Why Does the Bible Teach that Human Life is Sacred?
Sanctity of Life 2016
Why Does the Bible teach us that all Life is Sacred?
All Human Life is stamped with the Image of God.
Christians are called to exercise vigilance for life.
Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2
in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of
disobedience—3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,
carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children
of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
This verse is crystal clear about one thing. We were all
dead in sins. Not physically dead, spiritually dead. Right? “How many of you
have heard the old expression: “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles
it.”? Heard that? That’s not really a good saying. It needs to be shorter. “The
Bible says it –That settles it!” Whether you believe it or not. Eph 2 says: And
you were dead in the trespasses and sins.
OK? What did that look like? We followed the course of this
world and the “Prince of the power of the air.” Who is that? That’s the Devil,
Satan. Jesus called him, The “ruler” of this world (Jn12&14). He doesn’t
rule the entire universe, that’s God’s job. But we all followed the Devil.
So what else does this look like when we are dead in sins.
Stay there in Eph. But listen to 1 Cor 6:9 "… neither sexually immoral,
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor
greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of
God."
Listen, you may not admit it for yourself, but before I came
to Christ, these were my kind of people. Yes, I was raised in a home that was
pretty far from this, but I chose to associate with immoral idolaters who were
greedy drunks and scoundrels – which is what a ‘reviler’ is. I think I hit the
motherlode pretty good. AND I participated!!!
Now it doesn’t take long for a sinner to decide some of
these sins are nothing. Sexual Immorality? Pssh! Forget that man. Love the one
your with! All’s fair in love and war. But we all maintain SOME kind of moral
standard. Maybe yours is lying or stealing. You’re like, “OK, that’s just
wrong.” But not everybody agrees with you. Liars and thieves don’t think
they’re so bad!
What I am pointing out is that while salvation is inside of
us and spiritual, there’s something to be said about our behavior that defines
our citizenship. Are we Following after the Prince of the World or are we
Citizens of the Kingdom of God?
But now back in Eph. V4; This is the Hinge of the Door of
Grace! BUT. GOD. Who is rich in mercy… Everything changed because of God! Maybe
I came to my senses, but it was GOD who brought me there. Maybe I began looking
for something better, but it was GOD who drew me there! Back over in the 1 Cor
passage we read 1Co 6:11 "And such were some of you. But you were washed,
you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ…" You didn’t wash yourself – God did. You didn’t sanctify yourself
– God did. This whole idea just broke down my understanding of being a
Christian, of being "good enough" for God. The idea I am talking
about is the GOSPEL, the good news about Jesus.
You know what? I STINK at being good! I’m just not good at
it. Oh I can be good enough! When I am around you I can do the things YOU think
I ought to do. When I’m around someone else I’ll figure out what they think is
good. You might think you are good. But really, if I could look at all your
thoughts and all your actions… really? Would you let me put all your secret
thoughts and actions up on a video screen at the front of the church? Are you
that much better than me?” Listen, I live my life 24/7/365 before the Face of
God! And I AM NOT GOOD! … But - Jesus - is.
And Jesus said, trust in me, come to me, surrender to me,
and I’ll - be – your - righteousness! All of a sudden I am confronted NOT with
what I THINK is immoral. But I’m confronted with what GOD says is immoral &
sinful. As if the Spirit within me says, This isn’t Your choice! This is just
what Sin is!! Deal with it.
I know many of you think that this subject is important for
others but it doesn’t relate to you. Could it relate to you? Could your child,
or grandchild, or friend of a friend of a grandchild possibly be influenced by
you? Could you help people who are helping others who have hard choices to
make? Could you pray for someone? Could you help someone have a biblical
understanding of the value of Human life? I think this could surely affect your
life. So listen up!
First, Gen 1:26 "God said, 'Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth
and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in
his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created
them." GOD created humans with His Image! Something about God was on Adam
and Eve that aren’t on lions and sheep or dogs and cats.
Ill) A lion never lays awake at night thinking, Man, I feel
bad about eating the baby antelope, And doing it right in front of that camera
crew from the wildlife channel. NEVER! But you and I? Regrets galore. WHY? We
have a Moral State! Anybody who ever says, "I have lived my life with no
regrets" is an idiot! NO REGRETS? Were you perfect? I don’t think so. I
may have more regrets than you, but all of us should. We should regret sinning
against God. Regret not raising our children better. Regret not loving more and
regret being so stinking selfish!
But your puppy never does that! Not because he’s perfect, he
just isn’t made with a moral state!
Why did God give mankind Dominion over animals? We have a
capacity they don’t have. We use the term “Humane” for treating animals right?
Not because all humans are good, but we know HOW God’s creation “Ought” to be
treated. We don’t say, “Treat animals more animalistic.” No we say treat them
Humanely! WHY? Cause animalistic means be brutal to each other. Yes, humans CAN
be cruel, but we have a Moral State!
Second, SO GOD made Adam and Eve that way. What about the
rest of us? Psalm 58:3, "The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go
astray from birth..." This verse shows us that Man’s moral state is from
the womb. He’s already wicked. "Wicked" is a Moral state. Rom 5:12
"…sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so
death spread to all men…". We inherit this Image of God in the form of a
Moral State (among other things), and also inherit a Sinful nature! Job 14:4,
says, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not
one." Did your dad sin? Be honest, even If your dad is sitting next to
you. Moms, anybody's mom sin? This isn’t rocket science. If dad’s a sinner and
mom’s a sinner, guess what, you are Sinners. You might have inherited your good
looks from Mom, but you also got a sin nature.
Third, So When does this Moral State Begin? See, If every
soul is a sinner(see Eph 2:1 at top), when does the soul start? That will be
when your Image of God starts. Right? Logical? Psalm 51:5, "Behold, I was
brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." See that
word “conceive.” The answer to the question - according to God’s Word - about
when the soul comes into being: Ready?
At conception! Our Moral State is in force at Conception!
Why? That’s when we become Human! That’s when we’re stamped with 2 things: 1)
The Image of God which includes our Moral State, and 2) The Sin we inherited as
our sinful condition.
This has PROFOUND consequences if you believe what the Bible
says here.
Do you know why God commanded us to Not Commit Murder! Why
he said, Thou Shalt Not Kill. It doesn’t mean you can’t step on an ant, or
slaughter a cow. It means, the unlawful pre-meditated killing of a human by
another. WHY did God say that?
Long, long, ago, before the 10 commandments included
"Thou shalt not kill.", God told Noah, Gen 9:6 "Whoever sheds
the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed...
-for God made man in his own image.
Yes God allowed for capital punishment or war; and God
doesn’t hold people responsible for accidents. BUT you’d Better Not take a
human life at will, for your own satisfaction. Because that Human is in GOD’s
image!
Because of these Truths I have just shared I can say this:
Abortion is murder. (These Women need help not pat answers)
Euthanasia is Murder. (You can make it people comfortable,
you can honor their "Do not resuscitate" requests, but not kill.)
Slavery is evil. (I'm glad the church fought it 150 years ago!) Human
trafficking is Sinful. (100s of thousands and many under 17 years old)
You might ask “what can I do about it?”
First, stand on the Word of God, this society needs that
desperately! Don’t be ashamed to say "I am Pro-Life because God is
pro-life!" This doesn't mean sound rude or belligerent. You can be
gracious and loving and say it.
Second, help those who are helping people. There are people
facing an abortion decision who can get help from Pregnancy Crisis centers.
There are people who help rescue Children from Human trafficking.
There are people who need to know, that while you will do
everything you can to help alleviate suffering you will not rush their death by
killing them.
And lastly, Stop helping people who Do these ungodly things!
Don’t put them in office, don’t send them money, and don’t applaud their evil
efforts!
I had a good friend years ago who had several abortions. You
know what she found out? Jesus forgives! He forgives and loves and restores.
She learned that "such were some of you."
NEVER EVER EVER EVER Forget, That God, who is rich in mercy,
For His Great love, wherewith He loved us – Even when we were dead in
trespasses and sins- has made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have
been saved— and by Grace You can be forgiven and saved!
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