On Human Dignity - John 1:1,14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1, 14

If there is no God then we are merely animals imbued with moral choices and cognitive decisions - contradictions in the animal kingdom. If there is no God then the only difference between ourselves and amoebae is our ability to think and make choices. We would merely be another link in the chain of life. But except for the most deluded of secular thinkers even the atheists admit that man is a being of a higher order. From where then does mankind’s higher order, his difference, come? First, in Genesis 1:26, "Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’"
Clearly God had a specific plan for the human species. Having made us in His own image and likeness, God gave us cognitive minds, rather than animal instinct. He gave us an inbuilt moral compass so that even the uneducated heathen would "know" the difference between right and wrong. He gave us the ability to feel and show compassion for one another and for all his creatures. These three characteristics of the human species make us different from all other life on earth. These three characteristics are also part of God’s very being and the foremost reason He created us in His likeness. God is cognition; He is morality; He is compassion.
Genesis 1:27 reads - "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Three times in one verse scripture emphasizes that God created
man and woman in His own image. God made no other creature in His own image . . . none! If this fact were not enough Christ went so far as to become human. . .incarnate. He did not come as a horse or an eagle or a fish - He came as man. He came to offer the free gift of salvation to any who would accept it. Thus His very incarnation as a man brings dignity to our species. The dignity that each man is born with can never be taken from him. He may give it away or throw it away by his words and/or actions, but human dignity can never be stolen. Even death cannot rob a man of his dignity.
"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed -" 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 May the Word of God be always with you.