What Does God Think About Abortion? Series

WHAT DOES GOD THINK ABOUT

Part 1: ABORTION

“Hoof-and-mouth disease is the scourge of the cattle industry, and an outbreak can decimate herds very quickly. Therefore, when the disease hit one cattle area a few years ago, authorities clamped on a strict quarantine to isolate and control the problem. There was one rancher who was determined to save his animals. He carefully sprayed every building on his farm, every room of his house, and every vehicle on his property. He then moved all his animals into a carefully scrubbed and disinfected building, padlocked the door and restricted all contact with the outside world. No visitors were allowed on his property, and he even went to the point of picking up his newspaper at the front gate with sterile gloves, then baking it in the oven to kill any bacteria. Yet, despite his desperate efforts, within 3 weeks some of his cows became ill, and the entire herd had to be liquidated. As one health officer noted, ‘The virus is transmitted through the air, and you can’t quarantine the wind.’ In our time, the winds of the ‘me generation’ are blowing a strong and deadly virus.”

(Gary Inrig, Hearts of Iron Feet of Clay, Chicago; Moody 1979, p. 5).

People are deciding right and wrong according to their own opinions. They say, “If it’s right for me, who are you to judge?” I am afraid that we have sunk almost to the level of the Israelites when in

Judges 17:6 the Bible says, “In those days . . ., every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Well my friends, you and I are called to be a holy people, a holy priesthood, a city on a hill, a light to the world. We are called to live different lives. We cannot anymore isolate ourselves from society than we can cows from that virus, but we can confront it with the truth.

For that reason, for the next several weeks, we are going to look at what the Bible says about some topics that in our society have become very controversial. I will strive, to the best of my ability, to show you what the Bible has to say about the subjects we address, so that when you are confronted with people in the community sharing their opinions, you will have something stronger to back up what you say. You will have the Word of God. And the Bible says that God’s Word will not return void.

This morning I would like us to look at what the Bible says about life, and the value of human life.

I. PEOPLE ARE SPECIAL

- Jeremiah 1:5

A. God knew us before Birth

In this passage, God, speaking to Jeremiah, says “I knew you before you were born.” Did it ever occur to you that God has known you forever? He knew you before your parents did and before they created the first sonogram.

And you know, even before we’re born, we know things as well. By the time a child has been in her mother for 7 weeks, her lips are sensitive to touch. By the time she’s been growing 10 weeks she is sensitive to touch, and by 7 months she can recognize her mother’s voice.

*** Let me introduce you to someone. This is Malinda, my neice. Malinda was born 11 weeks, 21/2 months, premature. In many states in our country, she could have been legally aborted, long after she was born.***

We remember when Mary, pregnant with the baby Jesus, went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, that the then 6-month-old baby John leapt in his mother’s womb at the sound of Mary’s approach. God knew us before birth, and we know things as well.

B. God made us in His Image

- Gen 1:27

If you examine the rest of the creation account in the first 2 chapters of Genesis, you find that each time the Lord created something, He simply spoke and it appeared. He said, “Let there be light.” and there was light. He said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation,” and it brought forth vegetation. Each time God created something, He simply spoke and it appeared. Then He made man. Then He created the first male, Adam, from the dust of the earth. God formed him with His own hands, and breathed the breath of life into his lungs. God later, knowing that man needed help, took a rib from Adam’s side and from that rib formed the first woman, Eve. Again, Eve was formed and created, like Adam was, in the image of God.

C. God made us, Defects and All

Some people have the mistaken idea that if a baby is going to be born deformed, or handicapped, or in some way different, that that baby or person’s life is somehow worth less. Listen to what the Psalmist says.