Thinking Rightly about Human Life & the Unborn Thinking Rightly Series [5] Psalm 139:13-16 &...

Thinking Rightly about Human Life & the Unborn

Thinking Rightly Series [5]Psalm 139:13-16 & Selected Scriptures

© August 9, 2015Pastor Paul K. Kim

WHY WE MUST THINK RIGHTLY HUMAN LIFE AND THE UNBORN

• It is much more than a political controversy—it is a COMPLEX issue with medical, theological, ethical, legal, social, and personal implications.

• It is full of RAMIFICATIONS with a ripple effect not only on abortion but also on euthanasia, PAS (Physician Assisted Suicide), genocide, and more.

• It is at heart of the clash between THE TWO DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED WORLDVIEWS—i.e., secular humanism and Judeo-Christian theism.

• It is a LIFE-AND-DEATH issue.

• — RNS (Religion News Service), March 30, 2015 [by Trevin Wax]

• “On March 18, Michelle Wilkins answered a Craig’s list ad for baby clothes. When she arrived at the seller’s home, Dynel Lane, a former nurse’s aide, attacked her, cut her open, and removed her unborn child. Wilkins survived the incident; her child did not. Hearing about this horrifying crime provokes a sense of moral revulsion, as well as a demand for justice to be carried out against the killer. But this crime took place in Colorado, and therefore, the attacker will not face murder charges. Colorado state law does not recognize the fetus as a person unless the fetus has reached the point he or she can survive outside the womb.

• Today, 38 states have fetal homicide laws that increase penalties for crimes involving pregnant women or explicitly refer to the fetus as a person worthy of protection. But creating and passing these laws is a contentious process because it takes lawmakers to the heart of our society’s debate over abortion: What is the unborn?”

WHY WE MUST THINK RIGHTLY HUMAN LIFE AND THE UNBORN

• Our focus of this message is on ABORTION: What is the unborn? When does a human life begin? What is a personhood? What is the worth of a

personhood? What about women’s right to choose or to control her

own body? How should we respond to this issue as Christ-

followers?

WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE TEACH ABOUT HUMAN LIFE AND THE UNBORN?

• Human life is SACRED because all human beings are created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27; 2:7; Ps. 8:3-6).

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27

7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath

of life, and the man became a living creature.Genesis 2:7


• Human life is SACRED because all human beings are created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27; 2:7; Ps. 8:3-6).

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.6 You have given him dominion over the works of your

hands; you have put all things under his feet.

Psalm 8:3-6


• The unborn are HUMAN BEINGS knitted by God from the moment of conception (Ps. 139:13-16; Jer. 1:5; Luke 1:41, 44).

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.Psalm 139:13-16


• The unborn are HUMAN BEINGS knitted by God from the moment of conception (Ps. 139:13-16; Jer. 1:5; Luke 1:41, 44).

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”Jeremiah 1:5

41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit . . . 44 For behold, when the sound of your

greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Luke 1:41, 44


• Abortion is KILLING an innocent unborn human life—not just terminating pregnancy (Ex. 20:13; Gen. 9:5-6; Ex. 21:22-25).

3 “You shall not murder.”Exodus 20:13

5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From

his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man,

by man shall his blood be shed,for God made man in his own image.

Genesis 9:5-6


• Abortion is KILLING an innocent unborn human life—not just terminating pregnancy (Ex. 20:13; Gen. 9:5-6; Ex. 21:22-25).

22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out,

but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him,

and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth

for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Exodus 21:22-25


• God is the ONLY ONE who can decide life and death (Deut. 32:39; Isa. 40:28; Rev. 22:13).

39 “‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal;

and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.”Deuteronomy 32:39

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends

of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

Isaiah 40:2813 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,

the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”Revelation 22:13

Only God can decide life and death . . . That is why abortion is such a terrible sin. You

are not only killing life, but putting self before God;

yet people decide who has to live and who has to die. They

want to make themselves almighty God. They want to take the

power of God in their hands. They want to say, ‘I can do

without God. I can decide.’ That is the most devilish

thing that a human hand can do . . .Mother Teresa

FOUR KEY UNDERLYING REASONS FOR PRO-CHOICE ARGUMENTS

• MAN-CENTERED VIEW on what human life is—rather than God-centered view on the human life and personhood.

• ASSERTION OF PERSONAL AUTONOMY apart from God—rather than submitting to God as the Creator and Lord.

• DISREGARD OF THE IMMENSE WORTH OF A HUMAN LIFE—rather than acknowledging the sanctity of human life.

• DETHRONING GOD and deciding life and death as one’s right—rather than glorifying God as His creation made in His image.

FIVE BASIC ARGUMENTS FOR PRO CHOICE

• Argument #1: “It's not a human being/person—it's just a blob of tissue.”

• Argument #2: "A woman has the right to control her own body.”

• Argument #3: “Every child should be a wanted child; otherwise, it leads to unhappiness, more child abuse, or other problems.”

• Argument #4: "If abortion is made illegal, tens of thousands of women will again die from back-alley & clothes-hanger abortions.”

• Argument #5: "What about a woman who is pregnant due to rape or incest? And what about a woman whose life is threatened by pregnancy or childbirth?”

HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND TO THIS ISSUE AS CHRIST-FOLLOWERS?

1) We must REPENT— including our sin of silence and passivity (Jer. 34:14-16; James 4:8).

2) We must TAKE A STANCE FOR LIFE to be the conscience of the culture. (Eph. 5:7-13; Ps. 10:17-18)

3) We must LIVE OUT THE GOSPEL AS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD to uphold the dignity and sanctity of human life (Ps. 130:3-4; Matt. 5:13-16).

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

Psalm 130:3-4

• In the Midst of the Culture of Death• Christians must be the people of life in the midst of the culture of

death, even as we are the children of light among the children of darkness . . . We cannot bear our testimony to the sanctity of life without speaking of the One who came to give us life and life eternal. It is not because of who we are, but in spite of who we are, that Jesus Christ came. It is not because Jesus was so awed by our humanity, but because He knew our frailty and experienced it, as the writer of Hebrews teaches, even by knowing our temptations, yet without sin. It was because He knew our need that the Father sent the Son. And it was to His own glory He made that provision. Christians must be defenders of human dignity and human life because we know the value of every single human being— born or pre-born—made in God’s image. We are stewards of the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus to all who believe. Thus, we are advocates for life and ambassadors of the gospel. There is no time to waste.

• — R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

• •

THREE PRACTICAL QUESTIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE

1. In what ways are you convinced more of your need for thinking rightly about the sanctity of human life in the current issues?

2. What is your first step toward taking a stance for life to be the conscience of the culture?

3. What is your first step toward living out the gospel to defend the dignity and sanctity of human life?

Thinking Rightly about Human Life & the Unborn Thinking Rightly Series [5] Psalm 139:13-16 &...

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