HoHum:
Francis Schaeffer said that “cultures can be judged in many ways, but eventually every nation in every age must be judged by this test: How did it treat people? Our own is not exception. Those who regard individuals as expendable raw material do battle on many fronts with those who see each person as unique and special, worthwhile, and irreplaceable.” 1
WBTU:
Matthew 22:37-40: Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
How can we have a better understanding of the sanctity of human life? By applying the Great Commandment. We cannot love the Lord as we should unless we understand the gospel.
What is the gospel? The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. More to it than that.
The sanctity of human life covers more than just abortion, or euthanasia. It covers also how we treat other people, human rights. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The gospel takes the sanctity of human life higher than even this statement by Jefferson took it.
Thesis: How does the gospel advance the sanctity of human life?
For instances:
The First Incarnation
John 1:14: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
The great divide between man and God was bridged by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Son of God took on human flesh, suffered humiliation and death at our hands and bears our sins as our suffering servant.
Because God came in the form of man, God lowered himself and elevated humanity. By this act, God showed us the value of humanity. We are made in God’s image, this is true and wonderful, but to think that God became one of us?
Since God became man, no human being can be seen as worthless. No human life should be treated cruelly. Human dignity cannot be confined to only a few groups but to all the world. John 3:16: For God so loved the world...
Since Jesus life included every stage of human existence, from conception to death and even resurrection, then this elevates the dignity of every human being at every stage of existence.
When Jesus was on the earth, he was hungry, thirsty, suffered and died, and he experienced all things of the human condition. Hebrews 2:14: Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity
Some heresies in the past and even today try to say that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh. 2 John 7: Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.
What happens to humans (body, soul/spirit) matters to God and must matter to us. What happens to people’s bodies must matter to us because God came in a body in Jesus Christ. Past 2,000 years Christians have been in the forefront of medical advancements, hospitals, etc 2
Even our Constitution is concerned about the human condition even in punishment. The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that "cruel and unusual punishments [shall not be] inflicted".3
However, in the time of Jesus they did not have such a concern. Why? Because some people were inferior while others were special. By the incarnation Jesus shows us that all humans are special. Romans 3:23- All have sinned... We are all equal at the cross. The ground is level at Calvary. If all have sinned this means that there is equality. Everyone stands equal in our need for the sacrifice that Jesus offered at the cross.
Paul reminds us that Christ laid down his life not just for friends but also for enemies. Romans 5:10: For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Matthew 5:44: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
At that time they did not believe in equality, so the body of Jesus was nailed to a cross. On that cruel Roman cross Jesus suffered and died. We grieve over Christ’s grief, we anguish over Christ’s anguish. We need to extend that same concern to all who suffer bodily humiliation. It should motivate us to compassionate concern and intervention on behalf of all those who suffer.
Jesus’ death is always talked about as an evil. It is not good that he was abused and killed. Yes, by his death he brought salvation to the world and by his stripes we are healed. Good for us in the end but still evil.
Belief in the sanctity of human life is deepened by reflection on the ultimate nature of the price God paid at the cross to demonstrate how valuable human life is to God. Everyone must matter to us, because everyone matters to God, who sent Christ, who died for all.
Christ’s resurrection signifies several things:
The body is important. Christ rose in a body. This was a body that could be seen and touched. In this body Jesus ate and drank. Maybe not the glorified body but we will receive a glorified body at the resurrection day.
The victory of God over evil and death. 1 Corinthians 15:57: But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The triumph of life. 2 Corinthians 2:14: But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.
Now he has ascended to the right hand of the Father, and from which he shall come to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1). Acts 2:33: Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
The Second Incarnation
Romans 8:11: And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
To think that the Holy Spirit, a member of the Godhead, dwells in me through Jesus Christ is beyond wonderful!
I know it is the Holy Spirit but also Christ. Colossians 1:27: Christ in you, the hope of glory.
I once heard the story of a very wealthy man who each day in his limousine passed a weary, ragged newsboy at a big city intersection. One day he stopped, bought all the young man's papers, and invited the lad to his home. He fed him, gave him new clothes, and promised to help with his support. When the rich man delivered the boy back to his home and bid the child farewell ... the youth hesitated, and then turned back to the limousine and said simply, "Mister ... are you Jesus?" I believe the world is looking for Jesus in us. 4
You’re the Only Jesus Song- If not in you, I wonder where will they ever see the One who really cares? If not from you, how will they find. There's One who heals the broken heart, and gives sight to the blind? Chorus: You're the only Jesus that some will ever see And you're the only words of life, some will ever read So let them see in you the One in whom is all they'll ever need 'Cause you're the only Jesus, some will ever see 5
The least of these
Matthew 25:40, 45: The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.
Because of the first incarnation, the second incarnation is possible for all people. Even though they might not have it now, that doesn’t matter. Jesus teaches us to see in and through the face of every person his own face. Mother Teresa said, “I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper’s wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?” 6
If nothing else we are made in God’s image and within each person is great potentiality. I am a promise, I am a possibility, I am a promise with a capital "P". I am a great big bundle of potentiality. 7
This is a child or this is a mentally disabled person, especially from them I can see the face of Jesus. So innocent and without guile. Will be with me in heaven through Christ.
Human beings must be viewed and treated as those whose divinely intended destiny is to dwell eternally along with Jesus the Son in the presence of God the Father. That is how we should view everyone we encounter- as sacred human beings with an eternal destiny.
To hate, or degrade, or demean, or ignore the suffering of another person is to spit in the face of God. 8
A pro-choice feminist and a pro-life conservative were debating the relative merits of the sanctity of life issue. Sensing victory in the debate, the feminist declared, "You don’t understand, we’ve won in the White House, and we’ve won in the courthouse. Face it, it’s over, the fat lady has already sung" The pro-lifer calmly replied, "Wrong, it’s not over until the trumpet sounds”9
For Footnotes 1-9, contact me on e-mail.
