“Masterpiece”
Sanctity of Human Life Sunday
January 22, 2006
Introduction: Christmas is always a fun time at our house. We love the decorations, the food and just spending time together. The last few years have been especially interesting for me because my parents have taken up the hobby of making gifts for their six children. My dad especially enjoys creating things with his hands to pass on as gifts.
My dad has been getting slower in his older years. He is not very healthy and can’t do a lot of physical work anymore. One thing that he has done is taken up painting. He used to play around with it now and then, but now it has become a full-fledged hobby. Over the past year or so, he has taken several classes to learn how to paint. He goes to a class and an instructor walks them through how to paint a picture. At the end of the day, you go home with your very own oil painting.
This year, all six of his kids received very special Christmas gifts. We each received a “Charles Harvey” original. It is incredible to think that my 78 year old dad, who has no artistic training, has been able to produce such incredible pictures. These have become very special gifts to us all as we know that they will last as a reminder of my dad.
It reminds me of the care with which God has created us. God is a master artist. He is the one who paints brilliant strokes across the pages of our lives and allows us to experience all of the wonder and beauty of a life uniquely created in his image. He is the craftsman who visualized us in his mind and created out of a unique love from his heart.
Today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Across our nation, churches are taking a stand for the rights and the lives of the pre-born. Today, I want to share briefly with you why human life is so valuable and then I want to share with you how Countryside is standing alongside another ministry in our area to support the lives of babies and their mothers.
I. God is the Creator of Life.
The most basic of all of our understanding of God is that he is the creator. Life itself was created in the heart of God and scripture tells us that he desired to create human beings to reflect his image.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 (NIV)
To be created in God’s image means we are to be a reflection of him.
God created us and gave us the very breath of life. He introduced oxygen to our lungs and life into our soul so that we could experience him and reflect love back to him.
“The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7 (NIV)
It is interesting to note that scripture not only tells us that God created, but it tells us how. He formed us out of dust. Now there are all kinds of people who don’t believe that man was created by God. They believe we just evolved out of nothing or some type of ooze. The interesting thing to me is that every tomb that is opened, every coffin that is unearthed contains a corpse that has returned to dust. Just a thought.
The breath of the life of God is the ability to live.
In the book of Job, one of Job’s friends begins to make a statement to Job to reason with him in his suffering. One of his first remarks is to declare the same footing of creation as all of mankind:
“The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4 (NIV)
This statement is a declaration of the divine place; God as creator and man as creation.
Life is precious to God. He created it, he crafted it and he shaped it. His desire is for us as his children to respect the life he gives and to be a vessel to protect the precious life of those who cannot protect themselves.
This is a special painting. Not because it was painted by a famous artist or because it has some kind of monetary value. It is special because it was created by my father.
Human life is special. Not because of what it can contribute or even the passing on of some great mind or artistic expression. It is special because it was created by our Heavenly Father.
We must begin to recognize God as the eternal artist.
II. God Created Life For A Purpose
God has a plan for each and every life. He shaped us, crafted us and equipped us to play a unique role in the God story.
God created us unique and gifted.
God shaped us from before we were born.
“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out; you know every bone in my body you know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, and then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; you know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)
If God spent all that energy and time creating us, don’t you think it was so that we would have a purpose and meaning in life.
We must understand that God ordained each life to fulfill his plan.
God told the prophet Jeremiah that he had been formed for a specific plan of God’s.
"I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world." Jeremiah 1:5 (NLT)
God chose to create us and to reveal himself through us.
“It is God who saved us and chose us to live a holy life. He did this not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan long before the world began—to show his love and kindness to us through Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 1:9 (NLT)
Each human life is designed for a God ordained purpose.
That is why it is so important that we stand in the gap for those who are pre-born. When babies are killed through abortion, we are playing God by saying that they do not have a God ordained purpose in life.
Countryside as a church is committed to sharing the love of Jesus Christ into the lives of women in crisis pregnancy and helping the masterpieces that God has created find life in his purpose. We have a very special way of partnering with people who can minister to people on a level that the church cannot. Kay Krivanek is going to come and share with you the way that Countryside stands for the pre-born.
Kay Krivanek share about CareNet.
Today, I want o remind you that life is precious. Life is designed by God with a purpose and a plan. Maybe you have been touched personally by the pain of abortion. If so, there is healing in the cross of Jesus for you.
As our application for today, I want to invite you to take a paint brush to be reminded that every human life is an original masterpiece work of art created by God. Will you commit to pray for the lives of the pre-born and the ministry of CareNet this week?
Pass out paint brushes.
