Q: What's the message? A: That animal life and human life have equal value.
Friends, this simply isn't true. In the creation account in Genesis one, God said the light was good. God said the land and sea were good. God said the vegetation was good. God said the sun, moon and stars were good. God said the creatures of the sea and the birds of the sky were good. God said the land creatures were good. But once God added mankind to his creation he said it was very good (v31). The Bible teaches that humans, not animals, are the pinnacle of God's creation - his masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10).
That's why Jesus plainly stated that humans have greater value than animals. Jesus said in Matthew 6:26, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" I love it! We're not just a little more valuable than animals, we're much more valuable!
You see, there's a hierarchy to God's creation. From top to bottom it goes God, the angels, humans, then animals. We know this because Hebrews 2:7-8 says, "You [God] made them [humans] a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.” "Everything" here refers to the rest of God's creation (i.e. the animals). We know this from Genesis 1:28 where God told Adam and Eve, "Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." From this verse we learn that God gave humans stewardship over the earth and everything in it (including animals) and told us to rule over it.
Anyone who knows me personally knows how much I love animals! I love watching them, catching them, owning them, and taking pictures of them. But I'm not confused over whether a kangaroo has more value than a kid. I'm not confused over whether a manatee has more value than a man. I'm not confused over whether a woodpecker has more value than a woman.
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