BEFORE YOU (WE) WERE BORN, THE LORD GOD KNEW YOU (US)? HOW CAN THAT BE?
One of the most intriguing encounters with Jesus recorded in the Bible is the account of a visit with Jesus one night by a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, Nicodemus, who honestly acknowledged that Jesus was a Rabbi sent from God. His acknowledgment was due to the miracles Jesus had performed.
When Jesus told Nicodemus the truth that, unless a person is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, the Jewish ruler exclaimed with astonishment, “How can this be?”
Whereupon Jesus wondered out loud how a highly-educated orthodox Jew could exclaim, “Surely one cannot enter a second time into the mother’s womb to be born!” (“born again” was obviously a figure of speech used by Jesus . . .)
Like so many unbelievers who get caught up in the skepticism that exists in the realm of higher learning when it comes to spiritual matters - due to deep-seeded unwillingness to accept Christian doctrine as truth if it cannot be assessed in terms of biologic, scientific data - Nicodemus missed the point Jesus was making about the new life that He (Jesus) came from God to provide for sinful humanity. As he so often did, Jesus seized the moment to teach, in this case, Nicodemus . . .
In like manner, we seize that memorable moment when “the word of the Lord” came to Jeremiah (told the prophet about God’s foreknowledge of the beginning of the prophet’s life) to teach skeptics in our day biblical truth about the beginning of all human life and therefore the sanctity of all lives.
The point of this teaching moment is that all human beings were known by the Lord God prior to conception in their mother’s wombs – Jeremiah 1:4-10 . . .
Clearly the Bible teaches that human life, without exception, was created for a purpose, and that life begins prior to conception, since the omnipotent Lord God knows about every birth-to-be.
If Christians nationwide were truly committed to doing what’s right in God’s sight, there would be no further argument about abortion on demand nor might there have occurred the Supreme Court ruling of 1973.
The number of abortions since that infamous ruling staggers the mind! More than 55 million babies murdered – greater than the total number of deaths caused by all wars, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, rebellions, riots and accidents combined! A number equivalent to the combined population of the entire southeastern United States of America!
We are talking about babies with “eternal souls, beating hearts, digesting stomachs, seeing eyes, hearing ears, brain activity detected in recent years by ultra sound” – a modern radiologic technique which has proven also that babies being exterminated recoil in pain caused by instruments used to kill them.
To the official of the misnamed “Planned Parenthood” organization who dined and wined while laughingly bragging about the sale of body parts of babies put to death by government-sanctioned executioners, I would welcome a chance to look them in the eye and say:
“Do you not know? Have you not heard that the Lord God values the lives of babies before they are conceived, and that you are not only guilty of breaking the sixth commandment but, by your arrogance toward that which is sacred, you may have committed the unpardonable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit whose searing of conscience you shrugged off?”
Folks, in God’s eyes, life is sacred because He created it in His image and, as He looked upon His creation, said, “It is very good.” That which is very good is not to be tampered with by enemies of God, let alone annihilated in the womb.
Life is sacred no matter what its condition might be. Sinful though we may be, God still loved us and sent His Son to redeem us from sin and the grave. Yes, there are those who experience the challenges of deformity, disease and mental as well as physical disorders, but such folks among us represent opportunities for the healthy to serve God by serving the needs of the underprivileged.
Jesus demonstrated special concern for the ones we label special needs children and adults. We do not discard the Down’s Syndrome child or any other disabled person. Rather, we deem them redeemable and we do everything within our power to lift the fallen. Why? God the Father loves and values them!
Max Lucado tells in his book The Applause of Heaven, about a sweater that hangs in his closet. He seldom wears it – it’s too small, the sleeves are too short, the shoulders too tight, some of the buttons are missing, the threads are frazzled.
Why doesn’t he discard it? Love won’t let him. The old sweater was not made in a factory, produced on an assembly line by a nameless employee earning wages. No, it was the creation of his devoted mother expressing her love.
The sweater is unique, one of a kind, irreplaceable. Each strand was chosen with care, each thread selected with affection. Even though the sweater has lost its use, it has lost none of its value. It is valuable not because of its function but because of its maker. So is every life!
Life is sacred because of its eternal nature.
Life existed in the mind of God before it entered the world through physical birth. “My substance was not hidden from Thee when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the womb. Thine eyes did see my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
New life exists eternally once the “new birth” experience occurs - as told to Nicodemus by Jesus the author of the “born-again” experience. For all those who have been “born again”, their earthly life has become only a prelude to eternity.
Meanwhile, as we continue life’s journey in the here and now, before we get there, we need to be aware that God is with us to see us through every aspect of the remaining days of our lives.
Don’t say, “Well, I’m just a weary old lady (or gentleman) who doesn’t have much time left, so I’ll just sit and wait.” The Lord God through his prophet Jeremiah says, “Get up and go on about your daily activities and routines; and be aware that I am with you.”
Who knows but that God has yet another task to appoint us to? Maybe so, maybe not. Yet, just as God used old Moses and Jeremiah in a unique way, who’s to say He won’t appoint you or me in our old age? No matter how others may see us, God continually shapes us and equips us for His purpose and His glory.
Sometimes I feel like that old sweater that has lost its wear ability . . . an old pair of shoes that wore out a long time ago . . . an old gentleman who has seen his better days. That’s the way I sometimes feel.
But my feelings are oftentimes overruled by the Lord God who knew me before I was born - accidentally for a purpose. And He says, “If I appoint you I will be with you every step of the way. and will help you carry on, despite what others may think or say or when they try to persuade you to stop and go no further.”
How can it be that God can use me? In the same way that God knew me before I was conceived . . . gave me new life . . . gives me eternal life: He is the Lord God, and He appointed me. And that is how it is with you! Amen.
