Hath not one God created us?

Malachi 2:10

Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother…?

Why is it that vitriol and hatred and variance and strife are rampant in this world? And why, oh why, oh why is it in the church? Never should it be! The servant of the Lord, the Scriptures say, must not strive! Strife is a work of the flesh, of the darkness and not of the light. There must be no malice, bitterness, anger, or wrath. This stuff should not be among us! But why is it? Why did it happen in ancient Israel, and why does it happen today? It is because we have forgotten two things.

Have we not all one father? Is this not true? Are we not all descendents from Adam? And if such a thing is true, are we not all brothers and sisters? Yes, in the flesh, we are all brothers and sisters. There is not that wide of a difference between the peoples and races of the world. We are brethren! We may speak a different language and engage in a different culture. We may have different customs, and live in geographically and topographically distant places. But we are truly brethren! So why do we deal treacherously against one another? Why do nations deal treacherously when we are brethren? Why do so many deal treacherously when we are all of the same human family?

Here is the reason! The answer is in the next questions: hath not one God created us? Yes! One God has created us all! This is the problem—we have forgotten this truth! Our intrinsic and innate value is not in the fact that we are brethren. That is only a secondary fact planted in the first fact. The first and most important fact that is listed second here for emphasis, is that the same God has created us! Therefore, if one is created in the image of God, so are we all! The black, and the white, the yellow, and the red, the Eskimo, the Gypsy, and all the tribes of the world have one thing in common. One thing! This, my friends, is why we should respect and honor one another! We do not respect for respect’s sake, for what about the time when the other person ceases to be respectable. At that time, we respect the image of God, the inherent value that the other person possesses, having been created by God. So, again, I ask: why have we lost respect for one another? Because we have lost respect for God, and the image that is borne on each of our souls.

My beloved, in your dealings today, remember that the other person, no matter who they may be, bears the image of their Creator. Therefore, they are entitled to our respect. They are no less valuable than you. You are all on an even plane, without a difference in this category. Do you desire respect and love and kind treatment. Jesus told us to do to others as we would that they should do unto us. Respect! Honor! Be kind! But not just for its own sake, because that is without a firm foundation. But with God’s help, we shall treat others with dignity; for each of them, without exception, has been created by the same Creator.

“Father, we thank Thee for the reminder of this sublime truth, that we are prone to forget. As You have created us in Your own image, so have You done for every other person on the face of this planet. May our outward expression demonstrate the existence of an internal persuasion. And may that persuasion be that all our worthy of the respect endowed on them by virtue of their being created by God. Please, Lord, may those dear ones who have never come to the truth of who their Creator is, by our love and witness, come to know God through Christ, who has died to reconcile them. Use us this day to bring others back to God. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.”