Why Violence Mars God’s Image and Opposes His Purpose

 

 

Every person has a God-given purpose in the earth, but violence mars God’s image and opposes His purpose for everyone.

Violence Mars God’s Image and Opposes His Purpose

God created the father and mother of the human race in His image. He blessed them, told them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and rule and reign over the living creatures. And He called everything He made very good. (Gen 1:26, 28, 31)

Then our first parents disobeyed God and sinned. After that, their son Cain murdered his brother, Abel, because he was angry and jealous. (Gen 4:5) Violence mars God’s image and opposes His purpose for individuals and their families.

About 1656 years later, “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence” (Gen 6:11).

God considered the earth ruined because it was full of violence, wrong, cruelty, injustice. Therefore, He caused it to rain 40 days and 40 nights, and the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

So, a world-wide flood wiped out every living thing outside of Noah’s ark. Violence mars God’s image and opposes His purpose for humanity to bear fruit, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and dominate the living creatures. (Gen 6:13; 1 Pet 3:20)

Do you think God’s judgment was harsh? Consider this: All the people who died could have lived! Noah, a preacher of righteousness, was 500 years old when God told him to build the ark. He was 600 years old when the floodwaters came. So, God gave people 100 years to repent and change their violent ways. But, they did not.

After the flood, God blessed Noah and his sons and reaffirmed man’s dominion in the earth, and He reiterated the value of human life. (Gen 9:1-6)

God promised Noah and all creation that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood. The sign of the covenant was His beautiful rainbow in the sky after rain. As for Noah, God blessed him to live on the earth 300 more years. (Gen 9:28)

Man’s History of Violence

According to Donald Kagan, renowned classical and military historian, only about 268 years of human history have been without war. Violence mars God’s image and opposes His purpose for multitudes.

Violence mars God’s image in children

In the United States, violence against children is second to none. Everything from the murder of babies in and out of a mother’s womb to sex trafficking. Violence mars God’s image seen in the beautiful face of any child, and it opposes His purpose for all children. (Ps 139:13-16)

Murder is heinous

Images of the hateful murder of George Floyd are fresh and painful. And the palpable pain of his family is heartbreaking.

Equally painful to watch are the vicious assaults on, disrespect for, and murder of police officers. Such violence mars God’s image and opposes His purpose for all good civil servants. (Rom 13:7)

Violence mars God’s image and destabilizes everything

Elected officials have a responsibility to administer justice, keep order, pursue peace, punish evildoers, and protect law-abiding people. Surely, they know violence destabilizes everything. (Ps 82:3-5)

No Repentance – No peace

Pass all the laws you want. But without genuine godly sorrow and a change in people’s hearts, there will be no lasting change. No repentance. No peace.

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Capazin Thornton is a Christian speaker and writer in Orange County, California. Click the link here to get your copy of her latest book: the Simplicity of Hearing God: 21 Ways God Speaks to Us.