Masterpiece

“Masterpiece”

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday

January 22, 2006

Introduction: Christmas is always a fun time at our house. We love the decorations, the food and just spending time together. The last few years have been especially interesting for me because my parents have taken up the hobby of making gifts for their six children. My dad especially enjoys creating things with his hands to pass on as gifts.

My dad has been getting slower in his older years. He is not very healthy and can’t do a lot of physical work anymore. One thing that he has done is taken up painting. He used to play around with it now and then, but now it has become a full-fledged hobby. Over the past year or so, he has taken several classes to learn how to paint. He goes to a class and an instructor walks them through how to paint a picture. At the end of the day, you go home with your very own oil painting.

This year, all six of his kids received very special Christmas gifts. We each received a “Charles Harvey” original. It is incredible to think that my 78 year old dad, who has no artistic training, has been able to produce such incredible pictures. These have become very special gifts to us all as we know that they will last as a reminder of my dad.

It reminds me of the care with which God has created us. God is a master artist. He is the one who paints brilliant strokes across the pages of our lives and allows us to experience all of the wonder and beauty of a life uniquely created in his image. He is the craftsman who visualized us in his mind and created out of a unique love from his heart.

Today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Across our nation, churches are taking a stand for the rights and the lives of the pre-born. Today, I want to share briefly with you why human life is so valuable and then I want to share with you how Countryside is standing alongside another ministry in our area to support the lives of babies and their mothers.

I. God is the Creator of Life.

The most basic of all of our understanding of God is that he is the creator. Life itself was created in the heart of God and scripture tells us that he desired to create human beings to reflect his image.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

To be created in God’s image means we are to be a reflection of him.

God created us and gave us the very breath of life. He introduced oxygen to our lungs and life into our soul so that we could experience him and reflect love back to him.

“The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7 (NIV)

It is interesting to note that scripture not only tells us that God created, but it tells us how. He formed us out of dust. Now there are all kinds of people who don’t believe that man was created by God. They believe we just evolved out of nothing or some type of ooze. The interesting thing to me is that every tomb that is opened, every coffin that is unearthed contains a corpse that has returned to dust. Just a thought.

The breath of the life of God is the ability to live.

In the book of Job, one of Job’s friends begins to make a statement to Job to reason with him in his suffering. One of his first remarks is to declare the same footing of creation as all of mankind:

“The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4 (NIV)

This statement is a declaration of the divine place; God as creator and man as creation.

Life is precious to God. He created it, he crafted it and he shaped it. His desire is for us as his children to respect the life he gives and to be a vessel to protect the precious life of those who cannot protect themselves.

This is a special painting. Not because it was painted by a famous artist or because it has some kind of monetary value. It is special because it was created by my father.

Human life is special. Not because of what it can contribute or even the passing on of some great mind or artistic expression. It is special because it was created by our Heavenly Father.