The Scriptures teach us that, in some ways, the holiness and sacredness of our God has been imparted to all of humanity, so that every single human life is holy and sacred and every single human life has divine dignity. When our God put his image on us or in us, we became beings of eternal value. The reason God considers murder to be so heinous is that God made humans in his image (Genesis 9:5-6). The brother of our Lord Jesus and others of the apostles forbid us from speaking ill of others or abusing others with our words because all people have been made in God’s likeness (James 3:9). There is something so valuable about human beings that not only can they not be murdered physically, they can’t even be cursed verbally, based on their divine worthiness as image bearers of God. The precious image of God in or on all people means all people have the divine right to not be mistreated or harmed.

The Bible does not limit these prohibitions to only good people or God’s people or people like us. Regardless of their record or character, all human beings have a heavenly-ordained glory and significance to them because God created them and he loves them.

Nicholas Wolterstorff illustrates this beautifully in his book “Justice: Rights and Wrongs.” He imagines a foreigner, a guy who knows nothing about American history, being confused to learn that the Mount Vernon estate in Virginia is preserved and designated as a national monument. Mount Vernon is revered by Americans as a place of great significance and value. But it doesn’t make sense to this guy because Mount Vernon is small and plain and, as far as historical Virginia plantation houses, has very little to offer in architectural merit or beauty. Why do Americans love this house so much and treat it with so much honor and respect?

Because this is George Washington’s house. The founder of our country lived here. He owned this house.

Oh. That explains it. The physical merits and quality of the house don’t matter. Since we treasure the owner, we honor his house. What the house looks like or how it functions as a house is irrelevant. Because it was precious to him, and we revere him, it is precious to us.

So we treasure each and every single human being, all of them, as a way of showing respect and honor for their owner and Creator.

Peace,

Allan