Created in the IMAGE OF GOD...

Lev. 19:15: "You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness." As we continue our discussion on the sin of partiality, we focus upon various common manifestations of this gross error as seen within the general society--as well as within the context of our local churches.

"But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors" (James 2:9). The sin of partiality is enormously offensive to God, and represents a debasement of human life, which is created in the Image of God. Part 1 of this message reminds us that while there are legitimate distinctions amongst men, which are regulated by Scriptural admonitions and directives, these distinctive categories do not nullify the fact all men are created equal.

The dignity of man's existence is being undercut in many ways in our modern post-Christian culture. As we begin analyzing some of these broader, disturbing societal trends, we focus this week upon the matter of Crime & Punishment, Law & Order, Retributive Justice... and what God's Word has to say about it.

James 3:7-10 admonishes us not to curse that which was created in the image of God with our tongues. Employing the last six of the Ten Commandments (i.e., those dealing with how we treat our fellow man), we illustrate in this message how often we fail to honor the Image of God in our neighbors and thus debase the sanctity of human life on a daily, habitual basis.

Gen. 9:6: “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man." This is our second message on the Sanctity of Human Life--centering largely upon those provisions of the Rainbow Covenant (Gen. 9) which God, in His mercy, instituted to ensure that man's existence would not be as violent or chaotic as it had been prior to the Flood.

Our Founding Fathers, guided by bright star of Biblical revelation, affirmed the following: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Today, the west faces a crisis, rooted in its denial of the Creator and its denial of creation of Man in the Image and Likeness of God. In this message, we ponder what it means, specifically, to be created in the Imago Dei.