God said to us in Genesis 1 that he created humanity in his own image. That concept is broad, and has led to much speculation about all it entails. There are things about humanity which image or depict the attributes of God, displaying his glory for all to see. But what parts those are are a bit mysterious and sometimes debated.
There is one way in which the image of God is on humanity that may not be as commonly recognized among modern thinkers, but which is helpful in understanding the value of life and what it means to destroy life. It has to do with the image of God as a mark of his authority.
For us who live in the west, we do not often think about the image of a ruler as a sign of his authority. But let your mind go back to the days of empires such as Rome or Grease. It was common in those days for a conquering ruler to have a statue of himself erected in a land. Those who saw that statue knew whose land it was and under whose laws they were expected to live.
If you have ever read Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring or seen the movie, you may recall a scene in which the fellowship, traveling by boat down the great river, passes by the statues of ancient kings. Statues such as those on the river were there to let travelers know that they had entered the realm of Gondor. Once you passed those statues, you were subject to the laws of the kings of the land, the kings whose images the statues were.
A more modern depiction might be posters or statues of powerful leaders. Sadly, it seems we have only seen this used by dictators such as the late Fidel Castro of Cuba or Saddam Hussein of Iraq, or living dictators like Kim Jong-Un of North Korea. Either way, those who saw posters of those men’s faces or walked past their statues knew under whose government they were walking.
Consider what it would mean to deface one of those statues. Consider what it would mean to rip down one of their posters. Consider what was being said in Iraq when American soldiers pulled down a statue of Saddam. Or, if you remember Tolkien’s The Two Towers, consider what it meant when two of the travelers found that the enemy forces had pulled the head off of one of the statues of the ancient kings and scrawled evil things on it.
When we topple a statue or when we tear down a poster, we are trying to say that we cast-off the authority of the one that poster images. When we graffiti an image of a ruler, we express our disrespect and utter rejection of that ruler’s right to rule. It is a powerful, emotional, passionate statement that says that the ruler is not our ruler.
Now, back to a biblical mindset. Humanity is created in the image of God. People demonstrate by our very existence, that we live in the domain of our Creator, the King of kings. Like a statue is an image or like a poster is an image, humanity is a collection of living images which are to display that the Lord reigns.
What then would be the evil of destroying such an image? See what God said to Noah in Genesis 9.
Genesis 9:5-6 – 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.
After the flood, God gave Noah a very clear pronouncement that the death penalty would apply for one who murders another human. What was God’s rationale given for such a punishment? God said that this is the way things will be because people are created in God’s image.
To attack another human, then, is an attack on the very image of God. To kill a human is to attack God himself, not because we are little deities or any sort of pantheistic notion, but because we are created in his image. Just as to topple a statue of a ruler is to attack the ruler, to hurt another human is to attack the Lord in whose image the person is made. (Note that this is a discussion of criminal violence and murder, it is not an argument on the ethics of just war theory.)
Christians, how should this all impact our worldview? Part of being human is to be a representation of the authority of the Lord. That is true for you, and it is true for every other human on the face of the earth, whether those people agree with the claims of Christ or not. The fact that humans are created in the image of God, and the fact that taking a life is a statement about the authority of God himself, must impact how we value human life. Every human is made in God’s image: the healthy, the sick, the young, the old, the unborn, the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, those of all ethnicities, those of all backgrounds, those struggling with all sins. We must have, in our mindsets and actions, a respect for every human life as a way to respect the Lord whose image every human life bears.
Should this impact our ethics on issues like abortion? Of course. But it should also make us treasure and show mercy and kindness to the young, pregnant girl who is frightened for her very future. Should this make us oppose the international embrace of euthanasia? Of course. But it should also make us be the first to volunteer to help with hospice care to help the dying have the dignity and comfort that someone bearing God’s image should be given. It should make us value a young black man in a dangerous neighborhood and the police officers who are supposed to protect those neighborhoods, including that young man.
We should be a genuinely pro-life people because we are a pro-God and pro-God’s-image people. Being pro-life means we most certainly protect and value all human life from conception to natural death. And, being pro-life includes loving our neighbors, caring for the hurting, and sharing the gospel of Christ so that all people made in God’s image might actually live out the glory of God in their lives as the Lord commands.
Pastor Travis Peterson 