Contending For The Sanctity Of All Human Life

Contending For The Sanctity Of All Human Life

How would you advise a mother who was pregnant with her fifth child based on the following facts? Her husband had syphilis. She has tuberculosis. Their first child was born blind. Their second child died. Their third child was born deaf. Their fourth child had tuberculosis. The mother is considering an abortion. Should she? If you said yes you just killed Ludwig Von Beethoven! How would you advise a 13 year old who was raped and considering an abortion? Should she? If you said yes you just killed Ethel Waters!

Article XV of the Baptist Faith and Message says, “We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.” God values human life and judges those who treat it casually or with contempt. However, God will forgive and heal even the worst offenders if they repent of their sins. As Christians we must respond to the cultural assault on human life. Our worth as a person is not based on what we do or whether we meet certain criteria or qualities (“quality of life” ethic). Instead, our value exists because God set His image upon us, sustains us, sacrificed His only begotten Son for us and seeks to use us in His Kingdom’s work. God’s purpose in our life is tied directly to His ability to use us, no matter what our physical or mental condition. No one person, creed or nation origin has a higher standing or quality more deserving of life than another – all human life is sacred.

God is the Maker and not the one who was made. He is the originator of all things. Everything that exists came from His hands. Colossians 1:16-17 say, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” The Psalmist, likewise, tells us, “Behold, children are a gift from the Lord.” (Ps. 127:3) The Lord says, “Before I formed thee I knew thee.” (Jeremiah 1:5) The Hebrew verb used in this verse for “to know” is yada, which conveys great meaning in the Old Testament, going far deeper than mere intellectual knowledge or awareness. Yada means personal commitment and intimate experience with the person known. Yada is used for the sexual union between husband and wife in Genesis 4:1. God not only knew “about” you and me, he “knew” you and was involved in a personal way with you before you were conceived.

This personal and intimate involvement by God in individual lives extends to His personalized involvement in our conception and development. God says that each human life is “woven” (Hebrew, sakak “to weave”) by Him (Gen. 2:7; Ps. 139:13) and that He knits together (Hebrew, raqam “to embroider”) each human frame (Hebrew, estem “skeleton”) in the womb. (Ps. 139:15). This personal, detailed, intimate, divine involvement with each human life reveals that God has a “personalized” plan for each human being even prior to actual conception (Ps. 119:16; 127:3; Is. 43:7-8; Eph. 2:10).

Do not fall for the enemy’s lies. God is the power behind barrenness, and God is the power behind conception. We read in the Bible where God closed the womb of a woman and opened the womb of a woman. We are simply the human instrumentation through which God makes a baby. And you cannot, through sexual relationships create a soul – an immortal, eternal soul. Likewise, God is the creator of deformed people that are born. Listen to Moses’ words in Exodus 4:11: “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” Remember in John chapter 9 the disciples ask Jesus, “…who sinned, this man or his parents?” And Jesus said, “Nobody. This man was born blind for the glory of God.” Therefore, the circumstances of conception do not give or take away the value of life. To kill a life because it doesn’t meet our criteria of “quality” is to play God. Abortion (the killing of an unborn human being), infanticide (the killing of an infant), euthanasia (the killing of the ill and the infirm), and homicide (the murder of human beings at any stage in life) are a revolt against God and an attempt to usurp the prerogatives and plans of the Creator. It is interesting to note that the word “abortion” comes from a Latin word which means “to perish by untimely birth.” While, the word “sanctity” is defined as “sacred or hallowed character…a sacred thing.”

Like birth, death also has its appointed time established by God. There is a clear and distinct difference between allowing the death process to occur and speeding it up. As the issue of doctor-assisted suicide makes its way through the court system, Christians must stand firm against this ghastly evil. It is tantamount to saying we know better than God what should and should not be. Even many non-Christians accept the Ten Commandments as the law of God. Deut. 5:17 states, “Thou shalt not kill.” The word literally means murder. There is no exception clause for self. The argument that we have a right to decide when life is worth living opens Pandora’s box to wholesale euthanasia, for many may not be able to choose for themselves. The choice of whether or not to use extraordinary life support, which only serve to prolong the death process, can be devastating for a family. One must prayerfully ask, “Is it their time?” One must never withhold normal care and nutrition from anyone. That would be purposely hastening death. But to allow the death process to occur naturally need not be an ugly experience for the believer. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15).