Life and Death

“So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:27

As a pastor, I believe that God has a special place in His heart for mothers. Rather than just drop the Son of God onto planet Earth via a parachute or by another divine way, He brought Him into this world through the womb of a mother. That is the one thing we all have in common with Jesus. Personally, I believe that God brings life to the womb, and mothers bring life into the world. However, there is a lot of disagreement today surrounding that statement.

There are some topics that people just don’t like to talk about. This is one of them. In fact, many pastors are adamant in saying they will never address this subject from the pulpit. The elephant in the room is just too big. This topic is abortion. And I believe it is so important to the heart of God that we must talk about it.  This is not going to be your typical abortion message, though. I am not going to share the evils of abortion. Instead, I want to share what the Bible says about life.

Allow me to pose a question. To what or to whom do we owe our existence? This is a question that, regardless of where you stand on the issue, deserves an answer. It is a valid question because the way you answer it will determine the value you put on all human life – both born or unborn. University of Washington Psychology Professor, David Barash, begins his class to 200 undergraduates every year in his course, Animal Behavior, with this declaration: “The more we know of evolution, the more unavoidable is the conclusion that living things, including human beings, are produced by a natural totally amoral process, with no indication of a benevolent controlling creator.”

I could disagree with many parts of this statement. But at the core, there is a complete misunderstanding of how we got here. Before God was anything else to mankind, He was our Creator…and what a wonderful one He was! When we hear the term, Pro-Life, most of us think about two things: abortion and politics. But I would like the re-frame the way you think about that term. Our Creator is pro-life in the purest sense.

In the beginning, God created the heavens, the earth, and all that would inhabit it. With the power of His voice He spoke the skies and oceans into existence. He filled them with birds and with fish. Then He told the waters to gather so that dry land appeared. Then He filled that land with green vegetation and all sorts of crawling creatures. Next He filled the earth with land animals. Then, He did something completely different…instead of speaking, He fashioned with His hands the first human being and then filled his lungs with His own holy breath. In His own image He made man and woman. God saw what He had made and called it very good.

The world God created was one teeming with life. There was no death in His original design. There were no carnivores. There was no bloodshed. Only life. What does this have to do with abortion? Everything. There is a Creator, God Almighty, who loves life. He creates each life intentionally with value and purpose. Abortion isn’t about politics…it is about life and death.

Dear God, I acknowledge that I owe my entire existence to You. I pray that that truth would impact how I see everything and how I live my life each day. Help me to never forget or take for granted all that You have done for me. In Jesus' name amen.