God Made in His Image

Today, on Sanctity of Life Sunday, I’d like to focus on the sacredness of human life in relation to Genesis 1:27– “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

I invite us to take a moment to consider this wonderful truth that all human lives are sacred. We were created in the divine image of God…all humans—no matter how big or how small.

The other day, as I was talking with our six-year-old son—the smallest person in our family—we were discussing what makes something important. My husband stepped in to help explain that something’s size doesn’t determine its value, and he used my wedding ring as an example. The diamond, he said, is tiny—one of the smallest things we own—yet it is among the most valuable. Not simply because of what a jeweler might say it’s worth, but because of what it represents. The small stone carries meaning far beyond its size. In the same way, fundamental human worth is not grounded in physical strength, intelligence, productivity, independence, or social influence. It does not increase with competence or diminish with vulnerability.

In an article from Focus on the Family titled “Made in the image of God: What does it mean and why does it matter?” The author, Subby Sztersky, mentions that to be created in the image of God is to have value. He observes that “Everything in the cosmos has value because it was made by God. But since human beings bear God’s image, we possess an innate value beyond anything else in the created order. This is why every human life, regardless of its relative potential or accomplishments, is sacred from the moment of conception to the moment of death.”

Human value is God-given, not earned or assigned, because we are made in God’s image. For that reason, every human life—no matter how small, dependent, or unseen—possesses a dignity and significance that cannot be measured or taken away.