“EVERY LIFE IS PRECIOUS” Gen. 1:26-28
INTRO – Aren’t you thankful to be alive today? To be able to breath, eat, laugh, play, relax, work, worship – to be able to live is a wonderful gift from God. Isn’t it wonderful to be able to watch a beautiful sunset, to eat your favorite dessert, to go hunting or fishing w/ your son, to go shopping w/ your daughter, to go to a ballgame w/ your friends? Isn’t it wonderful to be able to watch your grandson play baseball or football or an Upward basketball game, to watch your granddaughter in a dance recital? Isn’t it wonderful to be able to hear this choir sing the praises of God, to be able to sing the praises of G yourself? Isn’t it wonderful to be able to walk on the beach, or walk through the woods, or to stroll around the subdivision, or walk through the mall? Isn’t it wonderful to be able to see the grandeur of the mountains, or the beauty of a rose, or these stained glass windows that point us to our Lord? Isn’t it wonderful to be alive today?
And yet every year in the US, 1.2 to 1.4 million babies are never given the opportunity to find out how wonderful it is to be alive. That’s how many abortions are performed each year in the US. That amounts to about 4,000 every day, 3 every minute, 1 every 20 seconds. So the white crosses that were put on display at the civic center yesterday not only represent the approximate number of abortions in MS each year, they also represent the approximate number of abortions that happen every 2 hours in the US. That many children die every 2 hours in the US.
Here are some basic spiritual truths that we need to remember:
God is the Creator of life – Gen. 1:26-27
I remember when I was a kid that my parents, SS teachers, church, and every other respected person in my life taught me that I was created by God, that every person was created by God. Do you believe these things? I know what biological process is necessary for a child to be conceived, but do you believe that God is still the Creator of life? God created every person, every precious life you see on those photos in front of you.
So when did we get so sophisticated that we thought that we could move away from this basic foundational truth and determine that even though God is the Creator of life, that we could be the ones to decide when to take an innocent life?
God is the Giver of life – Gen. 2:7
Not only does God create life, but He breathes His “breath of life” into every human being. HE gives life. He gave life to every precious life, every person you see on those photos in front of you. HE is the Giver of life.
Dr. Bernard Nathanson was the leading abortion doctor in the United States in the 1970’s. He had campaigned vigorously for the legalization of abortion and he himself had performed 60,000 abortions. He even believed his intentions were good and that he was doing a righteous thing by providing a service that guaranteed a woman’s right to control her body.
But something changed Dr. Nathanson’s point view. It was a medical breakthrough called the ultrasound, introduced in 1976. This device literally opened a window on fetal development. The first time Nathanson saw an ultrasound in action, he was with a group of residents gathered around a pregnant patient in a darkened examining room watching a demonstration by a technician. The technician applied a conductive gel to the woman’s abdomen and then began working a handheld sensor over her stomach. As the screen clarified, Nathason was amazed. He could see a throbbing heart. When the technician focused closely on the image, Nathanson could see all four chambers of the heart pumping blood.
And during the scan Nathanson became convicted. He said that his mind had dropped the word fetus in favor of the word baby. Suddenly, everything he had been learning about the child in the womb since his entry into the medicine snapped into focus. He had known what took place in the womb but somehow seeing it for the first time changed everything.
Bernard Nathanson, the leading abortion doctor in America, became convinced that human life existed with in the womb from the onset of pregnancy. In an article he wrote for the New England Journal of Medicine he wrote, in abortion “we are taking life.” That fetus is not mere tissue - it is human life. (www.sermoncentral.com)
Every life is created in the image of God – Gen. 1:27
Every precious life, every person you see in those photos in front of you was created in the image of God. You were created in the image of God. That does not mean that you will become a god as some religions would have you believe. What is does mean is that you have the capacity to think intelligently, to feel emotions, and to reason. It is not a process that has come about through evolution, but is a God-given part of every person’s life. John MacArthur in referring to the phrase “image of God” said, “This phrase defined man’s unique relation to God and set him apart from the animals. He was like God in that he could reason and had intellect, will, & emotion.”
So how did we come to the place in our society where we destroy the lives of millions of babies every year – where precious God-created, God-given, image of God life is destroyed every year? King Solomon gives us a clue in 1 Kings.
- The Lord loved Solomon deeply. Solomon’s ways pleased the Lord, so much so that in 1 Kings 3:5, God told Solomon, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon requested wisdom and knowledge, which God gave him, but God also gave him great riches and honor along w/ his wisdom.
- God placed this condition on Solomon’s undeserved blessings: “And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” (1 Kings 3:14)
- And Solomon did walk in the ways of God and obey Him for a long time. And 1 Kings 4:29 & 31 tells us that “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore…He was wiser than any other man.”
- The first 10 chapters of 1 Kings tell of the incredible wisdom and exploits of King Solomon as he walked w/ God and enjoyed His blessings. He finished building the temple of God and ruled the people w/ justice and wisdom.
- But 1 Kings 11:1 contains a terribly chilling word – the word “however.” It is a modifier, qualifying whatever has gone before it. It changes a good report to a bad report. 1 Kings 11:1 says, “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women…” You see, God had specifically told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry w/ them, b/c they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” And v. 2 goes on to say, “Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.” Then verses 3-6 go on to tell the downward spiral of his life and love for God.
- Solomon turned from the one true living God to the worship of Ashtoreth and Molech.
o Ashtoreth was the goddess of sensual living, the goddess of fertility and reproduction.
o Molech was a pagan god to whom child sacrifices were made.
Sound familiar? Our whole society has turned away from total devotion to God and has turned its heart to pursue these same gods. People everywhere are turning from total devotion to God and are pursuing the spirit of Ashtoreth. Our “Desperate Housewives” and MTV world tells us that we can do anything WE want, anything that makes US feel good, anything that our depraved minds and hearts can come up with. If we want to have sex before marriage, outside of marriage, w/ someone we don’t even truly love or maybe someone that we don’t even know that well, then go ahead. That’s the spirit of Ashtoreth. Then in the spirit of Molech, if you end up getting pregnant or getting someone pregnant, then simply go see your obliging ob-gyn who will help you sacrifice that inconvenient child in any number of ways, all the way up to the last month of the pregnancy.
We even have Christian denominations whose statements of belief support abortion. I’m so thankful to be a Southern Baptist as we have gone on record as being totally pro-life. Our statement of belief, “The Baptist Faith & Message”, states, “We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.”
So what do we do? How do we respond? If every life is precious, then what should we do today?
Commit your life to the God of life. If you’ve never committed your life to the Lord Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, do that today no matter what the world and our culture tells you to do. It’s time to make that commitment w/ your life. “Stop seeking the God we want and start seeking the God who is.” (Patrick Morley, Devotions for the Man in the Mirror)
Renew your devotion to the God of life. All of us have had those “however” moments in our lives. It may be that that is where you are right now. You used to walk w/ God; however… You used to love God w/ all your heart; however… God warns us against giving in to our “howevers.” If you have given into a “however” in your life, now is the time to turn back to the Lord. If you don’t, you will end up like Solomon who died a broken, disillusioned, and spiritually insensitive man.
Stand up & live for the God of life. The wonderful thing about our God of life is that He gives life over and over and over again. He is the God of 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 100th chances. We need yield ourselves completely to Him so that He might live His life through us. We need to stand up for life at all times – the life of the unborn and the already born. Those pictures in front of you represent precious lives. They represent people loved by God, people for whom Jesus died. They represent a world in need of a Savior and in need of the unconditional love of God. They represent people who are suffering from the consequences of abortion and in need of the love and grace of God, the love and grace that you and I can share.
Every life is precious; every unborn life and every born life. You are precious to God. Let’s stand up and live for the God of life today.
