Sanctity Of Life

SANCTITY OF LIFE

(Acts 17:24-30)

Today, January 20, 2002 is “SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE” throughout the nation. On this special occasion it is important for people know that our worth as a person is not based on what we do or whether we meet certain criteria or qualities (“quality of life” ethic). Instead, our value exists because God set His image upon us, sustains us, sacrificed His only begotten Son for us and seeks to use us in His Kingdom’s work. How encouraging for people to learn God’s purpose in our life is tied directly to His ability to use us, no matter what our physical or mental condition. Therefore, to further discuss this important topic, lets examine the words of truth in Acts 17:24-30:

First, GOD MADE ALL THINGS, HE IS THE LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH AND GIVES TO ALL LIFE AND BREATH AND ALL THINGS. Listen again to verses 24-25: God is the Maker and not the one who was made. He is the originator of all things. Everything that exists came from His hands. Colossians 1:16-17 say, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

The Psalmist tells us, “Behold, children are a gift from the Lord.” (Ps. 127:3) God is the power behind barrenness, and God is the power behind conception. We read in the Bible where God closed the womb of a woman and opened the womb of a woman. We are simply the human instrumentation through which God makes a baby. And you cannot, through sexual relationships create a soul – an immortal, eternal soul. Likewise, God is the creator of deformed people that are born. Listen to Moses’ words in Exodus 4:11: “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 chapter 9 the disciples ask Jesus, “…who sinned, this man or his parents?” And Jesus said, “Nobody. This man was born blind for the glory of God.”

God gives to all life and breath and does not have any needs himself. Job 34:14,15 says, “If it were His (God’s) intention and He withdrew His spirit and breath all mankind would perish together and man would return to the dust.” Paul says the real God is one who gives, who pours out. He does not need anything from you. He does not live in temples made by man. He is the one who made you and everything about you, and there is nothing you can give Him that He needs. He is, rather, giving Himself continually to you – “…For God so loved the world, He gave…”.

Second, GOD DETERMINED HIS APPOINTED TIMES AND BOUNDARIES FOR MANKIND. Listen to verse 26: Solomon in the Old Testament made a similar statement in Ecclesiastes 3:1-2: “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under the heaven. A time to give birth, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.” Notice the Apostle Paul says God “made from one (blood) every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth.” Folks, “…red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in His sight.” No one person, creed or nation origin has a higher standing or quality more deserving of life than another – all human life is sacred. Next, Paul says that God “determined their (man’s) appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation.” The Hebrew word for time in Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 is “eth.” It means “an appointed time or a proper time” and signifies an appointed, fixed and set time or period in which things are to occur. The concept of the word also implies “a proper or an appropriate time” for a given activity. My friend, our God is a God of order not a God of chaos. As the Psalmist says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord” not put together by a series of random or chaotic choices. Thus, the Bible says both in Ecclesiastes and in Acts 27 that there is a proper or an appropriate time which has been predetermined by a sovereign God for birth and death to occur. Solomon says there is a time to be born and a time to die. These times are determined by the divine counsel of God; and, as we were born, so we must die, at the time appointed.

Thus, to kill a life because it doesn’t meet our criteria of “quality of life” is to play God. Thus, abortion (the killing of an unborn human being), infanticide (the killing of an infant), euthanasia (the killing of the ill and the infirm), and homicide (the murder of human beings at any stage in life) are all a revolt against God and an attempt to usurp the prerogatives and plans of the Creator. It is interesting that the word “abortion” comes from a Latin word which means “to perish by untimely birth.” While, the word “sanctity” is defined as “sacred or hallowed character…a sacred thing.” God loathes such bloodshed and rebellion and has made it clear that He will judge those who perpetrate or condone such bloodshed (Gen. 9:5-6; Ex. 20:13).