Life sacred?
By Paul Bawden
Sunday, January 21, 2018, is designated as Sanctity of Life Sunday. This Sunday is set aside, the third Sunday of every year, to promote the sacredness of life, and to raise the public awareness of the immoral decision of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on January 22, 1973 to legalize abortion in the United States. Since that lethal decision, shockingly some 60 million unborn children have been murdered.
To think that the number of children murdered is tenfold the number of Americans lost in all our Nation’s wars. These beautiful children will never laugh, never sing, never experience the joy of human love, and never have the opportunity to contribute to society.
Abortion is such an evil procedure. It is the direct killing of a baby in a mother’s womb by ripping the baby apart, dismembering the baby, injecting a lethal substance into the baby or other similar means. Then, there is a coordinated high-tech industry operating for the purpose of obtaining and selling high-quality baby organs for research.
It’s hard to believe that such is happening in our country. How long can the biblical God stay His judgment when a nation has lost its moral compass? Does not the blood of the babies cry out for justice? When a human egg is fertilized by sperm, a new human being has come into existence. All information concerning the child’s sex, hair color, eye color, and much more is present from the very beginning.
In fact, the biblical world-view makes it clear that life begins at conception. David, in Psalm 139:16 recorded the words, “My unformed substance.” The word, “unformed” conveys the idea of being rolled up or folded up like a blanket or mantle. It has the idea of being “undeveloped.” Obviously, David was referring to his tiniest embryonic form at the time of his conception when all the members of his body were folded up, or undeveloped, before they began to take on their form and proportions. Note also the word, “my,” as David understood that he was a person at the time of conception.
Certainly, the abortion issue has created a great divide in the United States among those who are against abortion, and those who are for abortion. It’s all about women’s rights according to those for abortion, but what about the rights of the unborn? Who will stand up for the voiceless? Will a national human life amendment eventually be passed? Perhaps Planned Parenthood will be defunded from federal funds and have to rely on private contributions. At the same time, adoption must be encouraged, and God’s grace and forgiveness offered to those who have had abortions.
The bottom line is that legislation will not stop abortion. Education on the perils of abortion can help. Organizations that are pro-life provide services to those contemplating abortion. Actually, only a change of heart, by the grace of God, experienced by the believer in Jesus Christ, will a person truly understand that the Creator God has created life eternally valuable from conception to the end of life on this planet. That’s why Jesus said that He came to give life in surplus. He was the Creator of life (Colossians 1:16), and He would provide eternal life for the believer in Him (John 3:16). Jesus, then, gives double value to life – physically and spiritually.
I trust you know Him personally through faith, and are enjoying the eternal life He gives you, while upholding the lasting value of physical life that Jesus gives to everyone, the unborn, a child, a teenager, an adult, husband or wife, those with special needs or are disabled, and those in the sunset of life. And thankfully many have reached out and opened their homes through adoption. As January is the month to celebrate that life is sacred, may we celebrate the sanctity of life every day. Each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14).
Paul Bawden is married and served in the pastoral ministry for 45 years, retiring in 2011. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.A. in Speech and attended Dallas Theological Seminary, receiving a Master of Theology. He has taken counseling courses at Trinity Evangelical Seminary in Deerfield, Illinois. Paul is a lifetime member of the Evangelical Free Church of America, as well as being a member of Interim Pastor Ministries (IPM), which serves churches during their time of transition in searching for a new pastor. He writes for Union Gospel Press, as well as being a volunteer writer for GotQuestions.org. Paul likes to write, read, bike, and work in the yard. The Bawdens have had the privilege to travel to Mexico and Romania on mission trips and visited various countries in Europe.