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Once Upon a Time... God decided that He wanted to bring a precious baby human into the world. He had created Adam and Eve from "scratch," but now it was time for babies. His infinite mind designed a way for His children to come into the world that He made, just for them. What other place could possibly be safer than inside the mother's own body? No place in this world could be safer for someone so small and in need of so much protection. The mother's womb would be the perfect place for the growing person. God knew that this would also be the way in which His son was to come into the world, as a human to save the rest of humanity from their sins: You
created every part of me; Psalms 139:13,15 God could place the soul that He designed right in the mother, where she would nourish it until it was ready to be born. God deeply loved this tiny person, but He could hardly wait for this new creation of His to grow to love and know Him. After all, God had made this person for the primary purpose of loving Him and sharing eternity with Him. This baby was born, as were billions of others. And finally, it was time for God to send His own Son down as a sacrifice of love for His people. The Blessed Virgin Mary said "yes" to God, and Jesus was immediately placed in her womb. If there were any doubts in the minds of humans as to the beginning of life, this would more than dispel them. While the Blessed Mother was pregnant, she went to care for her elderly, pregnant cousin, Elizabeth. "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby moved within her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and said in a loud voice, 'You are the most blessed of all women, and blessed is the child you will bear! Why should this great thing happen to me, that my Lord's mother comes to visit me? For as soon as I heard your greeting, the baby within me jumped for gladness. How happy you are to believe that the Lord's message to you will come true!'" Luke 1:41-45 No, Elizabeth's baby didn't jump for joy at being in the presence of a clump of cells. He jumped because his soul knew that Jesus was right there. Likewise, being near a woman who had a ball of tissue in her womb would not fill anyone with the Holy Spirit. This is the basis of the Christian belief that life starts at the moment of conception, not when the heart beats, not when brain waves can be measured, and not at birth. At the exact instant in which the two cells meet to form a new person, God places a soul in that tiny, one-celled human being. He designs that personality, He plans out its talents and gifts, He knows how he will use His new child to touch the lives of others and to glorify Him. God loves that soul and would send Jesus down if that was the only person who would be saved. God looks forward to when that person can come to Heaven and spend all eternity in His presence. Now days, people have sophisticated technology that has allowed them to scientifically prove that life begins at conception. They can analyze that person's DNA and see that it is different from that of the mother and that of the father. It is a step ahead, but Christians knew that fact all along. \par \par \tab But sadly, as has been done many times in the past, people are turning away from God : "Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials." 1 Kings 11:11 "(Jeroboam) made two bull-calves of gold and said to his people, 'You have been going long enough to Jerusalem to worship. People of Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt!' ... And so the people sinned ..." 1 Kings 12:28,30 "King Jeroboam still did not turn from his evil ways ... This sin on his part brought about the ruin and total destruction of his dynasty" 1 Kings 13:30,34 "(Abijah) committed the same sins as his father and was not completely loyal to the Lord his God, as his great-grandfather David had been." 1 Kings 15:3 "Nadab became king of Israel, and he ruled for two years. Like his father before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin." 1 Kings 15:25,26 "Like King Jeroboam before him, (Baasha) sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin." 1 Kings 15:34 There are many, many more instances of disobedience and its consequences scattered throughout the Old Testament. Here are some New Testament examples: "Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you! You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he offers you no resistance." James 5:1,5,6 "These false teachers are bold and arrogant, and show no respect for the glorious beings above; instead, they insult them. ...These people act by instinct, like wild animals born to be captured and killed; they attack with insults anything they do not understand. They will be destroyed like wild animals, and they will be paid with suffering for the suffering they have caused. ...They are under God's curse." 2 Peter 2: 10-14 "There are some difficult things in his (Paul's) letters which ignorant and unstable people explain falsely, as they do with other passages of the Scriptures. So they bring on their own destruction. But you, my friends, already know this. Be on your guard, then, so that you will not be led away by the errors of lawless people and fall from your safe position. But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, now and forever! Amen." 2 Peter 3:16-18 "God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known." Romans 1:18 "But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand." Matthew 7:26 People turn away from God because they do not want to leave their "gods" of luxury and convenience and any kind of pleasure. So today, people are turning against God's will and taking life that only God has the authority to take. The punishment for murder is death. And now, the place that God created to be especially safe is the most dangerous: a mother's womb. According to the CDC, legal abortions account for twice as many deaths as the so-called "leading cause of death," heart disease. People boycott companies known to employ children of third world countries, and then they turn around and advocate the "choice" of abortion. Yet others say, "I wouldn't have an abortion, but I don't think the government should make that choice for anyone else." The government is not making that choice, God is. God, the creator of life, is the most Pro-Life of us all. Some Christians are saying that in this case or that example, abortion should be allowed. For instance, if the mother cannot care and provide for herself, let alone a baby, it would be most "compassionate" to put the baby out of misery before it learns of a cruel life. But this is not what God teaches His children. No one is forced to raise a child, but no one is allowed to take a life. Just as He commands us to care for the poor by giving them shelter and food, we can care for the childless by giving them the children of incapable parents. Another popular exception that people claim is that someone who was raped should be allowed to have an abortion. If the mother had no choice but to get pregnant, she should not have to spend nine months of her life carrying a child, that, with every movement, reminds her of the traumatic event. This, too, is false compassion. By putting the child to death, we have kept back the joy and healing that the child might have brought. Instead, we have taken even more from her, leaving her with nothing but emptiness. If she is still a child herself, she will eventually learn of what happened on that operating table. She will learn that the rapist not only raped her, but caused her to lose her child as well. She may very well feel guilt and regret for the rest of her life. That person died because of someone's sin. Does Jesus want the sin of one person to lead to the death of that tiny, perfect human being that he allowed to come into the world? The same one with whom He wants to spend eternity! Who do Christians believe to be in charge of life? God! That is such a simple fact of our faith! So then, why do some people who claim to be Christian believe that the way in which a person was conceived gives the control of life to humans and takes it away from God? That logic makes no sense from a Christian perspective (or any perspective that puts the control of human lives in any but humans' hands)! Jesus says, "Not everyone who calls me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do." (Matthew 7:21) Now, what do you think God wants you to do? We have a responsibility to fight on God's side and do the right thing! Make God's day and spread the truth about abortion! "Do you think it is right to help those who are wicked and to take the side of those who hate the Lord?" Chronicles 19:2 |
