CHRISTIANS CHOOSE TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE RATHER THAN DEVALUE AND DESTROY LIFE
As Christians grapple with the question of right vs wrong as it pertains to shocking cultural changes, we would do well to remember whose we are, whom we serve and what our Lord taught His followers about the choice of two ways: “the strait and narrow” or “the wide and broad”.
Although our Lord’s earthly existence (His virgin birth, sinless life, instructions in righteousness, atoning sacrifice and glorious resurrection) took place in New Testament times, we would be correct to apply His teachings and principles for living to any interpretation of any part of the Old Testament -- inasmuch as Christ Jesus came to fulfill OT prophecies, to correct OT misunderstandings, to amplify OT truths.
Since the Father and the Son are one, it stands to reason that the Son was (is) in the same business as the Father – turning negatives into positives. Jesus told his parents and the temple priests, “I must be about my Father’s business” – the business which He had been involved in, from the beginning.
In the beginning God said, “Let there be light” to dispel darkness . . . He and the Son have been at it ever since – the most defining turning point from darkness to light occurring when the Light of Truth The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and, as they said, “we beheld His glory – as of the only begotten Son of God”.
The Son was there - in the beginning - as a part of the Triune Godhead . . . was there - after the beginning - until the time had fully come for the advent . . . here in person for thirty-three years until His ascension . . . has been with us ever since - in the person of the Holy Spirit . . . will be with us always.
The point: Although culture changes - for better or worse – the one and only God in three persons (Blessed Trinity) is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Therefore, that which Jesus fulfilled . . . corrected . . . amplified . . . stands as unchangeable truth. There is, however, one stipulation to the principle of unchangeability:
Unless Jesus contradicted an Old Testament admonition so as to clarify and amplify its true meaning - like when He often said, “You have heard it said thus and so, but I say unto you” – the original version stands, the truth of it confirmed. Now . . .
The truth about the sanctity of life vs the expendability of life is old as dirt: Life is a gift from God . . . and God’s people, whether Hebrews of the Old Testament or Christians of the New Testament, are to protect and preserve life – made abundantly clear by a mother’s determination to protect and preserve the life of her son Moses whose destiny it was to become God’s appointed deliverer of God’s people from bondage --- Exodus 2:1-10 . . .
What a stark contrast between the way these Jewish and Gentile women (bonded and free . . . women of both minority and majority status) banded together 3600 years ago to protect and preserve the life of a (minority) newborn --- and the way women today are so sharply divided on the issue of “pro-life” vs “pro-abortion”!
Midwives disobeyed orders to murder Hebrew babies (1:16-17) - prior to the edict which prompted Jochebed to hide Moses, then place him in a waterproofed basket in the river . . . Maidservants of the royal court (2:5) compassionately retrieved him, brought him to their royal Princess, who adored Moses (2:6) and showed that she really cared for an obvious Hebrew child by sending Miriam (2:8)) – an obvious Hebrew as well - to secure the services of a Hebrew nurse!
Imagine Jochebed’s anguish as she prepared the basket, with eyes blurred by tears, lips quivering with whispered prayers, nursing her infant child, knowing that each time might be her last, Jochebed’s heart racing within her as she set her little boy afloat in the river – an act of mercy inasmuch as it was a choice between death by a sword or life by the intervention of the LORD God of Israel.
If our trust is in the LORD, we entrust the lives of all babies (the born and the yet-to-be-born) to Him who is the giver of all life! No life is expendable to the LORD our God! He - our Maker, Father and Redeemer - has established sanctity of life by His expressed Will and by His Word as expressed by many spokespersons of His choosing and His directing.
The LORD God, through the providence of the Spirit of God, delivered Jochebed’s drifting basket into the hands of Pharaoh’s daughter. What a Drama - under the direction of the LORD! Not only at birth but through his years of growing up, the Lord prepared Moses for becoming a means of salvation for his people!
Centuries later, this same God placed another Baby – our Savior – in the arms of a Hebrew mother, the Virgin Mary. He too was delivered by the LORD God through by the providence of the Spirit of God from the sword of yet another paranoid king who felt so threatened by the birth of another Hebrew son Jesus – the One whose life and death became the means of salvation for the whole world.
Lost in sin, and marked for spiritual death (eternal separation from God) a world of sinners was (is) adrift in the sea of their own sins. God our Redeemer, moved by mercy and compassion, drew near to them (draws near to you and me) and, as Ezekiel put it (16:6), shouted (shouts) one word: “Live!”
God our Redeemer blots out sins of the repentant, lays them on the Savior - who, for our sakes, was nailed to the Cross. When we are born again, He “washes” us, clothes us in the righteousness of His Son, and calls us “sons of God”! Welcome to the Family of God! Aren’t you glad you were not aborted . . .?
Aren’t you glad Jochebed chose to protect and preserve her son . . . Mary the mother of Jesus chose to protect and preserve her son . . . Shudder to think what might have happened had they not chosen God’s gift of life for the persons conceived in them!
Although the eleventh child conceived by my mother, there was no doubt in her mind about giving birth to me . . . nor was there doubt in the minds of your mothers . . . and though we might have disappointed our Father in heaven at some time or other, it’s wonderful to know that our Redeemer wanted us to be His children in the Family of God!
God our Father is pro-life! He chose life for you and me! He lavished His grace on us through adoption whereby we became “sons of God”. He simply did not want us to die! He wanted everyone of us to live! Thank God!
Thank You, Jesus! At just the right time, “God demonstrated His love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-8) for, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin” (Hebrews 9:22). Thus,
Jesus instituted an observance, so that His followers would commemorate His dying on the Cross and shedding His blood for the remission of our sins.
While Jesus and His Disciples were gathered around the Passover table, our Lord took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it, and said: “This is . . . my body, crucified for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In like manner, Jesus took the cup and said: “This is . . . the new covenant in my blood, shed for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
With grateful hearts, we remember our Lord’s sacrifice on our behalf as we partake of two elements which represent His body and His blood.
We give thanks: Thanks be to Thee, O God, for your wonderful gift of human life . . . for your unspeakable gift of eternal spiritual life. Thanks be to Thee, O Christ, for the sacrificial offering of your body, for the shedding of your blood for the remission of our sins. To God be the glory! Amen.
As the symbolic wafers are passed, please take one and wait until everyone is served, then together we will eat that which represents “His body” . . .
Music: “My Faith Looks Up to Thee” . . .
As the communion cups are passed, take one and wait until everyone been served, then together we will drink that which represents “His blood” . . .
Music: “The Old Rugged Cross” . . .
Hymn: “Blest Be the Tie That Binds”
Benediction: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Cor. 13:14) Amen.
