Every person, regardless of ability, is created in the image of God. And thus every life is valuable! But you can be created in the image of God and still be lost. The most important pro-life message you can share is the saving message of Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
This Sunday we honor the Sanctity of Human Life, and I’ve got a couple of thoughts to share.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and as you well know, this Sunday is the day that we celebrate the image of God in all of us. Every human being bears the image of our great Creator God and that includes people with significant disabilities. It’s a biblical truth that has its roots in Genesis 1:26. “Let us make man in our image,” God says and, oh, what a beautiful image it is, albeit marred and stained by sin. It’s what we tell people who have cognitive disabilities, such as young people with Down syndrome or other developmental delays. We want these young people with disabilities to feel good about themselves; to gain confidence that, despite their mental and physical challenges, they are made in God’s image. And that’s good news. But good as it is, it’s not good enough to save.
I was reminded of this in a recent article by Dr. John Piper. He was asked about the best way to share the Gospel with people who have Down syndrome. And of course, yes, we want them to know they are image-bearers of our wonderful God. That’s a high and glorious truth. But it is not a particularly hopeful one. John Piper puts it this way; he says, “Every human is made in the image of God, which means that God’s enemies are created in his image, unrepentant rebels are created in God’s image, people who are under God’s wrath are created in God’s image, people that God sends to hell for unbelief and disobedience were made in his image. Being in the image of God is not a [particularly] hopeful condition. To focus on helping people feel created in God’s image is not a saving effort…there is a spectacularly higher [and] more hopeful message. [Because] when we offer [Jesus] Christ, we [offer] people to be, not the created image of God, but the recreated child of God — a [whole] new creation in Christ. We don’t offer the experience of a doomed and defaced image. We offer Spirit-given conformity to the image of God’s Son, wrought by the Spirit.”
Wow, do I love that. I treasure those words. When we offer Christ to a person with significant intellectual impairment – or any impairment – we are inviting people to be not the created image of God, but the recreated child of God. And that is what the Gospel offers to all people, whether they have a disability or not. And it’s a great message to remember as we think about the sacredness, the sanctity of life. Yes, we can save children from being aborted; yes, we can work for the safety of elderly people against abuse in nursing homes; yes, we can rescue despairing people with severe illnesses from physician-assisted suicide. These are all wonderful goals – and practical ones – as we take the truths about sanctity of life and make them practical in the everyday lives of people. But the real pro-life message is the saving message of Jesus Christ. Because you can be created in the image of God and still be lost for all of eternity.
So with Sanctity of Human Life Sunday coming up this weekend, join us at Joni and Friends in celebrating Jesus – the Prince of Life, the Word of Life, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the Resurrection and the Life. Because it’s through him that we can become recreated children of God. Hopeful words for you today from all of us at Joni and Friends where we celebrate the saving life of Jesus. God bless you today, and thanks for listening to Joni and Friends!
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