If you'll take your Bibles this morning, I'll have you turn to two passages, one in Genesis chapter 1, the other in Psalm 8. We're going to deal with Psalm 8 first. We'll be reading it first, I should say, and then we'll come back and look at what we're going to talk about this morning. We're looking at God's magnificent creation. This is the third week that we're dealing with that. This morning I want us to take a look at what is the value of human life. We looked at the sixth day of creation last week and we saw that on that last day the Lord created the animals, the land animals, but He created man. And we said we're going to come back and look at man because man is God's special creation. What is man? By man I'm referring to mankind. That what is man question is a question we find asked even in the scripture. In fact, we find the question asked in what is believed to be the earliest book of the Bible, and that's the book of Job. Job asked the question as he was struggling greatly before God and in the presence of his friends. as he was trying to understand the suffering that he was going through. And he said in Job 7 verse 17 and 18, he says, What is man that thou shouldest magnify him? Talking to God there. And that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him. And that thou shouldest visit him every morning and try him every moment. We also see King David ask the same question here in our text of Psalm 8. Let's read Psalm 8, and the psalmist said, he said, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who has set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I considered thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man, there's the question, what is man that thou art mindful of him and the Son of Man that thou visitest Him. For thou hast made Him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned Him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. We find King David mention again that same question Psalm 144 and verse 3 said, Lord, what is man that thou takest knowledge of him? Or the son of man that thou makest account of him? So this morning, I want us to consider some questions ourselves this morning. What are we that we should even be mindful of ourselves? We need to know What does it mean to really be a person? Who are we and where do we come from? Why are we? What is our purpose? Why did the Lord of all things, including life, see fit for us to be born into this world of His? Now I want you to think about this. The Lord saw fit for you to be born. not only here where you're at in this area of our country, or wherever you were born in whatever area, but also in the time in which you've been born. In fact, Mordecai reminded Esther that she'd probably been born for the time that she was in. And when we think about the times that we're in right now, These are some strange and difficult times. I think they're going to get a little bit more difficult a little down the road. I'll mention why here in just a little bit. The Lord had us born in the family that we were born and where we were born at the time that we were born for His purpose. Here's some other questions we might as well consider regarding the life of man, especially our life. What is your value? What is your value? What is your value to yourself? I hope you value yourself and know that, hey, look, the Lord gave me life, and he gave me that life for a purpose. You should value yourself. How about others? Do you value others? One of the sad tragedies of what sin has done in this world is it's caused us to not value other people. And that's what we're going to be talking about this morning. Talking about what's the value of a human life. Why is life not valued in our day? It's because of sin. It's what it's because of. And let me ask, what is your God-given purpose in this world? You know, if you miss out on finding God's purpose for your life, you're really going to miss out on what's best for your life. So where should we go to get the answers to such questions as these? Well, certainly not the philosophers or even the religionists that have concocted their own ideas. The Greek philosopher Socrates It's quoted as having said, the unexamined life is not worth living. Now at the time he said that, he was on trial. He's nearing his death. He was on trial for impiety and corrupting youth, and he died still searching for the answers. I believe he died without having found God and his life. How about we go to the one who is the source of life. and God left us answers in His infallible Word. And this morning, let's look at Genesis chapter 1, and we see that we, mankind is God's special creation, in verse number 26. Genesis 1, verse number 26, another we just touched on it last week, but, and I said we were gonna come back and take a look at, closer at this. Verse number 26, and God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, And over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image. That's important right there. And the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. All the other, that's created by somebody else. All the other things that people want to come up with these times. people, male and female. That's what He did. Verse 28, and God blessed them. Remember what we said about that word blessed last week? It's a creative word of power enabling them to do what He told them to do. God made it such that mankind could accomplish what God told them to do. God blessed them and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, every tree, and which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed. To you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the field, and to every fowl of the air, and to every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life. I have given every green herb for meat, and it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, talking about everything he made in the six days of creation. God looked at everything, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Now let me challenge you to reflect on your value as a human being as revealed God's Word. I pray that you become fully aware of who you are, and why you are here, and that you seek to fulfill your real purpose in life. And that is, your real purpose is what God's purpose is for you. Our real purpose is not what we manufacture for ourselves. We're good about making plants, and I'm all for planting. That's great. but don't leave God out of your plans. You should want to know, is God okay with the direction that I'm headed in my life? I hope you leave here today with a better understanding of these things and with a deep desire to fulfill God's purpose for your life and to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your God-given life is most certainly worth living. I hope that you know that. Your life is worth living. I've just got two points this morning. I've got several sub points, but two main points. Number one, what is the value of human life from mankind's perspective? Let's look at it from mankind's perspective. The value of human life from mankind's perspective has diminished, especially over the generation that we have lived in. We, I'm including myself. and what I have witnessed during my 68 years living on this earth. And it's been diminished over the generation and it continues to be diminished. What has been the cause of this diminishing? Well, I first noticed it when I was in elementary school. When I was in fifth grade, that is when things changed in the educational system. That's when things became more with the humanistic philosophy. Evolutionary teaching is something that is brought about by man. You will not find it in the Bible. In fact, you will not even find it in mankind until the 1800s when Charles Darwin made it popular. Evolutionary teaching. Now listen, our largely humanistic controlled and publicly funded education system teaches that evolution is a proven and established fact when true science has proven that it is not even scientifically possible. They'll agree it's not scientifically possible to do for life to just generate on its own, to have spontaneous generation. It's not possible. but we would rather not believe that a god created it instead. And so they teach lies. Even with all the world's leading paleontologists having to admit that there is no solid proof of man having evolved from extinct hominids, that it is still being taught as fact. Again, it has corrupted the thinking of a majority of a whole generation. It's corrupted them. I know I grew up in the system. I know what I'm talking about. I said fifth grade on, I had a seventh grade teacher when I was in junior high school. We had junior high back then, not middle school. I was in 7th grade, J. Macon Jr. High in Brunswick, Georgia, and I had a 7th grade English teacher that berated me and a Methodist pastor's son. His name was Mark Brewer. He and I were the only ones that took a stand that day. For what the Bible says that we're mankind is created and she Enjoyed in an English class. What does English have to do with with such a thing, but it took place and What I'm saying is it's purposely being done by humanists so evolutionary teaching is one thing that has devalued human life if we're just animals and then we don't have a God to answer to. That's gonna make things worse, isn't it? If you don't have a God to answer to, then you can just live like you want to. Live and let live, and live it up. Get all the gusto you want to out of life, because when you die, you die like a dog. Not a good philosophy, because when you leave this life, you're gonna wake up. And if you don't find the Lord Jesus Christ in your life, sadly you'll wake up in a bad place, in a place called hell. Evolutionary teaching. has been what has led to the devaluing of human life. Also, forsaking of churches, and by churches I'm talking about Bible-preaching churches. Now, there's all kinds of churches that are out there, and we know that churches have developed more into entertainment than anything else in our day. They just really are. The forsaking by many of organized church and public worship services. And when I'm saying forsaking, it's when you can be here, but you choose not to be. I'm not talking about if you're sick. I'm not talking about being providentially hindered. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about when you can be here. Forsaking means abandoning or deserting. It's a willful act and sadly we're seeing a lot more of it even among professing believers. The church has been and is being cast aside more and more even by some who would profess to have faith in God. So is it any wonder that a biblical worldview, which is what we teach here, what we preach, because that's what the Bible says, okay? The biblical worldview is being cast aside and it's being traded for a secular worldview that is guided by evolution. Because many look to the world, you know, think about it. If you cast aside biblical worldview, go with the secular worldview, where are you going to get your purpose, your hope, and your answers to life's questions? It's not going to be found in the world, I can tell you that. Taking God's view out of the equation and replacing it with the world's view opens one up to a wrong view. of human life. And that leads to a devaluing of human life. Here's the third thing. Not only evolutionary teaching and forsaking of Bible teaching and preaching in churches, but blurring of right and wrong. Blurring of right and wrong. Who are those at fault? Well, many elected and appointed government officials are guilty So are the lame, I call them the lame street media, the lame street media, the social media, and many others have blurred and continue to blur the lines of right and wrong. All of these influences as well as others could, we could mention, have contributed to or caused the declining value of human life. Now, what has been the effect? Well, I say that the scripture is very clear. When you call good evil an evil good, Isaiah 5 verse 20, it brings forth woe. And we have woe during our time because of these things. What's been the effect? Well, we have the woe of increased violence and conflict. While there has been violence and conflict ever since sin entered the world, it has escalated and the value of human life has been eroded. Human life's getting cheaper and cheaper, the way it's viewed by many in the world. What about the woe of erosion of moral and ethical standards? Darwinism is used to justify eugenics and other practices that devalue certain groups of people, like children in the womb. Children in the womb are not valued anymore. When I was born, the child in the womb was safe. They were safe from harm. Children in the womb, the disabled, the elderly, We're getting to a time now where it would not surprise me that you get to a certain age and say, okay, you're not useful anymore. We're going to do away with you. You say, I don't think that's going to come. You just wait. Give it time. If the Lord doesn't come back soon, it's going to be that way. It's already where the medical system is you know, trying to push us out of the arena, those of us that are up in age a little bit, and erosion, the woe of the erosion of moral and ethical standards. Here's another woe, woe of psychological and social consequences. So many people that I talk to have feelings of hopelessness and despair, leading Sadly, a lot of times it leads to suicide. Why would somebody take their life because they don't value their life anymore? It's also what leads to mass murderers. Somebody, well, nobody knows me. I'm gonna make sure everybody knows me before I leave this earth. And so they go out and they commit mass murder, trying to make a name for themselves. As I was thinking upon the message this morning in my waking out of sleep, I do that a lot on Sunday morning as I'm waiting for a safe time to get up, which this morning was 5.30. But anyway, I was thinking about and praying for those that are being sold in human trafficking. Why is human trafficking a problem in our country and in our world? It's because life is devalued. It's devalued. There's a fourth woe, woe of legal and policy implications. Laws and policies are being changed because of the devaluation of human life, leading to practices such as abortion, euthanasia, being more widely accepted and implemented. That's the value of human life from man's perspective. What is the value of human life from God's perspective? Well, if we wanted to put it in short terms, we could say, just look at Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ sending His only begotten Son into the world to save us from our sin. shows how much value He places on us. It just does. Think about the obvious implication of in the beginning God created. And everything else that we've seen in Genesis chapter 1, We've seen that all of that is God's created reality, and it's completely dependent upon God. Everything God created is dependent upon Him. Our very existence is totally dependent on both the purpose and desire of our Creator. But notice, if you will, that God's Word tells us that we were created differently than any other creature. Differently than any other creature. God took a little bit of extra time with us in that day. Look at chapter 2 verse 7. And the Lord God formed a man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. That makes us different than any other creature. Scripture distinctly says and reveals that we have been created in God's image after His likeness. Now what does it mean to be created in the image of God and after His likeness? Well that word image means a representation, a likeness. Five times this word is used in scripture of man being created in the image of God. We actually read it when we read Psalm 8 and verse number 5, and we see and understand that mankind being made in God's image is not speaking of just man's body. In fact, it's not speaking of the body at all. It was formed from the dust of the ground. But rather, God's image speaks of man's spiritual, intellectual, and moral likeness. We're unlike any other animal. Unlike any other animal. We know that mankind was damaged by the fallen to sin. That fall has affected man's body. That's why we get sick. That's why we die. That's why we have problems in this body. It's because of man's sin. Fall also affected man's intellect as well as his soul and spirit. Nevertheless, the psalmist David, the man who was after God's own heart, he wrote these words in Psalm 139 verse 14. And I want you to listen closely. He said, I will praise thee. He's talking to God. He said, I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well. Now, that was a man who knew nothing of a microscope. He knew nothing of cells that make up the body, knew nothing of molecules, nothing of atoms as we do today. Nevertheless, he knew that he was fearfully and wonderfully made. It doesn't take a, it doesn't take a scientist to see that. You ought to be able to look in the mirror and see what God has brought together in your body. and realize that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. In His limited knowledge, He knew that. Yet, we know that mankind was damaged by sin, but I like to say, but God. Amen. But God. But God sent His only begotten Son. on our behalf to show us how He values human life. Listen to these scriptures I'm going to read to you. You've got the handout there. You've got to look up later if you'd like to go check it out. But just for sake of time, I've got them printed out here and I want to read them to you. John 3.16, one of the first verses I memorized as a child. probably one of the most recognized verses in all of scripture. This is in John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. That's not my words, that's God's words. Ephesians 2 verse number 4 says, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. God sending His Son into the world is a kindness to us sinners. It just is kindness. He didn't have to do it, but He did it. Romans 8, excuse me, Romans 5, verse number 8. But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. There was no way we could be anything but a sinner. We couldn't commend ourselves before God in any way. The Lord committed His love toward us, even when we were unlovely. But God committed His love toward us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more than. Being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Listen, that spiritual and moral perfection that was in Christ And He was, spiritually and morally. He was perfect in every way. He was God the Son, God in the flesh. The Emmanuel, that's what Emmanuel means, God with us. And He was God in the flesh. And that spiritual and moral perfection that was in Christ, listen, will be made perfect in us who are in Christ when our salvation is complete. He said, I thought our salvation was complete. Well, we are saved. We're on our way to heaven. But the third part of our salvation, you're saved from the penalty of sin. Right now, we're being saved from the power of sin. We can have power over sin. But one of these days, we're going to be saved from the very presence of sin, and we will be made into the likeness of Jesus Christ. That image of God was intended to be reflected in us and in our relationships. Let's think about that for a minute. The image of God was intended to be reflected in our relationship with God primarily as spiritual beings. We know sin marred that, but praise God, Christ has reconciled us to God and restored that relationship through our faith in God. the gospel of Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection for our sins. In fact, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, Paul says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. The image of God was intended to be reflected also in our relationship with our fellow human beings. We know sin marred that as well, but in Christ he can help us be what we should be in those relationships as well. And let me have you turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. And those of us that are saved, we need to realize that the Lord has made it where we can be restored in a right relationship with fellow human beings. And he tells us how we are to relate in that relationship. Look at chapter four, verse number one through three, first of all, he says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. Here's how we're to walk, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace." Sadly, we're not long-suffering with each other the way we should be. We're just not. We don't forbear. We don't put up with other people. We get bent out of shape. We decide, well, you know, I'm just going to have an attitude about this. That's a sinful attitude, which God intended for us to not have. And with Christ in our life, we don't have to have it that way. I've got your notes there, chapter 5, it should be chapter 4, verse number 17. Chapter 4, verse 17, that this I say therefore in testifying the Lord that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. He's talking to a church here. He's talking to those that are saved. He said, don't walk the way you used to walk. Don't walk the way that other people around you are walking that don't know me. Look down at verse number 22. He says that you put off concerning the former conversation, talking about the old behavior, the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down on your wrath. Neither give place to the devil, that him that stole, steal no more. But rather let him labor, working with his hands a thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth it. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And here it is. And be ye kind one to another, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. See, the image of God was intended to be reflected in our relationship with our fellow human beings, especially brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm not going to take time to read it. Let me encourage you to read Colossians chapter number 3, verses 8 through 17 when you get home. You'll see a lot of the same verses that we just read there in chapter number 4. But let's go to the third thing here. The image of God was intended to be reflected not only in our relationship with God as spiritual beings, and with our fellow human beings, but also the image of God was intended to be reflected in our relationship with the other living and non-living part of creation that we call nature. That is, animals, plants, rocks, and minerals. We're being given dominion over those things. We can't properly represent God in the dominion of what He's given us if we're not in right relationship with Him. What'd you think about how it got in Noah's day? In Genesis chapter number 6, let me remind you what he says there. In Genesis 6, in verse number 11 and 12, it talks about the pre-flood world. It says the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." You know why they were corrupted? Because they didn't know the Lord. Why did the corruption get so bad? Because they didn't live in light of what God could have done in their lives. I want to draw things to a close here, but I want you to understand I reserve the right, the Lord directs, to come back and look at a little more detail of what it means when we say that we're made in the image of God and His likeness. But let me ask this in closing. Are you where you need to be in your life before God? Without Jesus, you can't say that you are. Without Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you're not where you need to be. But God sent His Son, Jesus, into this world because, listen, He values you. He values you. And He values me. Amen? And He values human life. He values your life and wants to restore you to what He intended for you to be. You can't even begin to be what God intended for you to be until you first know Christ and be made a new creature in Christ Jesus. We live in a fallen world, influenced heavily by sin and Satan, who's trying to press us into conformity to the godless world system around us. Without Jesus, not one of us stands a chance of not being pressed into that mold. But with Jesus, with Jesus' help, you can. Only Jesus can restore that image of God that He intended for us to both have and be. So listen, if you haven't come to Jesus, come to Jesus today. And if you do know Jesus, if you are saved already, But you're not where you need to be today. Well, why don't you do what you need to do to get back to Him today? Amen? Where He wants you to be, you can get back there. And He'll give you the help to get you back there. If you'll just look to Him. Let's pray. Father, we thank You today.