Image Bearer!

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image,  according to Our likeness, so that they will have    dominion 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.” Gen. 1:26

When God created the world, He left the best for last. God created man in His image. The Bible tells us that God is not flesh and blood but Spirit ( John 4:24). The Bible tells us that we are made in His image in that we have a soul that lives for all of eternity. God has given us the ability to reason and choose, which separates us from   the animals that God gave us dominion over. Animals  are incapable of sin because they have not been given     a soul. Animals act out of instinct. There is no right or wrong in their world.

The sad truth is that many people believe there is no difference between the animals that inhabit our world and the people God created in His image. Peta states that humans are wrong to think they are superior to animals. They refer to that thinking as “Speciesism.” From the   Peta web page, I found the following definition, “Speciesism is a misguided belief that one species is more important than another. This toxic mindset is   deeply ingrained in our society, and it results in all      kinds of negative consequences”.

The result of this kind of thinking is the devaluing of human life. The idea that a baby in the womb is not life and can be killed up to birth directly results from the devaluing of life made in the image of God. Just this    past May, a  23-year-old Belgian woman who survived a deadly Islamic State bombing of a Brussels airport opted to die by euthanasia after years of mental health issues stemming from the attack.

The euthanasia was approved by two psychiatrists earlier this year after she struggled for years with anxiety and depression. This happens when men and women believe there is no difference between men and animals. They deny the Creator and worship the creation. When one can come to the belief that there is no God and we evolved from a mud puddle than it easy to see why they believe that man is no different from an animal and neither have a soul. Do you have to ask yourself how this could ever happen in the world?

But God did create man in His image and gave us a soul that would live forever. God also created us to live as His image bearers on the earth. As Christian men and women, this means that we follow Christ and live our faith daily. Each of us must self-examine our daily lives and see if we are living lives representing the One who saved us.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark