“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).
This Sunday is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. It is a day to remember that all human life is sacred, even the lives of humans who are still growing in the womb. It is a day to grieve for the millions of lives that have been snuffed out through the practice of abortion on demand.
Sadly, this issue has become a political football that gets kicked around in our media and culture. Yet before being a political issue it is a profoundly moral and biblical one.
A human being is different than any other living being because a human is created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Among other things, this means that all human life has inherent dignity and value. Race or nationality makes no one more or less valuable than someone else. Disability does not diminish anyone’s worth before God. Even those humans who choose to live in willful sin still carry their inherent value.
In addition, a human that is still forming in the womb is also an image-bearer of the Creator. It is interesting that God told the prophet Jeremiah that He formed him in his mother’s womb. God tells Jeremiah that He already knew the prophet before he was born. This suggests that even when Jeremiah was a fetus, God saw him as fully human.
David, the psalmist poetically marvels over God’s divine handiwork in weaving him together in his mother’s womb. “For You created my innermost parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You When I was made in secret, And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my formless substance; And in Your book were written All the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them” (Psalm 139:13-16). The point David makes is not written in scientific jargon. It is poetry. His point is not hard to grasp at all. God is present and has His hands all over the process of a human forming in the womb.
When an abortion occurs, humans have denied the role of God in forming the child. Humans have countermanded God’s creation mandate to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28). An attack upon the image of God has taken place. Arbitrary timelines that set the appropriate time to stop aborting babies miss the whole point. The only truly safe timeline is no timeline at all. From the moment of conception a human image-bearer of God has come into being.
A pregnancy is a unique medical situation. I don’t know any pro-lifers that actually want to limit a woman’s right to dictate her own medical treatment. What we are saying is very simple and biblical. Ending the life of a child in the womb is simply not the same thing as, say, removing a tumor. Removing a tumor is a strictly medical decision. But ending an unborn life is an inherently moral decision. God has not extended such a right to anyone.
It should be noted that this mess would not even exist if people actually honored God’s word in the way they live. But, in our society, everything has become sexualized. We have forgotten or simply ignored God’s instruction. Marriage, family, and faithfulness were God’s original intention for human relationships. But humanity seems to find more and more ways to pervert these things. The culture grooms us all to think of sexuality as a mere recreational activity. Is it any wonder that unplanned pregnancies happen?
Men seek to “score” with as many women as possible instead of seeking a wife to faithfully love over a lifetime. Women give themselves to men who have made no commitment to them. When a so-called mistake happens, everyone looks for a way out. There would be no desire for a way out if people were willing to listen to God in the first place. Sadly, the way out is worse than what led to the desire for a way out. An innocent human life has been sucked out of existence.
God is a God in favor of life. He is also a God of grace. Those who have had an abortion are not pariahs. It is unlikely that any of them had murder in their hearts when they had the procedure. In fact they are often simply ignorant of the moral aspect of what has happened. The standard abortion clinic works hard to obscure the moral implications of the procedure. So it is not fair to stigmatize women who have had the procedure. Instead, as God is always ready to bring compassion and understanding, so we must be ready as well.
What we can do is pray for and support pro-life pregnancy centers who work hard to make pregnant women aware of the moral reality of their situation. We can help them in their efforts to support women during and after an unplanned pregnancy. We can engage with them in creating a culture of life. I have sought to do this in my own life. I pray that you will join me.
Pastor George