Practical Application of the Image of God

Sovereign Grace Family Church

2 views

January 26, 2020

00:00: Open your Bibles to Genesis Chapter 1 and we're going to look at verses 26 and 27 again.
00:10: Before we read the Scripture, I want to just give some opening words.
00:17: Last week we spent our time with an overview of the image of God.
00:24: What does it mean to be made in the image of God and who is it that is made in God's image? We noted that there's a lot of confusion about that simple statement.
00:37: There's a lot of false teaching that is associated with the concept.
00:43: We saw that the image of God is not an outward quality of man.
00:49: It's not that we look like God on the outward, but that there is an inward quality of man.
00:58: Man possesses personality, morality, spirituality, creativity, rationality, and relatability.
01:07: All of these which set him apart from all of the rest of God's created order.
01:13: Man is unique.
01:15: He is made by God's divine design to be unique.
01:21: We are not little gods or divine beings, but we are expressions of his being.
01:32: And as Brother Brian Borgman pointed out in his sermon on this subject, it's not just that we are made in the image of God, but we are made to image God.
01:46: We are to reflect God.
01:49: And we'll see this in the weeks to come when we begin to look at the demands that were placed upon man.
01:57: That he would be fruitful and multiply and that he would take dominion over creation.
02:04: Bearing the image of God in creation.
02:09: We also saw last week that the image of God is not something that's just given to some men.
02:16: It's not reserved for kings and it's not reserved for the saints.
02:23: The image of God is something which is possessed by all men and all women.
02:29: Sin has marred the image, but has not destroyed it.
02:33: Dr.
02:34: R.C.
02:34: Sproul in Table Talk Magazine, which is a Ligonier publication, he said this.
02:39: He said, quote, Sin did not destroy the image of God in man.
02:43: All people still reflect in some way the dignity of the Lord, no matter how we have marred his image.
02:52: Thus, our treatment of others reveals what we think about our Creator.
03:00: Understanding the image of God is essential to understanding what makes man unique and special within the created order.
03:10: And I say that, I mean man and woman, because it says very clearly, in the image of God made he them male and female, made he them.
03:22: So this is not something, again, that's just for men, but this is something that all human beings bear and share.
03:32: And that's the image of God.
03:34: Well, today we're going to continue the study of the image of God and seek to understand what are the practical applications of this doctrine.
03:44: What is it that, what should change about our lives as a result of knowing this truth? It's one thing to know the truth, but sometimes it's another thing to live that truth out in a practical, daily way.
04:02: So today is a, that's why the title of the sermon is a practical application of the image of God.
04:09: Let's stand and read the word.
04:12: We always do to give honor and reverence.
04:15: We thank God for it.
04:22: Verse 26, Then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
04:41: So God created man in His image.
04:43: In the image of God, He created him male and female.
04:49: He created them.
04:51: Father in heaven, thank you for giving me the opportunity to preach the word.
04:55: May you now keep me from error.
04:57: May you open hearts and may you glorify yourself.
05:02: May all this be done through the power of the Holy Spirit.
05:06: In Christ's name, Amen.
05:13: Doctrine divides.
05:22: That statement was fairly popular not just a generation ago as the rise of the non-denominational church began to have its way in the United States.
05:42: And as people began to draw away from the traditional churches of the denominations and began to move into the non-denominational churches.
05:54: And one of the things that would be said, Doctrine divides, therefore we avoid doctrine.
06:03: And we just love Jesus.
06:06: Well, my point today is not to explain how ridiculous that is.
06:11: But it is ridiculous.
06:17: But sometimes the pendulum can swing the other way.
06:23: Because sometimes a church can be so over focused on doctrine that it misses the practical application of how to live out that doctrine.
06:40: People can explain the fullness of the doctrine of the Trinity.
06:45: But they don't understand how that applies to their daily living and worship in life.
06:54: Doctrine is more than what you know.
06:56: Doctrine is how you live what you know.
07:01: Read through the New Testament and you will see, especially in the letters of the Apostle Paul, there will be these great and wondrous theological treatises.
07:10: This filled with doctrine.
07:13: And then at one point in the book, it's like he flips the switch and says, now do this.
07:20: My favorite is in the book of Romans.
07:22: If you read Romans 1 through 11, it's a tremendous theological treatise, beginning with the sin of man, moving to the justification of man before God, then into the sanctification of man, and then into God's elective purpose and how he deals with his elect people.
07:39: And then in chapter 12, he says, therefore, and that word therefore is encompassing everything that came before it.
07:47: Now present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy before God.
07:54: We have this great theological treatise, and then it's followed up with this great practical punch.
08:05: And this is the reality, folks.
08:07: If you have doctrine without application, you are missing a very vital aspect of your faith.
08:17: If all you know is all the right things to say and all the right T's to cross and I's to dot, and you never miss a theological question on an exam, but it hasn't changed how you live, then all you are going to do is be the best theologian in hell.
08:44: The Bible talks about people who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof.
08:51: They know, but they don't live.
08:55: They don't live in the power of God.
08:57: They don't live in the application of the truth.
08:59: They know the truth, but they don't live the truth.
09:05: Recently, I posted a picture of a quote from John Calvin, and I found out that it was wrong.
09:18: The quote said this, and I don't know what's happening.
09:21: I guess I'm a teenager again, but I seem to be losing my voice.
09:25: I'm OK, but thank you, brother.
09:26: But it's just something.
09:30: What I posted said this.
09:32: Zeal without doctrine is like a sword in the hands of a lunatic.
09:37: And it was quoting John Calvin.
09:39: Zeal without doctrine is like a sword in the hands of a lunatic.
09:43: Now, as true as that statement is, John Calvin didn't say that.
09:51: Even though I posted the quote, I later found out that's not what he said.
09:58: What he actually said is doctrine without zeal is like a sword in the hands of a lunatic.
10:07: Now, that's the other way around.
10:08: Both are true.
10:10: If you're zealous and ignorant, you're dangerous.
10:14: But if you are knowledgeable about doctrine, but not zealous, you're just as dangerous.
10:22: In fact, this is the whole quote.
10:23: This comes from the commentary from John Calvin's commentary on the book of Acts chapter 18.
10:28: And he says this.
10:29: Doctrine without zeal is either like a sword in the hands of a madman, or else it lies still as cold and without use, or else it serves for vain and wicked boasting.
10:39: For we see that some learned men become slothful, others become ambitious, and still others trouble the church with contention and brawling.
10:49: Therefore, that doctrine shall be unsavory, which is not joined with zeal.
10:57: What's he saying? If you know a lot, but you don't live it, you become a problem to the church.
11:02: You become arrogant.
11:04: You become boastful and prideful, but you're no good to the church.
11:08: You're a danger to the church.
11:13: Beloved, it's not enough to simply know the right things.
11:18: We must live those things out.
11:21: So having said all that, the question of today, and it may feel like I'm belaboring getting to it, is the question of today is, well, how do we live out the doctrine of the image of God? How do we live out the doctrine of the imago dei, the image of God? How is that practically to be made a part of our daily life? Not just monthly or annually do we celebrate it, but how is that a part of every day? I'm going to give you four things today.
11:49: I'm going to give you four ways that the image of God is a practical reality in your life and can be lived out every day.
12:03: Number one, the first, if you understand and believe that all people are made in the image of God, then you will understand that all human life is sacred from the womb to the tomb.
12:21: All human life is sacred from the womb to the tomb.
12:26: This is why Christians not only are but should be on the very front lines of the abortion issue.
12:39: I know last week was Sanctity of Life Sunday, but I want to reiterate this again.
12:45: This has nothing to do with a political party, and this certainly doesn't have anything to do with the patriarchy, whatever that is.
12:54: It has to do with the fact that image bearers of God are being murdered, and Christians ought not stand for it and certainly ought not participate in it.
13:08: As those who believe that all people bear the image of God, our hearts should break over the atrocity of abortion.
13:15: We should be on our knees before God.
13:18: And I want to tell you, I remember years ago I went to, it was at another church.
13:22: They were having sort of a festival thing, and one of the tables set up at the festival was for a women's clinic.
13:29: It might have been the Women's Resource Center.
13:31: I mean, this is back before they closed.
13:33: So this is probably 15 years ago.
13:35: And I walked around to each table, and I walked up, and they were handing out little plastic babies.
13:40: And it was what the baby, the size of the baby was, I think at like three months.
13:44: And it was like small, but it was fully formed as a child.
13:47: And they were, you know, these were to keep.
13:49: And so I held one, and I said, this is an amazing reality that this is what the baby looks like at three months old in the womb.
13:55: But then they also said, Pastor, do you realize 3,000 children every day are aborted? And I didn't believe it.
14:10: I thought they were exaggerating.
14:13: 3,000 a day, that's 30 times the people in this room.
14:19: If we have 100 people today, which we probably don't, but if we did, it'd be 30 times the people in this room are murdered in the womb every day.
14:34: That's a 9-11 every day.
14:45: Now, some people debate that number, say it's a little high.
14:49: And I will admit, since then, the last 15 years, it has come down a little.
14:54: But it has not come down at all as much as it should, because it should be at zero.
15:04: One of the most barbaric cultures in the ancient world was the Canaanites.
15:08: Remember the Canaanites? Parents in the Canaanite culture would sacrifice their children to the god Molech.
15:19: Most of us know that.
15:21: Some of you have seen that online.
15:25: But how they did it was atrocious.
15:28: And I'm not saying this to gag you, but you have to understand, this is what they did.
15:34: They would take this statue, which had outstretched arms, and it was basically a furnace.
15:42: And they would heat the furnace from the inside to where the outside was as hot as a skillet that's used to cook food.
15:53: And they would take their infants, and they would lay them on the hands of that idol, so that it would sizzle to death.
16:05: And they would go, and they would play flutes and drums to drown out the noise.
16:16: You say, how could anyone stand for such a thing? Infants in the womb are injected with a saline solution that burns them alive in their body.
16:27: In their mother's womb.
16:29: We're no better than the Canaanites.
16:31: We just hide it better.
16:35: We don't need drums and flutes because we have concrete walls and masonite that heaps the sound in.
16:47: And the baby can't scream.
16:53: Beloved, is it any wonder why God destroyed the Canaanites and He commanded their destruction? But I want you to consider the second half of my point.
17:15: Because I said at the beginning of this point, all human life is sacred from the womb to the tomb.
17:24: And we have become a society that not only is willing to destroy the infants in the womb, for whatever reason, abortion on demand, whatever reason.
17:37: But we've also become a society that absolutely hates our old people.
17:46: Unlike many other cultures who revere the aging, we have become a society that once a person gets past what we consider to be a useful age, we don't want them around anymore.
18:03: And now as that attitude increases, so does the euthanasia increase.
18:11: Well, we need to give them a good death.
18:12: And an early death.
18:14: Because they're a drain on our resources.
18:22: Just this past week, I saw two articles.
18:26: It's so amazing because when I prepare to preach, it's like God just like, here, here's some things to share.
18:33: Two churches came over my news feed.
18:36: One was a Methodist church that decided that it was going to ask all of its elderly members to leave so that they could start over with a young, fresh crowd and draw more young people.
18:52: They're going to get rid of all the old people so that they can be a draw to young people.
19:00: Let me tell you something about a church that's run all by young people.
19:04: It's ignorant.
19:08: Churches that have no gray hair in the room are missing a vital resource.
19:17: But there was another church where the pastor was preaching and there was a woman who had a baby.
19:24: And he stopped his sermon to tell her to take the baby out.
19:31: We can't stand the aged.
19:33: We can't stand the young.
19:38: We don't believe all life is sacred because we don't believe we're made in the image of God.
19:44: If people believed they were made in the image of God, we would change as a people.
19:49: But we don't change because we're getting further away from that belief rather than closer to it.
19:56: We teach our children in school, you're not made in the image of God.
20:03: You're made in the image of an ape.
20:07: You're not the descendant of Adam.
20:10: You're the descendant of a monkey.
20:20: Understand this.
20:22: Believing and trusting and understanding the image of God that is inherent in every person will help us see a value in every person.
20:31: From the one who is only a week old in the womb to the one who may be entering the last week of their life.
20:40: All human life is sacred from the womb to the tomb.
20:45: Number two, all people, and you might think this is a reiteration of number one and maybe it is.
20:53: But it extends on number one.
20:56: Number two, all people have inherent value and dignity.
21:04: You understand you are more than your DNA.
21:08: You are an image bearer of God.
21:12: And because of this, you have a unique status of value and dignity in God's created order.
21:17: And some people get offended by that.
21:19: You can't say human beings are better than animals.
21:21: That makes you a speciesist.
21:23: And yes, that's a word.
21:25: It's like being a racist, but much more weird.
21:31: Because a speciesist is a person who says human beings have a higher place in God's created order than other animals do.
21:41: Let me tell you something.
21:41: If you can't say that, that human beings are more important than dogs, then you don't understand the image of God.
21:51: Now, you may like your dog better than you like some people, because he may have a better disposition than the people you'd normally deal with.
22:05: But he's not a human.
22:12: Man is always, always, always seen in Scripture as having the preeminent position above all of the rest of creation.
22:21: And you know what? When our founding fathers of this nation established this nation, it established it on a very simple principle.
22:33: We are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.
22:40: Do you know what the word inalienable means? It means unable to be taken away and unable to be forfeited.
22:56: Why are the rights that we have as human beings inalienable? Because they didn't come from man.
23:05: They came from God.
23:10: Government's role is not to give us rights.
23:12: Government's role is to recognize the dignity of the individual and the rights that have been endowed to that individual by God.
23:31: And this is something atheism cannot account for.
23:36: To the atheist, we are stardust.
23:40: Fancy stardust, well-organized stardust, pretty good looking stardust.
23:46: Sorry, I mean to point at myself.
23:47: But you understand, at the end of the day, stardust.
23:59: And I've heard atheists, no, no, atheism is the champion of human rights.
24:05: Hogwash, absolute hogwash.
24:11: I want to quote a statistic to you.
24:14: Communism.
24:15: Listen, I got you a few ears picked up on that one.
24:19: You want to hear what I'm going to say? Communism was the leading ideological cause of death between 1900 and 2000.
24:28: 94 million people perished in China, the Soviet Union, North Korea, Afghanistan, and in Eastern Europe.
24:36: During the century measured, more people died as a result of communism than from homicide and genocide put together.
24:47: You say, what's communism got to do with atheism? Vladimir Lenin can answer that.
24:54: Quote, a true communist will always promote atheism and combat religion because it is the psychological opiate that robs people of their human agency, of their volition as men and women to control their own reality.
25:11: Communism is inherently atheistic, and you see the result of regimes that are based on ungodly ideas.
25:21: Millions of people are murdered as a result of that kind of thinking.
25:28: As I said, atheism cannot account for human rights and does not promote human dignity.
25:36: Because to the atheist, you are stardust.
25:39: You are not the image of God because there is no God for you to image.
25:44: Just remember this, when the atheist demands human rights, he is robbing you because he's stealing your worldview.
25:54: When the atheist stands up and demands dignity for human beings, he demands virtue for human beings, he demands that men and women be given certain specific humanitarian rights, you say, why? We're all stardust.
26:10: It's like Kevin and I were at a restaurant a few years ago, and that little boy, young man came up and was asking us why we believe in God because we were being a little boisterous.
26:18: He and I both are a little loud, and together we're very loud.
26:22: And we were talking, and the man says, why do you believe in God? And we talked to him a little bit, not often fish jump in the boat, but you know, right there.
26:29: So we were talking to him, and at one point I looked, I said, is that your girlfriend over there? He said, yeah.
26:34: I said, do you love her? And he said, yeah.
26:38: I said, why? If you believe you're just a sack of DNA and she's just a sack of DNA, what's love? What's it matter? If she's just stardust and you're just stardust, there's no inherent dignity.
26:54: There's no value.
26:56: All your emotions are chemical transferences in the brain.
27:00: There's nothing about you that goes beyond the physical.
27:12: So that's number two.
27:13: All people have value and dignity.
27:15: Only the Christian worldview can account for that.
27:18: Only the Christian worldview understands man as an image bearer of God and can rightly account for the necessity that every man and woman have dignity.
27:27: And this leads us to number three.
27:29: Again, these build on each other.
27:32: Because number three is this.
27:33: What's the application? Number three, the image of God inspires love for our fellow man.
27:44: When we recognize that every person we encounter is an image bearer, our attitude changes.
27:51: What do you do when you see a broken person? What do we do with the drunkard? The prostitute, the addict.
28:15: It's easy to allow ourselves to dismiss their worth.
28:23: And it's too often that we look at people and say they're valueless.
28:29: And that's what the world does, by the way.
28:35: A few years ago, there was a movie came out called At First Sight.
28:38: It was about a man who was born blind and he grew up blind.
28:41: He lived in a mountain community and everybody knew that he was blind.
28:44: And this woman visited the mountain community and she met him and fell for him.
28:49: And they had this sort of whirlwind romance.
28:51: But he was blind.
28:53: And so she brought him back to the big city with her.
28:55: And she had him given a surgery that would heal his blindness and make it so that the first time in his life he could see.
29:04: And the movie is an interesting sort of tale about what it would be like to go blind your whole life and be able to see for the first time.
29:11: And what it would be like to actually be able to see.
29:14: And the movie is very interesting.
29:15: But on top of this, there's a point in the movie where the two of them are walking down a street in New York City.
29:21: And he looks and he says, what is that? And she says, that's a homeless person.
29:28: And he said, but you just walked by.
29:34: And she said, yeah, we don't want to look at that.
29:37: Sometimes we choose not to see.
29:48: The image of God means every person has value.
29:56: Now, I know we could argue all day that some people get themselves into trouble.
30:02: And some people have hurt themselves.
30:04: And some people, you know what, pastor? If he hadn't done that, he wouldn't be there.
30:08: That's right, maybe.
30:15: But do we realize that those who are hurting around us, who are desperate, alone, impoverished, some of them by their own doing are still made in the image of God.
30:27: This is why Christians build hospitals.
30:31: This is why Christians create shelters.
30:35: This is why Christians open soup kitchens.
30:38: This is why Christians start charities.
30:41: Yes, unbelievers do those too.
30:42: But the overwhelming majority report of Western history is that the church has been at the forefront of those things, not the world.
30:52: In fact, the two largest hospitals in Jacksonville, two of the largest now that Mayo's here, it's a bit bigger.
30:56: But the two largest hospitals in Jacksonville are named after the church.
31:00: We got a Baptist and a Catholic.
31:03: That's St.
31:04: Vincent's in case you were wondering.
31:08: And what do they try to do now? Move those things out.
31:12: They don't want to call it by those names anymore.
31:15: But know this, it's inspired by people who understood that man is made in the image of God.
31:24: The only true philanthropist is the person who understands.
31:28: And by the way, a philanthropist is a person who loves people.
31:31: The only person who truly loves people the way they ought to be loved is the person who sees in them the image of God and loves them because they're image bearers of God.
31:43: Not just because they're fancy stardust, but because they bear the image of Almighty God.
31:50: And people say, well, the only reason Christians do good is because they're trying to get into heaven.
31:54: Hogwash! I ain't trying to get into heaven.
31:57: Ain't nothing good I do gonna get me into heaven.
31:59: I love people because I love God and those people image God.
32:04: That's the only reason.
32:07: Well, they don't deserve it.
32:08: I don't deserve it.
32:10: I didn't deserve God's mercy.
32:12: I didn't deserve God's grace.
32:14: I didn't deserve for every time I look at a person and say they deserve it.
32:18: How much more do I deserve the wrath of God? We love people because we love God.
32:32: In fact, God says this, if you don't love your brother who you can see, how can you love God who you can't see? Fourth and finally, it encourages evangelism and missions.
32:50: The image of God, the understanding the image of God should drive us toward reaching image bearers with the gospel.
33:04: Because if we understand that every person is made in the image of God, then we should realize this.
33:08: The fact that they're not worshiping God is a huge problem.
33:13: Hear that again.
33:14: If they are imaging God or if they are made in the image of God and they're not worshiping God, there's a huge disconnect there.
33:21: In fact, John Piper said this and I love this quote, but you really got to understand what he was saying.
33:27: Because some people want to argue the nuance of this, but just hear what he says because I think this is accurate as far as it goes.
33:34: John Piper said this.
33:36: He said the reason why evangelism exists is because worship doesn't.
33:45: Hear it again.
33:45: The reason why evangelism exists is because worship doesn't.
33:50: There are people out there who should be worshiping God.
33:53: They're not.
33:54: We need to go tell them.
33:56: There are people out there who should be glorifying God and they're not.
33:59: So we go bring the message to them so that they will.
34:03: Our goal is not to make church members and our goal is not to make little pious Pharisees.
34:09: Our goal is to make worshipers of God.
34:12: We go and we preach to them so that God would save them and that they would worship him because they're made in his image.
34:21: And as such, that's what they were designed to do.
34:25: They were designed to worship him as you were designed to worship him.
34:30: And if you're not worshiping him, then you're not doing what you were made to do.
34:37: Do you realize that yourself? As an image bearer of God, you're responsible to God.
34:45: No other creature was given a law.
34:49: No other creature was called to worship.
34:52: No other creature sinned against God.
34:57: But we have.
35:03: So what do we do? We can't fix what's broken.
35:09: We can't restore what's lost.
35:12: We can't mend the breach.
35:14: But God, who is rich in mercy, in the fullness of time, sent forth his son born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who are under the law and give us the adoption as sons.
35:39: You see, Jesus came, as I said last week, as the perfect image bearer.
35:46: What Adam failed to do, Christ did perfectly.
35:52: And he did it on behalf of all who believe.
35:59: Bearing God's image is a blessing.
36:03: It reminds us that all human life is sacred.
36:06: It reminds us that all people have inherent value and dignity.
36:10: It inspires love for our fellow man and inspires us to go and reach them with the gospel.
36:15: But the image of God alone is not enough to save us.
36:20: Because as valuable as it is to be an image bearer of God, you're not saved just because you're an image bearer of God.
36:29: No one is saved simply by bearing God's image.
36:35: We must believe in Christ, the perfect image bearer.
36:42: You know what the Bible says about Jesus in Colossians 1? He is the image of the invisible God.
36:54: He is the image of the invisible God.
37:01: Beloved, you bear God's image.
37:05: And therefore, you bear the responsibility to God for bearing that image.
37:13: We have sinned, we have marred the image.
37:15: Christ came perfectly and died sacrificially.
37:22: And now he offers to everyone who will believe on him everlasting life.
37:30: That we might carry this image of God on in perfection in the new heaven and the new earth.
37:37: Because in the new heaven and the new earth, you're going to be given a new body.
37:42: You're going to be given a new world to live in.
37:45: You're going to be given a new life to live.
37:49: But it will only come through Jesus Christ.
37:53: In the upper room, Jesus was speaking to his disciples.
37:58: And he said, I go to prepare a place for you.
38:01: And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will return again and take you to myself.
38:05: That where I am, you may be also.
38:08: And you know the way to where I'm going.
38:11: And Thomas said, Lord, we don't know where you're going.
38:13: How can we know the way? Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life.
38:22: And no one comes to the Father except through me.
38:26: Do you believe that this morning? Do you know that as an image bearer of God, you're responsible to God and that you will not see him in his glorious welcoming.
38:38: If you do not see him through faith in Christ.
38:43: Instead, you will see him in his terrible wrath.
38:47: And you will be cast into the lake of fire.
38:51: There are only two ways.
38:54: The way of Christ and the way of the world.
38:58: I pray that everyone listening to me today, all of you will be on the way of Christ.
39:06: And follow him who is the perfect image bearer of God.
39:11: Let's pray.
39:14: Father, I thank you for this opportunity to again preach your word.
39:18: It is always a blessing, Lord, to get to be with your people and share.
39:23: And I pray that the words that have been preached today have been true.
39:26: That whatever I've said that has been incorrect, Lord, that you would wash it from our minds.
39:31: And Lord, that you would place within us the desire to know the truth and that the truth would genuinely and truly set us free.
39:40: I pray especially, Lord, for the people in the room who do not know Christ.
39:47: For Lord, I know in a group this big, there are certainly people here, whether they be young or whether they be old or whether they be middle aged, whether they be young adult, no matter what, Lord, if they do not know Christ, they are lost.
39:59: They are bearing God's image, thus they are bearing your responsibility placed upon them to follow after you, to believe in your son.
40:08: And they are not doing it, Lord.
40:09: I pray that you would open their hearts to believe today.
40:13: And Lord, for the one who does believe, that he would understand himself an image bearer of Christ.
40:21: An image bearer of God and having that image in Christ.
40:26: And Lord, that you would help him to see not only the value of his own life, but that of his neighbor and even those he might consider to be unneighborly.
40:41: That he might love them the same, Lord, that he might seek out, that we might seek out as a church to love those who are unlovable as Christ loved us when we were unlovable.
40:53: And it's in Christ's name we pray, amen.