Every Life Is Precious

INTRODUCTION: Illustr. ¡V Man¡¦s recollection of trainloads of Jews headed for Nazi concentration camps that passed by a German church every Sunday.

Sound like us in the United States in 2001? Are we tempted to just ¡§sing a little louder¡¨? Notice it all began with ¡§the attitude that there is such a thing as a life not worthy to be lived.¡¨ That sounds a lot like today¡¦s statistic that up to 90% of expectant parents who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome will abort their baby. Yet, do you know anyone with a Down syndrome child who doesn¡¦t tell you that child is the light of their life, an absolute joy, the most loving person they¡¦ve ever known? A life not worthy to be lived?

What that¡¦s really saying is that God goofed, must¡¦ve been distracted or tired when He created that particular life, maybe not paying real close attention. Is that the way God views the people He creates? Let¡¦s look into Scripture. Because,

PROPOSITION: WE BELIEVE ALL HUMAN LIFE IS SACRED.

EVERY HUMAN BEING IS¡K

I. CREATED TO BEAR HIS IMAGE.

A. Only human beings can fellowship with the Creator. Genesis 1:27 ¡V ¡§God created man in His own image¡K¡¨ Nothing else in creation can have a relationship with God. You don¡¦t see dogs or frogs or monkeys or dolphins or any other living creature worshipping God, building churches or praying. They can¡¦t because they weren¡¦t created that way. From the beginning we were created to know and walk with God. Nothing else God created has that privilege. You and I can know the eternal God ¡V personally! He wants that for us. He made us so we could have fellowship with Him on a daily basis. This relationship is unique among creation.

And the ¡§perfect people,¡¨ the human beings who would seem to be closest to human perfection certainly don¡¦t have an edge in this area of fellowship with the Creator. In fact, many times those who are youngest or weakest often walk closest to God. Perhaps it is their child-like innocence and faith. I would dare say, on this Sanctity of Life Sunday, that many of us could learn a thing or two about a close relationship with God by spending time with those in our society born with Down syndrome, forms of mental retardation and other handicaps. Many times we look on them with pity when in truth, we should pity ourselves because they, in their simplicity, often know God better than we do with all our mental skills intact.

Only human beings can fellowship with the Creator. ¡§And a little child shall lead them.¡¨ ¡V Isaiah 11:6. II Corinthians 12:9 ¡V ¡§My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.¡¨ God taught Paul that he could learn more about Him in his handicap than he could in his strength. If we continue to become a ¡§throw away¡¨ society, disposing of the weak and unwanted among us, we will be throwing away people created in the image of God who teach us valuable lessons about how to see and know God.

B. Only man is crowned by God with glory and majesty. Psalm 8:4-5 ¡V ¡§What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.¡¨ In each of us, at our best, there is the imprint of the Divine. There¡¦s a little bit of God in you! God¡¦s fingerprints are stamped on your life! We are NOT Gods nor do we have divine DNA and yet we are reflections of His image. Sin may have tarnished the original image God intended, but man is still by far the closest living being representing His creator.

When we throw away 1 million babies through abortion every year in America, we¡¦re missing a million reflections of God! We are throwing God¡¦s handiwork into the trash. God only knows the impact those 40 million babies created in the image of God could have made on our society. Only man is crowned by God with glory and majesty. In our arrogance and pride we have tossed aside what God crowned with glory and majesty. 40 million looks at God in the Dumpster! We wouldn¡¦t think of throwing a Picasso into a bonfire but we don¡¦t give it a second thought when we throw God¡¦s greatest work of art into the garbage!

Please Jesus! Touch our hearts and hearts all over America. In a land where we desperately need to see Jesus we keep throwing a million mirrors of your image away each year! Only human beings can fellowship with the Creator. Only man is crowned by God with glory and majesty.