(2.) Women and Children First: The Sanctity of Life in God’s Image

(2.) Women and Children First: The Sanctity of Life in God’s Image.

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. It is immortals whom we joke with, marry, snub and exploit.” (C S. Lewis).

The Sanctity of Human Life. Every human person carries God’s holy fingerprint. Therefore all of human life is sacred, and we all participate one way or another in the sanctity of human life. Every person we see is sacred, set apart to represent and reflect a holy God. That person we love to hate is sacred. And so is each of us. We all have a sacred center that can never be fully erased, since we all bear the image of God. Since we are all image-bearers, let us treat each other accordingly. Let’s not limit our perspective of someone to that person’s chosen identity. Instead, each of us can certainly choose to recognize the central identity in each person, the fact that each person is created to resemble God. Let us treat each human humanely, as an image-bearer worthy of respect, empathy and compassion. God is saying to each of us… Every person is sacred to me, you are not to despise, disrespect or mistreat my handiwork! Every person you don’t like, or who is doing something you don’t like; every person you don’t understand, or you don’t want to understand; every person you look down on simply because she is beneath you… All of them have something in common: Every person is made in the image of God, a hand-crafted original, breathing with the very breath of the Creator, possessing a dignity above the rest of creation; Each person is individually loved by a personal God, who in fact died for that person. God in the flesh would have sacrificed himself for that person if s/he was the only living person on earth.

The Qualities of Being Made in God’s Image. Since we are all created to resemble our Creator and to remind each other of His presence in the world, in what ways are we similar to Him? What does it mean for us to be image-bearers?

1. We each have the freedom to live and move and have our being. As image-bearers, God has given us the freedom to reflect His nature responsibly. We are equipped to be creative, and to think with reason, using our imaginations and our reason with the mind God has given us. Reflecting His image, we are intended to exercise our God-given conscience, discerning right from wrong, wise from unwise. As image-bearers, we have been gifted with the ability to make moral judgments, operating within the context of a moral universe. We have been given the sacred duty of caring for and managing God’s astounding and beautiful creation. A part of our job description as human beings is to be good stewards of God’s created order, including each other.
2. We each have a mission and purpose. God doesn’t just hang out in the universe, a divine blob who is content to merely exist for no apparent reason. As God’s image, we know that our lives have a profound purpose and reason for being. We are intended to represent God’s presence in the world. We are God’s ambassadors, His representatives, who are intended to duplicate His work and be His apprentices in His workplace, the world. As image-bearers, we are gifted with what is needed to resemble Christ, who is the original version of the Trinity’s image. We were created to be living reminders of God, displaying God’s nature in Christ. We were created to imitate the attributes of God’s character, to mirror God’s very essence. As image-bearers, our destiny is to continue clarifying God to His world, to live into His likeness.
3. We each are made to have relationships. Made in the Trinitarian image, we were created to be relational. The Holy Trinity is an eternal, intimate community of Three, a divine fellowship that is everlasting. So made in that image, we find fulfillment and satisfaction in community, in relationship. To be fully human, we need to be in meaningful relationship with others. We will be fully alive when we love others and are loved by others. If God is love, and He is, then being made in His image means we are people of love. Each of us is intended to reveal the basic form of what His personal love looks like. So we go out of our way to resemble the shape of His grace, which will enable the world to understand and experience the substance of God’s love.
4. We each are eternal beings. Our Creator God is an eternal being, with no beginning and no end. God has no birthday, because He has always been in existence. Made in His image, we resemble His everlasting nature. We each have been gifted with our own unique piece of eternity. Each human being has been given a soul and spirit that reflects the essence of God’s being. Each of us is not only a physical being having a spiritual experience, but also a spiritual being having a physical experience. We each are living souls, talking spirits, body and soul tightly woven in a way that can’t be torn apart. We each breathe the very breath of the Holy Spirit. We have an indivisible part of us that is spiritual in nature, because that is what God is. So each person is sacred, each person has a holy center in his being that sets us apart from the rest of all creation. His image in us means that we reveal the general shape of His eternal status, His everlasting existence.
5. We each resemble the shape of Jesus. “For He knew all about us before we were born, and He destined us from the beginning to share the likeness of His Son.” (Romans 8:29, TPT). To be made in God’s image means that we are His shadows created to look like the prototype, the very Son of God. God’s image is Christ, and we are created to look like Him. Yes, when mankind was created, God had Jesus in mind. Why? Because Jesus was the perfect image of God for all eternity, the exact representation of God, the divine likeness of the Father (2 Cor. 4:4; Col 1:15; Heb. 1:3). So Christ is the image in which we were made. As Father Reardon puts it, “Christ is the original meaning of humanity.” Man and woman were created in the image of Christ. Both genders are gifted with the dignity that comes with being image-bearers of Jesus Christ. Both genders have the honor of being made in the likeness of God Himself.
6. We are Not Our Own. An important aspect of being image-bearers is the matter of ownership. We carry God’s imprint. We bear His brand, His identifying mark that means that we are not our own. Self-autonomy is a myth, because every person belongs to God. We are rightfully His. God in Christ is our ultimate authority, because we are engraved in His image. We all owe our allegiance to the Holy Trinity, in whose likeness we are made, in whose image we exist.

“What is the mission of man? To be a reminder of God. As God is compassionate, let man be compassionate. As God strives for meaning and justice, let man strive for meaning and justice. If we are created in the image of God, each human being should be a reminder of God’s presence.” (Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel).

Eternal Virtues and Gospel Values. The most astounding fact in the history of the universe is that our Creator God loves each of us whether or not we believe in Him. The heart of our Creator is purely pro-life, He wants what’s best for us. God has tried to make this obvious through history in many ways, but one important way is that He has shared with mankind would it takes to make us flourish. God’s common grace, His love for all, has laid down the law, so to speak, about what will make true community happen and for any society to thrive. God has provided direction as to what we need for our own well-being through His system of virtues.  Virtues are qualities of moral excellence, goodness, character, integrity. Virtues are the guidelines set up by God to enable humans to live together successfully. A society full of people without integrity is like a parking lot without clearly marked parking spaces. A culture containing people without trustworthy goodness is a runaway train without guardrails on each side. A community full of people without solid character is a busy intersection without stop lights. A civilization trying survive without moral excellence is a sports field without established boundaries within which to play. Any society that doesn’t have commonly accepted virtuous guidelines is doomed to collapse, like a house of cards. Every law-abiding culture is basing their life together on virtues, on the people knowing the difference between right and wrong, good or bad, the behaviors needed to sustain it. Every civilization depends on the virtuous living, the civilized behavior, of those who make up the community. God has offered to all of us the moral guidelines needed to flourish and live together in peace. His Word states  these guidelines very clearly a number of times. It’s no wonder the Ten Commandments, with its focus on worshipping the one true God and living in honesty, integrity, honoring parents and authority, respecting human life and sexual purity, remains in the Supreme Court courtroom and on many state capitol buildings and federal court houses across the U.S. Civic law, the assurance of a pro-life society, is based on those words to Moses. Time and again God tips His hand when it comes to virtues and goodness. Jeremiah offered his choices for the necessary virtues by mentioning mercy, justice and righteousness (Jer.9:24). Prophet Micah quoted the Lord as being delighted when we demonstrate mercy, execute justice, and walk humbly before Him (Micah 6:8). St. Paul lists some virtues that deserve our focus when he lists truth, honor, reverence, purity, justice, kindness, and graciousness (Phil. 4:8). Paul also listed the three Theological Graces in the virtues of Faith, Hope and Agape Love in 1 Corinthians 13. The Greek philosophers decided to produce a list of the classic virtues of courage, wisdom, justice and moderation. Virtues like that discovered in the Bible or inspired in history, provide the moral compass for any society that wants to maintain itself and enable its people to live in peace together. Sooner or later, though, all these qualities of moral excellence are intended to point to the Source of all that goodness, our Creator God. Everything virtuous is a bubbling stream of live-giving water leading us back to the stream’s source, the eternal goodness of God. Sooner or later, any society that truly wants to help its people to not merely survive but to thrive, to reach their full potential and find ultimate self-fulfillment, must drink from the river of Love, the only human who lived a completely virtuous life, Jesus Christ. God’s Word is clear… All the virtues are summed up in love. It is love that binds together all the virtues:

“Robe yourself in the virtues of God, clothed in heartfelt compassion as you seek to understand others, showing kindness and humility, with gentleness and patience. Be even-tempered and content with second place. Be quick to forgive an offense, and forgive as quickly and completely as our Master Jesus has forgiven you. Bear with each other, tolerating each other’s weaknesses. Love is supreme, so let love flow through each of these virtues. For whatever else you put on, wear love, the hallmark of maturity. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment.” (Colossians 3:12-14, MSG).