The Seriousness and Sadness of Abortion
Psalm 139: 13-16
How serious is the abortion issue in human society? When we understand the teachings of scripture we must conclude that abortion is a sin against God making it extremely serious and extremely sad that we could ever make this practice legal. In this country, since the 1973 Supreme Court decision made in Roe vs Wade to make abortion legal at any stage of pregnancy, 50 million lives have been sacrificed for the sake of pleasure and convenience. It is amazing how intelligent people can rationalize and justify such a horrible, inhumane practice as abortion. We, as a nation, will fight for the protection of animals, but at the same time fight for the right to kill our babies as though life in the womb is not human. The depraved nature of man is clearly displayed in the acceptance of abortion as the right of a mother to kill her baby.
I think Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. is right when he states in an article I read recently that, “In a hundred years, the Christian church will not hang its head in shame that it did so little to pass a Constitutional Amendment against the burning of the flag. In a hundred years, no elderly Christian will be looked at with suspicion by the younger generation because they didn’t do more to lower the tax rate. In a hundred years, if God should be so gracious, we will be looked upon as that godless generation of the church that watched tens of millions of babies go to their deaths. Indeed, we’ll be remembered as those “Christians” who elected men to office who believed that the state ought to protect the rights of some mothers to murder their babies.
Abortion is serious and sad because:
I. Human Life is a Perpetual Creation of God (vs. 13-14).
A. God is the author of human life in all ages.
1. He created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 1: 27-28). God formed man from the dust of the ground and so created the man and his wife with the ability to pro-create or reproduce. Therefore every human being is considered in Scripture to be a creative work of God made in the image of God giving every human being a unique quality above the rest of creation.
2. The Psalmist points to the truth of God’s creative work in his own life. In Reference to his own existence he uses words like formed, made, and fashioned as he thinks upon how God brought him into being in his mother’s womb. We must understand that there is no evolutionary process in the existence of man, but a work of God’s perpetual creative power. This is how the Psalmist understood his formation in the womb.
3. Also indicated here in verse 13 is the alluding to the creation of the soul in the womb. As the child is fashioned physically he is also given a soul by the creative power of God. This is called “creationism” meaning that God creates a new soul for every person and unites that soul with the person’s body at the time of conception. This view seems to fit with other passages which refer to God as creating the souls of each person while in the womb. For example in Zech 12: 1 God is mentioned as the one “who forms the spirit of man within him.” Therefore, God not only creates human beings to be physical creatures but also to be spiritual creatures. This fact accounts for the intangible aspect of human life. A doctor may examine your brain, but he cannot see your mind. A psychologist may speak to you about how you feel, but cannot see the soul from which your emotions flow. We then must conclude that God has created the physical and the spiritual makeup of every human being in His own image. This gives the human being great intrinsic value which should be respected at all times whether in the womb or the nursing home. Jesus teaches us the worth of the human soul when He says, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16: 26). How can intelligent men and women even consider the legality of abortion when we consider the value of human life? We must never forget that it is “righteousness that exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Prov. 13: 34).
II. Human Life is a Perpetual Awesome and Wonderful Creative act of God. (v. 14).
A. The psalmist understood something of the wonderful design of the human makeup and the sovereignty of God in His creative genius.
1. Who else but God could design the human body from materials He also created and then breathe into that physical body the breath of life? Have you ever thought of how the human body and the human soul cooperate? While we live in this body we not only house the soul but the body and soul have a vital connection. This is an amazing phenomenon. The best man can do is to create some sort of mechanical robot to perform certain types of work. Yet, man will never have the ability to create what God has created in the human being-a soul possessing intellect, emotion and will.
2. The human body functions with a multitude of systems. Each system cooperates with the others in order for the body to perform as it was designed. The skeletal system, nervous system, endocrine system, the digestive system, the cardiovascular system, the muscular system, the lymphatic system, the reproductive system, and the urinary system must all be in harmony. No wonder the psalmist declares, “for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.” God is the divine designer of the human being. All persons are created in a miraculous way by God as is clearly seen by the information given by the psalmist. Our value is found in the fact that “it is God who made us and not we ourselves” as the psalmist states in Psalm 100: 3. When we think about the complexity of the design and the function of the human being, how could we ever think of anything other than God as our creator? Only fallen, depraved creatures would think otherwise.
3. The psalmist was amazed when he thought about God’s creative power in his life. In verse 14 he says to God, “I will praise you.” Then in verse 17 he states, “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!” The writer of this psalm could not help but stand in awe of the amazing work of God in His sovereign creative power and knowledge of His ability not only to create but also to know His human creatures intimately before creating them. Verse 16 teaches us that God is intimate and personal with us even in the womb. God was so intimately acquainted with Jeremiah in that while he was still in his mother’s womb God determined to call him to be a prophet to his OT people. Jeremiah 1: 5 states, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” God tells Jeremiah that even before He formed him in the womb He knew him. I remember speaking at a sanctity of life meeting a few years ago. One lady who was the director of a local abortions alternative clinic asked me if I believed life began at conception. I responded by answering “no”. I went on to explain that I believed life began in the mind of God before conception. Now I know life, in time and space, begins at conception, but according to Jeremiah we can say, theologically speaking, that life began in the mind of God when he determined to create each person. Therefore when a child is aborted the parents are saying in essence to God, “You made a mistake by creating this child so we are going to end his or her life.” Life is of great value because God determined to create that life long before the mother or father ever thought about having a child.
4. Parents should realize that they are only the “secondary cause” concerning the conception of a child. God often brings about the results He seeks through the actions of human beings. Simply stated, parents are the instruments God uses in pro-creation. The OT saints understood this truth. Many times in the OT the writers speak of God’s control in the conception of children. For example in Genesis 30: 22 the scripture states concerning Rachel that “God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.” Therefore God gives human life as He pleases. Life is His alone to give and His alone to take. This fact makes human life of utmost value.
III. In Light of What the Psalmist has said, how can Abortion be considered as a legal right for anyone?
A. When we consider the value of human life as the scripture teaches no argument for abortion is legitimate. How can intelligent people convince themselves that abortion does not kill a human life?
1. I am not going to enter into all the arguments in this sermon. It is obvious from the teachings of the Bible that life in the womb is human life and to take that innocent life is nothing short of murder. Listen to the words of Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. on this issue. He writes, “It is unfair to draw too tight a comparison between abortion in America and the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. There are significant differences. First, the Holocaust was carried out, by and large, in secret. The rank and file Germans had no idea what was going on. We, on the other hand, every last one of us, woke up today knowing that four thousand babies would die today. We, on the other hand, have four thousand mothers, every day, who knowingly do this. We, on the other hand, have four thousand fathers, boyfriends and husbands who every day encourage this. The Holocaust lasted roughly ten years, and the Nazi’s killed roughly six million people. We, on the other hand, have been at this for 37 years, and have killed more than fifty million babies. It is an unfair comparison, unfair to the Nazis. We are far worse monsters.”
Conclusion: A professor in a world-acclaimed medical school once posed this medical situation -- and ethical problem -- to his students: "Here’s the family history: The father has syphilis. The mother has TB. They already have had four children. The first is blind. The second had died. The third is deaf. The fourth has TB. Now the mother is pregnant again, The parents come to you for advice. They are willing to have an abortion, if you decide they should. What do you say?"The students gave various individual opinions, and then the professor asked them to break into small groups for "consultation." All of the groups came back to report that they would recommend abortion. "Congratulations," the professor said, "You just took the life of Beethoven!"
Dr. Victor T. Haynes
