Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. — Genesis 1:26-27
Man and woman were made in the image of God. The Latin phrase is “The Imago Dei.” Because of that every life is precious from the unborn to the disabled to the older members in our society. Not so in Bloomington, Indiana in 1982.
A landmark case that drew national attention involved the birth and death of a baby, known only as “Baby Doe” in a Bloomington, Indiana Hospital. Baby Doe was a little boy with Down Syndrome who also had a hole between his windpipe and his esophagus, which could have been corrected surgically, but if not corrected would be fatal. The parents of the baby decided to let the infant die rather than face a lifetime of being caregivers for what they thought would be a severely mentally retarded child. The hospital couldn’t just put the child to sleep as you would a cat or a dog, so they sought the courts sanction to allow the baby to starve to death by not performing the surgery. The death of that tiny infant tore at the hearts of all Americans because the child was undeniably a live human being — one lying helpless before the eyes of the doctors and the eyes of the nation. The real issue for the courts was not whether Baby Doe was a human being. The real issue was whether to protect the life of a human being who had Down Syndrome, who would probably be mentally handicapped. The judge let Baby Doe starve and die and the Indiana Supreme Court sanctioned his decision.
The image of God. The imago Dei. What does this mean in contrast to all of God’s other creation, both environmental and living? Being created in the image of God means more than having certain abilities and attributes. It means that humans are the images of God, regardless of what they can or cannot do. This image bearing of the Creator is a privilege extended uniquely to humans. No other “creation” of God can make this claim.
In God’s eyes, we are each endowed with a touch of Himself. Each human carries within his or her being the eternal, holy breath of God, the Creator. Therefore, each human life exists as an expression of God and His character. We are not merely flesh and blood like the animals. We are all image bearers of the living God. Since we embody God’s image, the sacredness of our lives, and the dignity it demands, is based on something beyond our characteristics or abilities — it is rooted in the essence of God Himself.
All men, women and children created in the imago Dei should be respected, regardless of their mental capacity, physical ability, faith (or absence of faith), social position, skin color, or even size, which extends even to the very smallest member of the human race — and the most defenseless — the human embryo. Remember that all human life, from beginning to end is precious, because that life is created in the image of God. Maranatha!
Pastor Don
