One of the most significant sentences ever uttered in human history is found in the very first chapter of the Bible: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).

With this one verse comes an entire foundation upon which our lives are built, answering life’s most important questions. What does it really mean to be human? What does it mean to be male and female? What is our purpose in life? Where do I find value and significance?

These are questions being asked and answered wherever we look today. People are desperate to find the most rewarding, fulfilling, and significant life, but without the foundation of Genesis 1 we are left to define it for ourselves. What has come from that is a culture that can’t explain what it really means to be human, or why humans have inherent value and dignity. The casualties to this have been massive and widespread. Individuals are hurt, confused, and lonely. The youngest among us, the unborn children, are discarded as inconveniences. The oldest among us, the elderly, are cast out of sight and mind once their perceived value has faded.

If ever we needed evidence of our culture’s confusion over where humans find value, we need look no further than the growing sentiment to allow the legalized taking of life at both ends of the spectrum, whether the youngest (abortion) or the oldest (assisted suicide). Ours is a time where there is a crisis of identity. What gives a human being value?

To find the answer, we need to journey to Genesis 1, where we learn this world-changing truth: we are, each one of us, made in the image of God. There is a theological term for this, from the Latin, called the imago Dei – meaning image (imago) of God (Dei).

If we could understand what this means, and if we could recover an understanding of humanity in line with how God sees us, it would change our lives.

So this month, we are going to be doing a brief three-week study on the imago Dei, seeing how the image of God shows us the value of life from beginning to end.

We will start with Genesis 1, exploring what it really means to be made in the image of God. Here, my prayer is that you understand why your life has significant value and purpose because you have been made – wonderfully, purposefully, lovingly made – by God.

Then we will consider how this concept of the imago Dei shapes the way we view the unborn, and how the church must be ardent defenders of the value of unborn children.

Finally, we will consider how the imago Dei shapes the way we view aging, and how the church must celebrate the value of those who feel their purpose has run its course.

Throughout this series, my prayer is that we will all understand just a bit more all that God intends for us to be and do as human beings, to His glory and for our everlasting good.