WHAT DOES GOD THINK ABOUT
Part 1: ABORTION
“Hoof-and-mouth disease is the scourge of the cattle industry, and an outbreak can decimate herds very quickly. Therefore, when the disease hit one cattle area a few years ago, authorities clamped on a strict quarantine to isolate and control the problem. There was one rancher who was determined to save his animals. He carefully sprayed every building on his farm, every room of his house, and every vehicle on his property. He then moved all his animals into a carefully scrubbed and disinfected building, padlocked the door and restricted all contact with the outside world. No visitors were allowed on his property, and he even went to the point of picking up his newspaper at the front gate with sterile gloves, then baking it in the oven to kill any bacteria. Yet, despite his desperate efforts, within 3 weeks some of his cows became ill, and the entire herd had to be liquidated. As one health officer noted, ‘The virus is transmitted through the air, and you can’t quarantine the wind.’ In our time, the winds of the ‘me generation’ are blowing a strong and deadly virus.”
(Gary Inrig, Hearts of Iron Feet of Clay, Chicago; Moody 1979, p. 5).
People are deciding right and wrong according to their own opinions. They say, “If it’s right for me, who are you to judge?” I am afraid that we have sunk almost to the level of the Israelites when in
Judges 17:6 the Bible says, “In those days . . ., every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Well my friends, you and I are called to be a holy people, a holy priesthood, a city on a hill, a light to the world. We are called to live different lives. We cannot anymore isolate ourselves from society than we can cows from that virus, but we can confront it with the truth.
For that reason, for the next several weeks, we are going to look at what the Bible says about some topics that in our society have become very controversial. I will strive, to the best of my ability, to show you what the Bible has to say about the subjects we address, so that when you are confronted with people in the community sharing their opinions, you will have something stronger to back up what you say. You will have the Word of God. And the Bible says that God’s Word will not return void.
This morning I would like us to look at what the Bible says about life, and the value of human life.
I. PEOPLE ARE SPECIAL
- Jeremiah 1:5
A. God knew us before Birth
In this passage, God, speaking to Jeremiah, says “I knew you before you were born.” Did it ever occur to you that God has known you forever? He knew you before your parents did and before they created the first sonogram.
And you know, even before we’re born, we know things as well. By the time a child has been in her mother for 7 weeks, her lips are sensitive to touch. By the time she’s been growing 10 weeks she is sensitive to touch, and by 7 months she can recognize her mother’s voice.
*** Let me introduce you to someone. This is Malinda, my neice. Malinda was born 11 weeks, 21/2 months, premature. In many states in our country, she could have been legally aborted, long after she was born.***
We remember when Mary, pregnant with the baby Jesus, went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, that the then 6-month-old baby John leapt in his mother’s womb at the sound of Mary’s approach. God knew us before birth, and we know things as well.
B. God made us in His Image
- Gen 1:27
If you examine the rest of the creation account in the first 2 chapters of Genesis, you find that each time the Lord created something, He simply spoke and it appeared. He said, “Let there be light.” and there was light. He said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation,” and it brought forth vegetation. Each time God created something, He simply spoke and it appeared. Then He made man. Then He created the first male, Adam, from the dust of the earth. God formed him with His own hands, and breathed the breath of life into his lungs. God later, knowing that man needed help, took a rib from Adam’s side and from that rib formed the first woman, Eve. Again, Eve was formed and created, like Adam was, in the image of God.
C. God made us, Defects and All
Some people have the mistaken idea that if a baby is going to be born deformed, or handicapped, or in some way different, that that baby or person’s life is somehow worth less. Listen to what the Psalmist says.
> Psalm 139:13-14 For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You because I am unique in remarkable ways. (HCSB)
> Psalm 119:73 Thy hands made me and fashioned me; …
> Exodus 4:11 And the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”
Remember in John 9:2&3 when the disciples asked Jesus about the blind man, “… who sinned, this man or his parents?” “Neither this man sinned nor his parents,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.” (HCSB)
D. God made us For a Purpose
- Ephesians 2:10
Before we were even born, God had laid out a purpose for our lives, for yours and mine. He made us exactly the way we are, formed us in our mothers, so that we can accomplish the plans He has for us. Do you realize that God has made you just the way you are for a reason? There are people you can reach, there are people you can minister to, that no one else can reach. God has made you special.
Go back sometime and read the account of Jephthah, in Judges chapters 11 & 12. Jephthah’s mother was a prostitute. Talk about an unplanned and unwanted birth; but God used him to lead Israel.
Every person, even while in the womb, has been formed by God, is known by God, is created in the image of God, and has a purpose in God’s plans. People are special.
II. GOD HATES KILLING
> Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.”
Do you remember the account of David and Bathsheba recorded in 2 Samuel? King David was attracted to a woman he saw bathing next door, so he slept with her, even though she was married. She became pregnant. David had her husband killed and God got ticked and David and his family paid a terrible price for David’s sin.
Now, David probably had the woman’s husband killed to cover his sin, to escape embarrassment, to get on with his life, to get out of a bad situation. In spite of his many reasons, God didn’t accept any of them.
My friends, those are the same reasons, the same excuses
many people give today to have an abortion. Either they’re afraid, or they’ll be embarrassed, or they’ll be inconvenienced, or it will bring trauma and drama into their lives. Those are never valid reasons for taking another’s life.
III. CHRISTIANS MUST RESPOND
My friends, we can no longer sit on the fence saying it’s none of our business. We can no longer sit silently and say nothing. Already abortion has claimed the lives of 40 million innocent victims since it was legalized in this country. That’s more than have been killed in all of America’s wars. Today, 1 out of 4 women in America either have had or will have an abortion. Every day, there are more babies killed in abortion clinics than were killed in the twin towers on September 11th. We cannot sit idle. We must respond; but what is the Christian response?
1. Ask forgiveness – If you have had an abortion, ask God to forgive you. 1 John 1:9. Then forgive yourself.
2. Love others - James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Many Christians look down their self-righteous noses at those who have had abortions. James says that God doesn’t grade sins. If you’re human, then you’ve sinned, so quit acting like you didn’t need Jesus to die for sins, and begin loving people the way Jesus did. The church needs to be a place of acceptance, love, and healing, where we show others the grace God has shown us.
3. Pray for change –
4. Work for change – In the United States, you can be fined $5000 and imprisoned for up to a year for breaking an eagle’s egg, you can be imprisoned and fined for stealing a sea turtle egg, and yet our babies are being killed daily with little outcry. It is time we contact our legislators and tell them there must be a change.
Proverbs 31:9 says that a leader has the responsibility to Speak out for the one who cannot speak, for the rights of those who are doomed. My friends, you and I have a responsibility to support those who speak out for and defend those who are unable to speak for themselves, our children.
When I was born, I was a “blue baby.” My lungs were not working properly. My heart had a problem with a valve as well. My parents were dirt poor, living in poverty in a small camper, barely large enough for the 2 of them. The last thing in the world they needed was a sickly baby, yet they spared me. Help others do the same.
