kind of language.
We understand that God in His eternality, in His infinitude, we understand this is metaphorical language. Physically speaking, we are not like God, and He is not like us. Now, I want to just put a little footnote to say that everything changes at the coming of Christ because He's God incarnate.
We'll get there. But just on a general basis here, theologians, they have a word for the characteristics of God that He does not share with us. There's a lot that we don't share with God, and He doesn't share with us.
Theologians call these His incommunicable attributes, attributes of God that only He possesses and does not give to us. Things like His omnipresence. We are stuck in a body, right? We don't have omnipresence.
God is omnipresent. Or omnipotence. My power is very limited.
God's power is ever-expanding. Or omniscience. God knows all things.
His eternality, He's eternal. We're finite, right? So, these are all kinds of ways that we are not like Him. So, then it begs the question, well, then what exactly in us is like Him? Well, in a word, God shares with us His personhood.
See, no other aspect of creation receives God's desire to share Himself, His image. We know this because cats and dogs and whales and dolphins, eagles, horses, monkeys, they are not persons. They're creatures.
They do not bear God's image. Humanity, however, is special because we do bear God's image. We share in God's personhood because we share His communicable attributes, His shared attributes.
We share with God in His wisdom. We don't have all wisdom, but He's given us some wisdom. We share in His mercy.
Again, not all merciful, but we have mercy or compassion or love or truthfulness or goodness, holiness, justice, patience. The rest of the creation does not have these things, but we do. We've been given these things.
Again, animals do not possess the attributes of God. They are not representative of the divine image, but we are. We are.
Furthermore, as image bearers of God, humans possess an eternal soul. Animals do not. Animals look down at the creation.
Humans stand upright, and we have eyes looking to heaven. We look up to worship. Like God, we have speech.
We can communicate intelligibly. We can reason, process, create, enjoy. And while animals do this in a limited capacity, I mean, you look at the creation and some of these things we see.
We see them create things and fashion things and do sing amazing songs and things like that, but all that is done by instinct for them. But for us, it comes by way of a divinely appointed sentience. We have something special that is unique, and you can't argue with that.
There's nothing else on earth like humanity. And yet, even within verses 26 and 27, there's even more that is expressed relating to the imago Dei or image of God. If you look again at verse 26, specifically the second half, look at this again.
God said, let us make man in our image and likeness, and then He says, and let him rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Here, God is including another aspect of our existence as divine image bearers, and that is dominion. Dominion.
Again, God decrees that humanity is to rule over the creation, over the fish and the birds and the cattle, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. This word for rule is radah. It refers to subjugation, even having dominion.
In the same way that God is sovereign over all creation, God appoints humanity. He appoints us to maintain a limited sovereignty under Him. We are His subjects that exercise dominion over what He's made.
We have a job to do, and we're going to see this next time that we're together through this study. We're all going to see it in chapter 2, that we're charged with stewarding the creation. We're charged with naming the creation, domesticating the creation, even sustaining ourselves by the creation.
And again, we're going to discuss this in weeks to come, but for now, we see that verse 26 is a prelude to what is known as the cultural mandate. Again, we have a job to do. God doesn't just stick us here and say, well, figure it out.
He tells us what to do. We have a job. We have a role to play.
And yet, as it pertains to the Imago Dei, we bear God's image through our dominion over the creation. But there's another aspect to the Imago Dei in verse 27. Look at verse 27.
This is fascinating. God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him.
Male and female, He created them. Now, here, Moses is reverting back to this word that he used earlier to describe the rest of creation. Three times in the verse, he reiterates that God created Bahra.
He created man. And then he restates that God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him.
And then he says something curious. Again, twice in verse 27, we read that God created man in His own image. Man, singular.
In the image of God, He created him, singular. And then male and female, He created them, plural. At this point, we've gone from man as a species of creation, now to male and female, two distinct sexes of humanity.
Now, if God wanted to create humanity to be androgynous, so not male, not female, and just one that is unisex, He could have done that. He could have said, I don't want male and female. I just want humanity.
And He could have done that. He could have made us self-reproducing, which some creatures actually have the capacity to do. However, God did something different.
God created two sexes. He created male and female, both essential for procreation, but also beyond that, not just procreation. He's also designed us for intimate relation, relationship.
Consider this ontology. Just consider how this comes together. God is one, yet He exists in three distinct persons.
And each of these distinct divine persons remain in perfect union and joyful communion. That's God. Humanity is one, yet exists in two distinct persons of male and female, who are designed to be in harmonious union and communion with one another.
You see some overlap there? You see the brilliance of the creation? Furthermore, by the time we get to chapter 2 verse 24, we see that male and female come together in marriage, and the Bible says that the two become one flesh. There's a uniting of these two. And even though they are one, they don't become the other, right? Male doesn't become female, and female become male.
They retain their unique identity, and yet they're one. And while, yes, many animal species, they'll mate for life and they'll become, you know, one in some sort of physical way, yet they do not become one in God's eyes, nor do they manifest a spiritual union in the way that a man and a woman do coming together in marriage. And so, both male and female, listen to this, male and female comprise the imago dei, the image of God.
In terms of intrinsic value and dignity, spirituality, divine representation on earth, communicable attributes, men and women are equal. They're equal in God's eyes, and yet they're distinct. They possess different roles, and we see this borne out everywhere, don't we? Men possess headship and strength and leadership and protection and sacrifice.
Women possess submissiveness and wisdom, compassion, nurturing, orderliness. Not one is better than the other. And that's where humanity has gone wrong in other cultures, other times, by elevating one above the other.
In other seasons of time, other parts of the world, we've seen male chauvinism elevate the male above the female. Now we're living in a culture that's turning that on its head. Now manhood is toxic somehow, and femininity is elevated.
But the Bible doesn't know such a thing. The Bible sees male and female as, yes, they're unique, they're distinct, but they're equal in value and dignity and worth. We together, male and female, are God's special creation.
We're special to Him. It's been said, I love this, that man is the crown of creation and woman is the jewel in the crown. I like that a lot.
Now, at this point, we remember all this is taking place on the sixth day of creation. As we're going to see later in verse 31, the Bible says that all of this is very good. God sees all that He's made, and it's very good.
But we also know that it doesn't stay that way. We know that by Genesis 3, which we're going to get to, by Genesis 3, sin enters into the world and causes catastrophic damage to the creation. No part of the creation is spared, but all of the humanity has fallen into sin, and that has had a disastrous impact on the imago Dei, the image of God.
The most striking of this is the introduction of death into an otherwise perfect world. And now, the very human beings who were destined to bear the image of God on earth forever, we now die on this earth. And not just death, but also sickness and infirmity and deformity, all of this is swallowed up in the evil that is the fall of humanity.
But more than the physical effects of sin, there would also be spiritual effects that would afflict and damage the soul. Even our mind is damaged by sin. We call this the noetic effects of the fall.
Our capacity to think and to reason and to discern and understand, even our conscience, all of this is marred by sin. When you see a culture that stops being able to think and reason, when a culture has gone so far off the deep end where they can't regulate and discern between right and wrong, you know that their mind is being affected by sin and wickedness. God's expressed image of holiness and goodness, purity, love, compassion, and justice, all of that is damaged at the fall.
Even our relationships, both with God, our relationship with God, and also our relationship with other people is damaged. We feel the effects of that, don't we? We have strife, we have bitterness, and we have disagreement with each other because of sin. And it's in our selfishness that we mar the image of God within ourselves, and we harm that image in other people as well.
And yet, despite all of that, despite the marring of the image of God, we are still made in the image of God. And every single human being on planet earth, doesn't matter how old, how new, born, pre-born, it doesn't make a difference. Every single human being is made in the image of God, in His image and likeness, and retains value and honor and dignity in God's eyes.
Why? Again, why do we have the warfare, however? Because this is, I believe, one of the most needed truths to be reclaimed right now. I think this is the reason I only chose two verses today, because I think this is something we really have to drill down. Because the Imago Dei is under an all-out attack by the forces of the world, certainly in the Western culture, our culture in Europe and everywhere.
I mean, right now, it's ground zero of attack against the Imago Dei. Now, to be clear, it's always been this way. Ever since Cain killed Abel, there's been a war on the image of God.
But the warfare, it takes on new forms, doesn't it? It morphs and changes over time. Because not only is the Imago Dei marred by sin, it's also attacked by Satan. I think the key reason that Satan hates humanity is specifically because we bear the image of God.
And because Satan hates God, he hates us who are made in the image of God. And so, he does all he can to attack it. Well, how does Satan attack the image of God? Well, this is not an exhaustive list, but I just want to give you three things to ponder, three ways that we know that Satan and the forces of darkness attack the image of God in humanity.
Number one, Satan attacks the image of God in humanity by diminishing it, by diminishing it. One of the most deceptive lies popularized over the last couple of centuries is that humanity is just another animal on the ladder of evolution, that we're no more distinct or special than anything else that was made. There's nothing special about us.
We're just a bunch of talking apes who were lucky enough to survive natural selection. It's no different. Cat, dog, monkey, humanity doesn't make a difference.
That's the lie. Couple that with the fact that evolution of animals is reaching a near human status. We actually elevate the creation higher, which is what the Bible warns is going to happen.
We treat pets like family members, like children. Now, before you crucify me for that, it's fine to love your pets. That's fine.
It's good to take care of them and care for them, but we have to remember the culture in which we're living in, where we take this to an unhealthy extreme, where it is more punishable in this country to kill a bald eagle than it is an unborn child. We know if that happens, we know that that is Satan's plan to diminish humanity in the eyes of culture. That plan is taking root, where humans are just dispensable, just beings to be used, just mere flesh, just mere nothing, diminishing the Imago Dei.
The second attack comes in this way. Satan attacks the image of God and humanity by distorting it, not just diminishing it, but distorting it. This happens in a bevy of ways, through the willful disfigurement of the body, by twisting and manipulating sex and gender.
I mean, right now, this generation is so confused about sexuality. I mean, it breaks my heart that they don't understand. They don't know if they're a boy or a girl, if they're something else.
They confuse sexuality and gender, and they say, oh, this is biological. This is a mental construction of thought. It's like you don't know what you're talking about.
Even through the subjugation of humanity in slavery, whether it's physical slavery in the 18th century, 19th century, or even sexual slavery today, mental slavery, financial slavery, whatever it may be, to the humiliation and degradation of the person. And I want you to note this. One of the most, one of the reasons that prostitution and pornography and even hookup culture is so egregious is because it treats human beings as objects of lust and immorality.
I mean, this never used to be this way in our nation. Even when I was a kid, it wasn't this way, but now it is. Hookup culture, where young adults, teens, they just get together, and they don't even consider the male-female, husband-wife relationship.
They don't understand what they're doing to their own bodies. When physical slavery destroys the body, sexual exploitation, it kills the soul. It robs your soul.
Human exploitation destroys the dignity, and it relegates the individual to a subhuman status. My friends, you're made for more. God thinks higher of you because of who you are in Him.
I'm not even talking about salvation at this point, I'm just talking about you are a special creation of God with inherent dignity and value. And when we diminish and devalue and distort the image of God and treat other people as though they're subhuman, God hates it. He hates it.
It dishonors Him. In fact, God even hates the thoughts and words that attack other people. James 3, 9 warns us to tame our tongue, how we speak to each other, lest we render ourselves hypocrites.
And the Bible says that we bless our Lord and Father with the same mouth, and yet we curse men, who James says, who have been made in the image of God. Even the way that you speak to other people, when you tear down people with your words, you're attacking the image of God. When you call people names, when you insult them, and you degrade them with your language and they feel about this big, that's not just teasing.
You're attacking the imago Dei. You're diminishing and devaluing and destroying the thing that God has said is very good. But God hates any and all diminishing and distorting of the imago Dei, along with a third kind of attack.
Number three, Satan's attack on the image of God and humanity by destroying it, the destruction of the imago Dei. Ultimately, this is Satan's endgame, is to wipe out humanity from the face of the earth. And that sounds extreme, except watch what's happening around the world.
Listen to what people are saying. The thought leaders and the movements that are rising up right now, how many times do you hear, oh, we have a population problem in this world? Well, there's too many people here. We can't sustain it.
That is a lie from the pit of hell. It goes against creation ordinance, but beyond that, number one, it's not true. If anything, we have a population decrease that's actually putting us in danger.
But if you listen to the thought leaders who are saying, oh, we're overpopulated, what is your solution then? And if you look at the course of even 20th century history, it's always leading to genocide. The destruction of humanity. In the 20th century alone, it is estimated that more than 100 million people have died because of genocide and regimes that promote genocide.
That's just in this last century alone, 100 million people. That's a lot of people. But even beyond that, even as the death penalty has softened, people are increasing in their murders.
There's no penalty for murder anymore, not including the tens of millions of children that have been killed through abortion. Even suicide is on the rise. Suicide.
When you have young people who just become so degraded and hopeless, and we tell them it's noble to take their own life, it's an attack on the Imago Dei. I'll tell you, all these teenagers and young children who are considering, I just want to go scoop them up and hug them and say, you're made for more than this. You're made in the image of God, and He has a plan for you to know Jesus Christ.
Listen, Christians are not pro-life because of political reasons. We value life for biblical reasons. In fact, God decrees capital punishment for murderers in Genesis 9-6 specifically for the purpose of deterring the unlawful taking of life.
Genesis 9-6 reads, "'Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed.' What's the reason? For in the image of God, He made man.'" God values humanity and human life so highly that those who would take a life have to give up their life as a deterrent. God has decreed that there is an inherent value to human life. We are not simply the product of evolution.
We're not just highly evolved animals. Again, we are the special creation of God, and we bear His image and likeness on the earth. And while the image of God has been marred by sin, attacked by Satan, the Bible also teaches us that the image of God, the Imago Dei, has been redeemed and perfected in Jesus Christ.
As you know, Jesus Christ is the person of the Trinity, Himself being fully God and fully man. And He came into the world wrapped in a human body. He took on the special creation that He made Himself, and He placed Himself inside the confines of that creation for a season.
And that very God whose image is reflected in humanity, Colossians 1-15 calls Jesus the image of the invisible God, the exact representation of His nature, Hebrews 1-3. And He came down into the creation to redeem us by His own blood. He subjected Himself to death on the cross, destruction of the Imago Dei, so that by His death He would satisfy the wrath of God that was against sinners.
But then He also rose again, the resurrection of the Imago Dei, redeeming the souls of those who believe on Him for life. But He does not just save our souls for eternity. When we submit to His lordship, He also heals our minds.
He heals our consciences, our thinking, our reasoning. I've seen this over and over again. I've even seen this in my own life.
Before Christ, I was not able to think and reason. Everything was distorted and marred by my sin, my nature, the flesh. But then God redeems you, and He begins to give you thoughts after His own heart that we understand, we can see clearly.
Over and over again, God redeems the conscience, He redeems the mind, He redeems the judgment. And in love, we begin to value and cherish other people. We don't want to harm them, we don't want to devalue them.
He redeems our purity, He redeems our sexuality, whereby we're dignified in our relationships. There's a reason that Christians hold to the sanctity of marriage. I'm not even talking about opposing homosexual marriage, I'm even talking about hookup culture and anybody who would destroy even heterosexual marriage.
It doesn't make a difference that God has marriage designed for a specific purpose because He upholds that sanctity. It values the other person, a husband and a wife who come together in that bond, God values that. And it's a place for both of them, husband and wife, to have the highest level of human flourishing within the confines of a godly marriage.
He doesn't do this to restrict us, He does it because He loves us. And He wants us to experience all that He has for us. Despite living in a sinful, fallen world, He does desire our happiness inside of that institution.
As we reject our fleshliness, as we put off our self-indulgent behaviors to harm our bodies, the Scriptures tell us that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. But above all, in Christ, we're able to see the glory of God in the face of Christ by faith. We worship and serve Him as our benevolent Creator, the One who has made us in His image, the One who saves us by Christ who is the incarnated image of God.
We need to remember, beloved, that God has done something special when He made us. That's not to elevate us to a place we don't belong, but rather it's for the purpose of our giving glory to God and saying, thank you, Lord. But even as we recognize our own inherent value, that we would change the way that we see other people, we would uphold other people.
Yeah, but this person's done this terrible thing or this person has this issue or this deformity or this whatever. Yes, but if they are created in the honor, let this truth change the way that we regard other people to hold them in higher esteem and to recognize that every single person who's made in the image of God, they also need the Savior of the world. They need to know Jesus Christ.
They need to hear the good news of salvation, that Christ can not only redeem them in their humanity, but He redeems them in eternity as well. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You.
We thank You for Your Word because these truths are so precious, O Lord, when we're living in a culture that just attacks humanity, that attacks Your hand, Your hand You work, that diminishes and derides and destroys and distorts humanity. But we see so many people who are held captive by this philosophy that degrades them, O Lord, where they don't understand. They're hurting so badly because they don't understand why they were made.
They don't understand who made them, their purpose, not only to live for Your glory, but to know Christ. So, Lord, I pray that You would help us to be the hands and feet, the mouthpiece that delivers the message that You've done something wonderful on the sixth day. You've made us in Your image and likeness.
You've made humanity, both male and female. You've created us to reflect Your glory. Thank You for this special work of creation.
We honor You. We glorify Your name in Jesus' name. Amen.