Sanctum Vitae!

IN MY OFFICE HANGS A PICTURE THAT STATES THE FOLLOWING: “JUST THINK, YOU’RE NOT HERE BY CHANCE, BUT BY GOD’S CHOOSING. HIS HAND FORMED YOU AND MADE YOU THE PERSON YOU ARE. HE COMPARES YOU TO NO ONE ELSE. YOU ARE ONE OF A KIND. YOU LACK NOTHING THAT HIS GRACE CAN’T GIVE YOU. HE HAS ALLOWED YOU TO BE HERE AT THIS TIME IN HISTORY TO FULFILL HIS SPECIAL PURPOSE FOR THIS GENERATION.”

LIFE HAS MEANING AND PURPOSE. LIFE HAS VALUE. LIFE IS SACRED AND IT IS HOLY. GENESIS 2:7, “THEN THE LORD GOD FORMED A MAN FROM THE DUST OF THE GROUND AND BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE, AND THE MAN BECAME A LIVING BEING.” LIFE IS “GOD-BREATHED” THEREFORE IT IS HOLY.

THAT IS WHY MY MESSAGE IS ENTITLED, “SANCTUM VITAE” WHICH IS LATIN AND MEANS “LIFE IS HOLY.” OUR LIVES ARE FORMED IN TWO DISTINCT AND SACRED WAYS: FIRST, OUR LIVES ARE SET, HAND-CRAFTED AND DESIGNED BY GOD, HIMSELF. PSALM 139:13-16, “FOR YOU CREATED MY INMOST BEING; YOU KNIT ME TOGETHER IN MY MOTHER’S WOMB. I PRAISE YOU BECAUSE I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE…MY FRAME WAS NOT HIDDEN FROM YOU WHEN I WAS MADE IN THE SECRET PLACE, WHEN I WAS WOVEN TOGETHER IN THE DEPTHS OF THE EARTH.”

SECONDLY, NOT ONLY ARE WE CREATED BY GOD, BUT WE ARE MADE IN HIS IMAGE. GENESIS 1:27, “SO GOD CREATED HUMAN BEINGS IN HIS OWN IMAGE. IN THE IMAGE OF GOD HE CREATED THEM; MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM.”

WE CAN REJOICE KNOWING THAT OUR HEAVENLY FATHER’S DETAILED OVERSIGHT OF OUR EXISTENCE INSTILLS WITHIN US A PURPOSE, REASON, AND HOPE FOR WHO WE ARE…AND WHOSE WE ARE. THIS GIVES US CONFIDENCE TO DECLARE THAT THE BEGINNING OF LIFE AND THE ENDING OF LIFE ARE THE GOD-GIVEN BOUNDARIES OF ALL HUMAN EXISTNCE.

OUR LIFE BELONGS TO GOD WHO GRANTS US SUCH LIFE. THEREFORE, WE ARE EQUALLY BOUND TO HONOR AND RESPECT THE SACREDNESS OF HUMAN LIFE. EPHESIANS 2:10, “FOR WE ARE GOD’S MASTERPIECE. HE HAS CREATED US ANEW IN CHRIST JESUS, SO WE CAN DO THE GOOD THINGS HE PLANNED FOR US LONG AGO.”

GOD ALLOWED OUR CREATION IN ORDER TO EXPRESS HIS LOVE TO US. WE WERE CREATED AS A SPECIAL OBJECT OF GOD’S LOVE. OUR GOD MADE US ON PURPOSE FOR A SPECIFIC REASON AND THAT IS WHY HUMAN LIFE HAS PROFOUND MEANING AND VALUE.

THIS IS WHY ALL FORMS OF SINFULNESS AGAINST OUR EXISTENCE IS SUCH A HORRIFIC TRAGEDY. WE, AS MERE HUMANS, HAVE NO RIGHT IN DECIDING WHAT BECOMES OF A LIFE GOD CREATES. WE MUST NOT LORD OVER WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES.

THE CHURCH HAS ALWAYS MADE IT CLEAR THAT IT STANDS WITH GOD, OUR CREATOR, WHEN CHALLENGES ARISE CONCERNING THE TAKING OF LIFE, ENDING LIFE, PREVENTING LIFE, AND EVEN ENGINEERING OR ALTERING LIFE.

DEUTERONOMY 30:15-16; 19-20, “SEE, I SET BEFORE YOU TODAY LIFE AND PROSPERITY, DEATH AND DESTRUCTION. FOR I COMMAND YOU TODAY TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, TO WALK IN OBEDIENCE TO HIM, AND TO KEEP HIS COMMANDS, DECREES AND LAWS; THEN YOU WILL LIVE … I HAVE SET BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH, BLESSINGS AND CURSES. NOW CHOOSE LIFE, SO THAT YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN MAY LIVE AND THAT YOU MAY LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, LISTEN TO HIS VOICE, AND HOLD FAST TO HIM. FOR THE LORD IS YOUR LIFE….”

RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE ALWAYS GOES BOTH WAYS! WE MUST LEARN TO HAVE A HEALTHY RESPECT OUR OWN LIFE AS WELL AS AN UNCONDITIONAL RESPECT FOR EVERYONE ELSE.

MARK 12:29-31, JESUS ANSWERED HIM, “THE FIRST OF ALL THE COMMANDMENTS IS: ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL, THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE. AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ THIS IS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT. AND THE SECOND, LIKE IT, IS THIS: ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ THERE IS NO OTHER COMMANDMENT GREATER THAN THESE.”

GOD CREATED US FOR HIMSELF AND HE LOVES US ALL FULLY, UNCONDITIONALLY, AND EQUALLY. HE WISHES ALL TO BE IN A LOVING AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. 2 PETER 3:9, “THE LORD IS NOT SLOW IN KEEPING HIS PROMISE, AS SOME UNDERSTAND SLOWNESS. INSTEAD HE IS PATIENT WITH YOU, NOT WANTING ANYONE TO PERISH, BUT EVERYONE TO COME TO REPENTANCE.”

DESPITE WHAT BECOMES OF US DUE TO THE SINFULNESS OF OTHERS OR FROM OUR OWN CHOICES AND DECISIONS, IT CANNOT DISRUPT THE PLAN THAT GOD HAS FOR US. I BELIEVE THIS IS WHY IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW SACRED LIFE IS AND THE GREAT VALUE PLACED UPON OUR LIVES.

OUR SCRIPTURE PASSAGE TODAY, 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20, HELPS US UNDERSTAND THE REALITY OF OUR VALUE. THE WORDS CONTAINED IN THIS PASSAGE IS OUR COMMAND TO UPHOLD THE SANCTITY OF LIFE BUT TO ALSO SEE OUR OWN VALUE AS WELL.