Genesis 1:27 (KJV) “So God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him; male and female created he them.”
Today I was reading a book titled, America Alone by Mark Steyn. In it he references that in 2006 Spain’s ruling Socialist Party introduced a bill in parliament legislating that apes be included in “the category of persons, and that they be given the moral and legal protection that currently are only enjoyed by human beings. The party’s argument was that human Spaniards do, after all, share 98.4 percent of their genes with chimpanzees, 97.7 percent with gorillas, and 96.4 percent with orangutans.”[1]
When I taught the first eleven chapters of Genesis, I talked about how a correct understanding of Genesis and our origins has a bearing on how we view the world. The above reference is a case in point, not only for an individual but also for a country.
Even if humans are 97% genetically alike with chimps, (and this percentage is not without debate), the remaining 3% difference contains over 50 million different genetic differences. These dissimilarities clearly set men and apes apart genetically. What also delineates men from apes is that fact that God created man in His image! This means that man has the capacity to worship, consciously commune with God, has moral consciousness discerning right and wrong, and possesses an eternal spirit.
The legislation in Spain might have been far different if followers of Christ in Spain would have understood and spoken the truths of Genesis long before it got to the point of making a law that takes a low view of mankind and an exaggerated view of the animal kingdom.
(Check out next week’s article of the contemporary importance of the oldest mandate given to God’s Covenant people)