The Value of Human Life

By Richard L. Pratt Jr. - Posted at Tabletalk Magazine:

Every human life is valuable because every human being is the royal image of God.

I once asked a group of Christians, “What are human beings?” Without hesitation, one man shouted, “Worthless sinners!” The entire group nodded in agreement.

I responded, “Of course, with the exception of Jesus, everyone is a sinner apart from God’s grace. Still, we have to ask ourselves, are people worthless to God? Should we feel that way about people?”

Often our first reaction is to disdain people because they are sinners. Yet, as far as we know, God’s first words about people were not, “Let us make man who will become a worthless sinner.” Rather, He said, “Let us make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26).

Most of us have heard this biblical theme before, but we seldom recognize how central it is in the Bible. From cover to cover, the Scriptures tell us about God, but they also tell us about the image of God. The Old Testament concentrates on God’s image in ancient Israel. The New Testament sums up the goal of the Christian life by calling us to “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God” (Eph. 4:24). The Apostle Paul even extolled Christ by calling him the “image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15). This theme is so pervasive in Scripture that it should be central in every Christian’s life.

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