The Value of You

Have you ever been depressed? Ever doubt your worth? After falling miserably and flatly upon your face, do you often wonder why you are even here? Here as in on this earth, and in this time. Are you an accident of natural selection and are meaninglessly wondering through life? These may seem absurd or raw questions, but they are from postulations and conclusions of modern Atheism. Some feel that they have simply evolved here and yet I feel that I am here because of a Creator who created the very first man--Adam. 

Man and animal are creations of God. Man however transcends the animal by being a creation with the image of God upon him/her. Man is different from the animals in many ways. In fact, the Garden of Eden and the environment for man was made especially for him to examine and learn from. God gave a mandate for man to have dominion over the earth and all of the animals. It is a God given command to conquer and rule the earth (See Genesis 1:28). The KJV uses the term "subdue" which implies a degree of sovereignty, control, and direction over nature. Man then is not to merely relish and exhaust the creation but also to advance civilization and regulate natural forces.

He is not an evolution of a lower species deriving from chance or random natural selection. Man alone has the capacity for self-consciousness, speech and the spark of morality. We are forced to recognize a metaphysical dimension that is about the human person. As humans (matter) we know four dimensions by way of our five senses (length, height, width, time). Today however some cosmologists suggest there could be 10 or even almost 30! To say that God does not exist is to accept and embrace one's own arrogant conclusions, drawn from incomplete data! In spite of the fall of Adam and Eve man still has this quality in some sense. In this way man is “in the image of God” apart from regeneration. He is made more Christ-like in salvation by faith and is being spiritually transformed and re-birthed. The value of you does not simply end or begin at a certain age, that is why euthanasia is despicable but popular in Atheist societies (communism).

Man is not divine but has intrinsic value that transcends that of anything on earth or in our Universe. It certainly transcends other created things. You and I have this value! The Hebrew terms selem (image) and demut (likeness) are basically synonymous terms. Early church fathers, like Iraenaeus, uniformly distinguished these terms but both terms point to spiritual qualities shared by both God and man. When God became a man, He began to exist in a dual manner as God who was here and yet God who still transcended as the Creator God of the Universe. Jesus knew and recognized this distinction since He was indeed God who had genuinely become a man. He recognized that God was also somewhere other than Himself. This act gives even more value and meaning to each and every human life that is born and enters into history and time. Indeed in an awful world there is a value and gem in the mind of God called man! You and me. 

Sin is an awful stain upon man since it is a denigration to the very image of God that all of man shares. This punishment is severe and yet by the power of the Holy Spirit we are to be transformed away from such stains. Sin however creeps into the believer as well. The sin then is a greater blight against this value and the enhancement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Sin has always been seen in a negative and positive sense. Hebrews 11:25 suggests that sin has pleasure in it, but only for a season or a short time (NIV). Some Calvinist even believe that sin and evil are the creations of God. Sin however is the ultimate blight upon man's value! God does not wish to devalue His own image, that is why He has given us Jesus Christ! Man then only enjoys his sin, much like human gluttony enjoys the taste of another morsel. A morsel he does not need. 

God cared so much about his Creation that He would come to offer peace and reconciliation between Himself and fallen man. By grace He came and died for us as a genuine man (Son of God) and took upon Himself the sin of the whole world. We have the option of standing in Judgement with His righteous merit, or our own pitiful selves. Our trust and obedience to Him and His Word will grant us peace and reconciliation and then are becoming spiritually transformed until we are glorified and meet with Him when He comes, a second time.