The Sanctity Of All

THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE

Psalm 139

INTRODUCTION:

ILL> A recent Reader’s Digest had this story. The man was running late. He was worried that he was going to miss his plane so he ran out of the hotel, flagged down the first cab he saw and got in. He told the driver to get to the airport as fast as possible.

Evidently, that was the wrong thing to say. The driver took off racing through the streets, came to a red light and didn’t even slow down. The man in the backseat became quite nervous and said, "Isn’t that a little dangerous."

"My 5 brothers and I have been driving taxicabs for years and this system has worked pretty good. ‘Red means Go.’"

Sure enough the next light was red as well and he flew right through.

The passenger was relieved when they finally came to a green light. However, this time the driver slowed the cab down until he almost came to a complete stop.

"I don’t understand. You fly through the red lights, but you nearly stopped at that green light. That doesn’t make sense."

"Well, you never know if one of my brother’s might be coming the other way."

We would probably be a little nervous if we were in that man’s shoes too.

We place a high value on life--especially when it is our own lives. We seek jobs with good health benefits. We spend thousands of dollars on surgeries and treatments to make our lives longer and more comfortable. Some of you exercise, watch your weight, and do other things to make your life better.

However, we live in a world that is having less and less regard for human life. Dr. Kevorkian has gained much support and continues to assist in suicides even though it is against the law. While there is a side of us that can understand wanting to bring someone’s life to an end when they are going through a great deal of distress and pain, it is not our place to play God.

There is a growing number of people who would support killing babies that are born with birth defects. With the ability of amniocentesis it is now possible to find out a lot of information about the baby before birth. Babies that have birth defects are being aborted. Babies of the wrong sex are being aborted.

Who is to decide who is to live or die? Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” In Ephesians 2:10 we read, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

God is the one that has given life. He has not given us the right to take it away.

ILL> Jesse Jackson, "I am somebody."

We have been made by God and that makes us special. We have been created in His image. His desire is that all of us become His sons and daughters and join Him in heaven for eternity. In God’s eyes we all have importance. In God’s eyes we are precious and valuable.

I>WE ARE VALUABLE BECAUSE GOD KNOWS US

God knows everything about us. Even the number of hairs on our head, the number that have fallen out. (Luke 12:7) The thought that God knows everything there is to know may at first make us uncomfortable.

Take a look at Psalm 139:1-6.

VS 2 - when I sit and rise

What I am doing every minute of every day

VS 3 - perceive my thoughts

feelings of dislike or hatred toward another person

when we hold a grudge

fantasies

VS 4 - word on my tongue

about to let a 4 letter word slip

jokes we are about to tell that we shouldn’t

God knows us.

That’s makes us uncomfortable because we are a little leary about letting people know what we are really like.

ILL> Take the young lady and young man that is going on their first date. Dress nicely. Proper manners. Talk is mainly small talk.

After several dates don’t worry so much about how they dress. Get to the point where they will belch in front of each other.

Slowly, they let the other person know what they are like. They talk about likes and dislikes. They start letting the other person know what is important to them and showing their true attitudes.

However, there are always some things you don’t find out until marriage. A few more masks are removed as you continue to grow in your relationship together. I suppose the longer a couple is together, the more masks are removed. But, only God knows what is under the last mask. Psalm 139:4 says, “You know me completely, O Lord.”