To sit alone with one’s thoughts and contemplate everything that is, was, and will be is
a beautiful part of being human. i This creative imagination is an aspect of what it
means to be made in the image of God. i To be a living human being means to be a
representation of God Himself and it is “the most important reality about what it
means to be a human being.”[1] Although this image is “marred in fallen human
beings”[2] it can not be erased because it simply is. i The dignity that comes with this
creative state of being comes from a place of love and His attributes that come from
an unmarrable character that includes holiness, faithfulness, goodness, mercy, grace,
love, and even wrath.[3] i These are the attributes that make humanity flourish
because they were what our genes were made to inhabit and reflect to each other in
the day-to-day. i These things are the beliefs that satisfy a human soul, but why? i
Without knowing it, every human benefits from these qualities of the Lord and they
are ultimately what we strive to achieve. i Evolutionary ethics do not explain the reason
why these attributes and personality traits are good and right. They provide no reason
to grasp onto besides the immediate gratification of choosing to act. The most
compelling reason for which to reject evolutionary ethics is because it fails to explain
why “value came from value.”[4] The dignity in which human beings desire to be
treated with and reflect comes from the one who is perfect. i “Be perfect, therefore, as
your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48, NIV).[5] i To reflect these qualities in the
world, they have to start from somewhere that is solidly and unchangingly good and
secure. i God’s moral purity means that He Himself if completely free from “anything
wicked or evil”[6] and He is the instigator or the “engineer”[7] of everything that
reflects purity. i He is the “pioneer and perfector” with the selfless character to endure
the cross that humanity could stand before Him cleansed from sin and shame (Heb
12:2, NIV). i If one were able to simply do what was good and right without “strong
moral impulse”[8] the law would have been enough to cleanse humanity from sin. i
Instead, God set in motion from the very beginning a way to live that flowed from love
for Him and one that was meant to be multiplied into others (Gen 1:28, NIV). i
WORD COUNT: 484
[1] Heath Lambert,
A Theology of Biblical Counseling
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
2016), 189.
[2] Ibid., 188.
[3] Ibid., 123-131.
[4] Robert McQuilkin and Paul Copan,
An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the
Way of Wisdom
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press Academic, 2013), 181.
[5] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical references are in the New International Version.
[6] Millard J. Erickson,
Christian Theology 3rd Edition,
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Academic, 2013), 256.
[7] Robert McQuilkin and Paul Copan,
An Introduction to Biblical Ethics.,
180
[8] Ibid., 180.
Bibliography
Erickson, Millard J.
Christian Theology 3rd ed
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
Lambert, Heath.
A Theology of Biblical Counseling.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
2016.
McQuilkin, Robert and Paul Copan.
An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the
Way of Wisdom.
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press Academic, 2013.
Jessica Klootwyk
