Clarity about Human Dignity

Genesis 1:26- Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness (not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness); and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”

The world’s common understanding of human dignity has been fractured. We have lost sight of the fundamental definition of what it means to be human. We no longer pause to reflect on our basic foundations. As we lose our grip on what it means to be humans with inherent dignity, uncertainty and confusion take over.

Our sense of what it means to be human needs restoration. The first step in the process involves recognizing that human dignity and meaning are objectively real. We are more than just chemically sophisticated machines, evolutionarily gifted animals, or cosmic pollution.

Jeremiah 17:9- The heart is deceitful above all things. And it is extremely sick, Who can understand it fully and know its secret motives?

Human preference alone is insufficient to undergird the true meaning of humanity. With the atheist we can ask, “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of (earthborn) man that You care for him?” (Psalms 8:4). Atheists and Christians alike can ponder what it means to be a human being with inherent dignity. But unlike the atheist, who receives no answer from the unfeeling universe that blindly spawned his/her existence, the Christian receives an honest yet hopeful answer from the God who made the very universe.

Matthew 15:19- For out of the heart come evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming).

Note: While telling us the truth about our sinfulness, Jesus also tells us about the dignity we have in being made in God’s image. Thus, our dignity transcends human opinion, and our hope lies beyond any mere human person. The cross is where human depravity and human dignity collide, where the contrasts of human existence find their resolution. It is where the historical reality of human evil and the historical reality of God’s intervention come together. 

A signal of the Bible’s credibility is the fact that it addresses the tension between humans being made in God’s image and humanity being sinful. Jesus’ incarnation not only holds the tension but ultimately resolves it. The intensity of Jesus’ suffering on the cross as our substitute shows the depth of our depravity. The fact that God, incarnate in Jesus, subjected Himself to that suffering in our place demonstrates our sublime value. The cross blends realism and optimism together.

Note: Each of us was created, but each of us is also still being written. The dignity we possess gives meaning to our actions. It gives meaning to our endeavors and aspirations. We are all God’s workmanship—poiema—poetry and our finishing stanza will be penned in the coming days’ time when all who have embraced Christ will be made new. That dignity is freely offered to us all. When the worldview concerning our dignity is put on the main stage, we can be confident in who we are because of who He is and stand against Satan’s subtle attack to break down the saints.

Ephesians 2:10- For we are His workmanship (His own master work, a work of art), created in Christ Jesus (reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used) for good works, which God prepared (for us) beforehand (taking paths which He set), so that we would walk in them (living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us).

Cultural confusion, a picture painted by Satan himself to distort the image of God; An

attempt to add another weight in order to wear down the saints, has blinded many. The work of the cross gives us a different picture, one of purpose, love, and grace. The current worldview against truth has been a weapon formed but surely will not prosper. When true identity is revealed, human dignity is valued as a treasure bought with a price.

1st Corinthians 6:20- You were bought with a price (you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own). So then, honor and glorify God with your

body.