Commentary: God's view of human life

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Tuesday, June 24, will mark the 3rd anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and I think it's important that we be reminded of God's view of human life, especially as we move forward in a post-Roe era. Just the mere Biblical facts on life can inspire, motivate, and activate our churches to help make abortion unthinkable.

If we as Christians will take a biblical worldview on the issues facing our culture today, we can make a big difference in our nation. As we look at passages of scripture such as I Corinthians 2:14-15, we realize that Christians have a better capability of understanding God's view of life from a “spiritual perspective” because we have been “born again.”

Because of the life-changing power of the gospel, God enables us to have a heart for understanding what He knows to be true about life. As we read and educate ourselves from God's Word, we are enabled to look at situations and circumstances in life through Biblical glasses.”

I'm reminded of my friend, former representative Doug McKillip, who was the author of the fetal pain bill that passed the Georgia General Assembly in 2012. He was quoted in the Athens Banner-Herald on why he changed his position on life: “I became a Christian... you start reading the Bible and you realize that life begins at conception.” (Feb 9, 2012).

Think about that! You see, it’s not that complicated for a Christian, because we have a changed heart and the Holy Spirit within us to understand God’s view of things. We will not even have to have the data, statistics or political polling results. All we need to know is what God’s Word says, and we WILL believe it!

First, we can see that to God, all human life is holy. In Genesis 1:26-28, human life is holy because we are created in God’s image (Imago Dei). We are God’s special creation, set apart from animals and plants. God took special care in creating us because we are the nearest creation to His own likeness on earth.

The word “image” basically means “exact duplicate.” While we don’t know everything that it means to be created in God’s image, we do know certain characteristics that set us apart as having been created in His image.

There are at least four distinctions that can be seen in human life apart from the rest of creation:

  1. Spiritual Distinction: This has to do with our capability of having a personal relationship with God.
  2. Moral Distinction: This has to do with our ability to know right from wrong.
  3. Eternal Distinction: This means that humans are going to spend eternity in either heaven or hell.
  4. Governmental Distinction: This means that mankind has a stewardship responsibility before God.

Second, we see that to God, all human life begins at conception (fertilization). In Psalm 139:13-16, we see that according to this passage even before our birth, while God was fashioning us in our mother’s womb, God knew us and had a plan for our life.

At fertilization (when sperm and egg meet), you have one complete human life. This means that all life begins at the earliest stage of biological development,t whether it is in a mother’s womb or a petri dish (IVF, In vitro fertilization).

Therefore, every baby has a God-given right to life even before birth because these tiny packages of humanity are “persons” in God’s eyes.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 says, “…the word of the Lord came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

The fact of the matter is, God knew Jeremiah when he was in the womb. If, for some reason, Jeremiah’s mother had chosen abortion, it would not have been just killing a “fetus.” It would have been a baby – a baby named Jeremiah.

Jeremiah’s mother might not have known his name, but God did. And God knows the names of 60+ million babies that have been killed in the past 50+ years in the United States through abortive practices.

The same thing that was said of Jeremiah was said of John the Baptist. Luke 1:15 says that John would “be filled with this Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother’s womb.”

The same thing that was said of Jeremiah and John the Baptist was said of Jesus. Luke 1:31-33 “…behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, He will be great, and will be called the son of the most High….and His kingdom will have no end.”

So yes, it is true. Life begins at conception/fertilization – God knows us as persons before we are born.

Third, we see that to God, all innocent human life is to be protected. In Exodus 20:13, the sixth commandment says,“…thou shalt not kill.” In Hebrew, there are only two words to describe that – those two words in English are “no murder.” It means the intentional and unlawful taking of a human life.

So, how does God think about the violation of this command? Note Prov. 6:17…”I hate the hands that shed innocent blood.” Yet, today, in the permissive society that we live in, we have made it legal in many states to kill preborn babies at every stage of development– legal, yes – but not in God’s eyes.

In fact, the Apostle Peter said in Acts 10:34, “God is no respecter of persons.” This means we are all the same in value. Since this is true, then God doesn’t want anyone killed regardless of age, race, sex, social or economic status, mental or physical state, including preborn babies.

Frankie Schaeffer (the son of the late Francis Schaeffer) had this to say: “Strange contradictions come forth in such times. On one hand, we look to science and technology to solve our problems, but on the other, we place so little faith in their advance that we revert to the crudest and most archaic of all solutions – death – to solve problems.”

So, why does an unwanted child of its mother have to die? Isn’t there some other way? Yes! The commandment “thou shalt not murder” was given for the purpose of protecting all innocent human life from being taken by another human being.

Therefore, today I call upon all of us as the church and as individuals to adopt God’s perspective of human life:

First, all human life is holy.

Second, all human life begins at conception.

And third, innocent human life is to be protected. (from the earliest stage of biological development until natural death)

Now the point that we have to remember is that we live in a sin-sick, Genesis chapter 3, lost world where we need to speak “the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15) about life, because it’s God’s kindness (Rom. 2:4) that draws people to repentance in both their beliefs and their actions. We need repentance in our nation on the life issue.

I want to encourage you to consider these (5) things:

  1. Pray - for our nation’s conscience to be stirred.
  2. Witness - the gospel about God’s love for us all.
  3. Educate - on God’s perspective of human life, marriage and parenting.
  4. Care - for mothers and babies through the church and organizations.
  5. Engage - in government for protecting life (voting, running for office, and laws)

Can God forgive us? Yes, He can. I can remember many years ago when I was speaking at a pro-life meeting about abortion, where women were present. Afterwards, my son told me that I had done a good job, except for one thing: “You forgot to tell them that they could be forgiven.” Wow! That’s important! The gospel is at the center of dealing with all social and moral issues (John 3:16).

We need to remember I Cor. 6:11 where it says, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

No sin (including abortion) is greater than the “blood of Jesus”, if we will receive God’s gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus alone. Christ is the answer to our culture.

We need to remember that our Biblical convictions far exceed the political pressures in life. God’s Word through a life-changing experience with the Lord Jesus Christ makes the difference in everything in life.

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Mike Griffin is the Public Affairs Representative of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.