Let God be God - The Sanctity of Life

I need to begin this morning with some really bad news.

And I should probably have put up on the screen viewer discretion advised.

! Not because I'm going to show you anything shocking,

that actually these are probably optimistic.

And I think that most conservative sources would unanimously argue

that I've painted a very rosy picture compared to the reality.

Since 1973, approximately 50 million abortions have taken place.

That number was increasing by about 1.2 million every year

until the last two years.

Last two years, the news media has been beside themselves in the reduction.

It was about 14%, which means that it's just over 1 million babies per year.

That is 3,000 babies each and every day life is taken.

Just to put that in perspective for you, on 9-11, 3,000 people died.

We have an annual celebration or remembrance of that.

I think that's appropriate.

We built a $700 million memorial.

I'm not so sure about that one.

But 3,000 babies die.

Not once.

Not every year.

But every single day.

Do you know who Brittany Maynard is?

Brittany Maynard is a lady that lived in California.

And last year, she moved to Oregon and announced the day of her death.

And she died.

Not on the day that she originally chose.

She ended up choosing a different one.

But by physician-assisted suicide.

The article in Time Magazine last November ran the article titled,

Brittany Maynard was one of hundreds of people in five states who've taken advantage of death with dignity laws.

That's the new term.

Death with dignity.

It's replacing freedom of choice, quality of life, every baby, a wanted baby, etc.

In fact, in Oregon alone, since the law was passed in 1998,

750 people have taken doctor-prescribed lethal doses.

The good news of that, if there is such a thing,

is that the doctors wrote 1,173 prescriptions for them during those days.

Last October, NBC News ran a story effectively encouraging a change in the laws

that would reduce physicians' responsibility

and pointing out that in every survey that has been done between 1996 and 2003,

in every state of the union,

doctors and nurses had admitted to giving directly or indirectly

instructions to loved ones that ultimately could have led to death.

In other words, the doctor would say,

well, here's the appropriate amount of this prescription that you should give your loved one.

And I just want you to know, if you were to give them this much,

that would cause instant death.

Do you understand me?

I'm leaving now.

As of 2015,

euthanasia is legal in three countries,

Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Belgium.

And assisted suicide is legal in another five countries,

Switzerland, Germany,

Albania, Romania, and Japan,

and in five states in the United States.

In Belgium,

just to take one of those,

there have been 1,400 cases of euthanasia take place

since the year 2003,

or 2002,

every year.

In 2013,

the last year that they actually have numbers for,

it actually increased to 1807.

In that year also,

the government extended

euthanasia to include children

that had been declared terminally ill by a doctor.

Enough of the bad news.

Would you turn with me to the good news?

Genesis chapter 1,

Genesis 1:26–28

verses 26 to 28.

Then God said,

Let us make man in our own image,

after our likeness,

and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,

and over the birds of the heavens,

and over the livestock,

and over all the earth,

and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

So God created man in his own image.

In the image of God,

he created him.

Male and female,

he created them.

And God blessed them,

and God said to them,

Be fruitful and multiply,

and fill the earth,

and subdue it,

and have dominion over the fish of the sea,

and over the birds of the heavens,

and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Human life

is the creation of God.

This passage makes a number of points,

but the very first one that I'd like you to see

is that human life proceeds from God.

It was a direct act of creation.

And that direct act gives him authority over it.

It gives him the right to set the boundaries

and the rules for it.

The creation account here in Genesis chapter 1,

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

and then restated and kind of expanded in Genesis chapter 2,

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

provides the foundation for the rest of the biblical account.

It's the creation of man

that sets the stage for God's commandment to him.

Also sets the backdrop for man's fall into sin.

It's interesting that it's the foundation

that appears to be the key point

that Satan uses in Genesis chapter 3, verse 5,

Genesis 3:5

to tempt and to challenge man,

to draw him into sin.

That by simply eating this one piece of forbidden fruit,

you'll be just like God.

You'll no longer be under his instruction.

You'll no longer be under his direction.

You can be like God.

Creation is the beginning point of the story of man and God

and the relationship that God wanted to have.

And it started with his creation.

So creation is used throughout Scripture

as kind of the starting point

to talk about the issue of the gospel,

about man and God and our relationship,

whether that's in Psalm 19,

where the beauty and the goodness

of the word of God is set in the context of creation,

or whether it's in the New Testament in Acts 17,

where Paul, speaking to the intelligentsia of Athens,

begins with creation

and then presents the good news of Jesus Christ.

R.C. Sproul said,

the gift of life comes by his grace

and stands under his divine authority.

It's interesting that the first sin

that is displayed after the fall

is the death of another human being

as Cain kills his brother Abel.

And it's that action that leads to a path

that goes continually downhill

until we get to Genesis chapter 6,

Genesis 6 · chapter mention

where God says that man is completely wicked.

And the earth is filled with violence.

The result is that God brings

the first weapon of mass destruction.

It's called a flood.

And he kills everyone off

except Noah and his family

and the animals that are there on the ark.

After the flood,

God repeats the same command

to be fruitful and multiply.

But he adds to it that murder

will be punished by death.

Scripture teaches and treats human life

as a divine gift of God

and something for which we humans

are responsible for preserving

and maintaining,

not finding more ways to destroy.

God declared that death

is to be by his appointment only.

In another book in Job chapter 14,

Job 14 · chapter mention

Job was written about the same time

as the Genesis accounts.

In Job 14,

God uses Job to say,

since his days are determined

and the number of his months

is with you,

you have appointed the limit

that he cannot pass.

Job, speaking about man

and speaking about God,

says that God determines

the number of days.

He numbers the months.

There's a very clear reason

why God determines the days

and numbers the months.

And that is because

humanity is created

in the image and likeness of God.

According to the passage

that we looked at

in Genesis chapter 1,

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

here's the point.

Human life is precious

because it reflects God's image.

That image was determined

back in Genesis chapter 1, verse 26.

Genesis 1:26

And it was the standard

for creation at that time,

and it's the standard of creation

even today.

It's also the standard

for recognizing that God alone

has control over life.

Genesis chapter 9,

Genesis 9 · chapter mention

at the end of the flood story,

God says,

whoever sheds the blood of man

by man shall his blood be shed,

for God made man

in his own image.

We don't have time this morning

for me to take all of the aspects

of the image of God

and how those relate to man

and some of the abilities

and some of the capabilities of man.

man,

but I want you to recognize

just the big picture,

and that's this.

The value of man

is not related to his capacity

or his accomplishments,

but rather to the fact

that he is an image bearer.

The fact that we have

creative abilities,

that we have intelligence,

that we have communication,

that we have the ability

to control our environment

for our comfort,

all of those things

are the result of being image bearers,

not the cause of it.

And that's very important

to recognize.

Because it means this.

It means that if I never

have a unique,

independent idea again,

if I am so young

that I'm unable

to control my environment,

or if at the beginning

or at the end of life

I am unable to communicate

on even a very basic level,

I am still created

in the image of God.

And because I'm a human being,

and because I'm created

in the image of God,

I still have value.

Human life is not only

created by God,

but it's sustained by him.

I couldn't do the message

this morning without asking

you to turn with me

to my favorite psalm,

Psalm 139.

Over the last 15 years,

I have read this psalm

in more hospital rooms

than I can remember.

Sometimes I read it

to a person

or to a family

that's hanging on

every word

for some semblance

of hope.

I know of one particular case

that I can remember

this morning

where the nurse said

the person hasn't had

consciousness

consciousness

in days.

I don't think

they can hear

anything you say.

And I said,

that's okay.

We don't know that

for sure.

And I'm going to read

them something.

And I read this psalm.

The person never

retained consciousness.

But I trust the person

heard this

and was comforted

because it was a believer.

At one point,

the message this morning

was going to all be

Psalm 139.

But I changed that.

We're going to spend

a lot of time in it.

Psalm 139,

Psalms 139:1–12

verses 1 to 12.

O Lord,

you have searched me

and known me.

You know when I sit down,

when I rise up.

You discern my thoughts

from afar.

You search out my path

and my lying down

and are acquainted

with all my ways.

Even before a word

is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord,

you know it all together.

You hem me in

behind and before

and lay your hand

upon me.

Such knowledge

is too wonderful for me.

It is high.

I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go

from your spirit?

Or where shall I flee

from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven,

you're there.

If I make my bed

in Sheol,

you're there.

If I take the wings

of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost

parts of the sea,

even there,

your hand shall lead me.

Your right hand

shall hold me.

If I say,

surely the darkness

shall cover me

and the light about me

be night,

even the darkness

is not dark to you.

The night is bright

as the day,

for darkness

is as light

with you.

You can't read

or hear that psalm

without believing,

feeling,

the care

and the concern

that God has

for you

as an individual.

Here's the bullet point.

human life

is sustained

by God.

The language

that He searched

you

speaks of the fact

that He knows

everything about you.

He knows every sin,

not only the ones

that you've committed,

but the ones

that you've contemplated.

Not only the ones

you've committed,

but the ones

He's kept you from.

It says that

every thought

that you've had,

every idea

that you've had,

every word

that you were going

to speak,

God knew it

before you even

spoke it.

He hems you in

all around.

He set a hedge

about you.

There's nothing

that has touched you

as a human being

that God

hasn't permitted

to touch you.

whether that is good

or whether that's bad.

There's no place

that I can go

from His presence

tells me

that God

is always there.

This passage

cries out

that God

didn't just

create man

and then

walk away

and say,

well,

I hope they figure it out.

He continues

to watch

over His creation

every single moment.

Human life

is not only

the creation

of God,

but it's also

the possession

of God.

And that means

that God

gives new lives.

Back in our passage

in Genesis 1,

26 to 28,

I'd like you

to notice

that God

creates life

and specifically

human life

on His own

timetable

and at His

own discretion.

The animals

were not

all hanging

around saying,

give us man,

give us man.

The angels

of heaven

were not up there

like Sunday morning

quarterbacks

that were saying,

I thought He could

have done a little

better on that one.

You know,

why He thought

of creating them

I have no idea.

I used to,

my wife used to say

she would see a bug,

she doesn't like insects,

okay?

She would see a bug

and she would say,

oh,

why does God

create that thing?

And I said,

he's wondering

why did God

create you?

Since sin

is the thing

that's destroyed

everything.

And that was

the result of man.

verse 28

says that He tells man

His first instruction

to man

is be fruitful

and multiply.

And yet,

the scriptures

after the fall

are filled

with passages

that point

to the number,

that the number

and the timing

of children

is not something

that is always

the choice of man.

It's sometimes

determined by God.

The words

of the psalmist

Psalm 127

Psalms 127:3

verses 3 and 4,

behold,

children are a heritage

from the Lord.

The fruit of the womb

will reward

like arrows

in the hand

of a warrior

are the children

of one's youth.

Blesses the man

who fills his quiver

with them.

But when I read that,

I'm reminded

of the passage

that man makes

his plans

and God directs

his path.

You know,

I don't think

this passage

necessarily means

that every couple

should make

as many children

as they possibly

can.

But in my years

of working

with young married

couples,

I can tell you

that this fact

of God controlling

and giving

when he chooses

is one of the most

hurtful things

that couples face.

The pressures,

both internally

and externally,

push couples

to question God

and to struggle

with his goodness

and his provision

for them.

I mentioned

Sarah and Abraham

in the list

of people

that I told you,

that I reminded you

from Scripture.

Sarah and Abraham,

because of the pressures

and their desire

for children,

and their desire

and their pressures

on them

were very similar

to what couples

face today.

Abraham and Sarah

chose a path

that was not

God's best for them

by bringing Hagar

into the picture.

And we have

the consequences

of that choice

in the Middle East

today.

Couples today

are told,

science has your answer.

And while appropriate

medical knowledge

and care

is a blessing

of our world today,

I have to say

that I believe

the path

that kills

several lives

in order to create

one

goes too far.

God allows

the timing

even when it

does not seem

to be best.

And God

has used

couples.

We mentioned,

I mentioned John

and Kristen

earlier,

here is a woman

that the timing

or the situation

that she is having

a baby

is not best.

John and Kristen

are not the first

in this congregation

to adopt a child.

They will not be

the last.

But human life

is so precious

that we need

to do everything

we can

to encourage

people

even when

it's not

a good time

to provide

life.

And then,

if appropriate,

to give that

life

to someone

who would love

to take care of it

and raise it

for the glory

of God.

Life is something

to be preserved

even at

very high cost.

if you look

at the Old Testament,

life was so important

in Exodus

Exodus 21 · chapter mention

chapter 21.

You don't need

to turn with it.

I'll just remind

you of the passage.

It says that

when two men

are fighting

and the pregnant

wife of one

of the men

is nearby

and the man

strikes her

and she has

the baby,

if everything's

fine,

then this is

really interesting,

if everything

is fine,

the baby's okay,

then what is

supposed to happen

is the husband,

the father of the baby

decides,

here's your fine.

It's kind of

interesting.

But,

if the baby

dies,

the person

who caused

the accident

is to die.

It's kind of,

you know,

we live in a

kind of a

strange

and hypocritical

world.

I say that

because our

world understands

that.

And so,

if you find

in the news

a case where

a pregnant woman

is killed,

they will charge

the person

with multiple

murders.

Okay?

Appropriately so.

Okay?

And at the same

time,

the same

society

will say

3,000

babies today

is no big

deal.

We ought

to just all

ignore it.

Maybe it'll

go away.

Our society

is crazy.

Not only

at the beginning

of life,

but also

at the other

end of life.

So,

I've already

pointed out,

the creation

account points

to the fact

that only

God is

to determine

the length

of a life

that a person

has.

Go back

to Psalm

139

with me.

Psalm

Psalms 139:13–16

139

verses 13

to 16.

139

were written

every one

of them

the days

that were

formed

for me when there was yet none of them.

From the days in the womb to the days at the end of the aged's life, we are fearfully and

wonderfully made.

Your two large nose, your two small ears, and every other part of you is just like God

intended it to be.

And that fact flows right to the end of life.

I can't turn to all the pages, all the passages that make it clear that we're to respect and

cherish and care for the aged, but I will take the, yeah, why not?

I will have you turn to one of them with me.

1 Samuel chapter 22, verse 3.

1 Samuel 22:3

This is such a fantastic verse in the middle of, you just, whoa, where's that come from?

In the passage, 1 Samuel 22, verse 3, and David went from there to Mizpah of Moab.

1 Samuel 22:3

And he said to the king of Moab, please let my father and my mother stay with you till

I know what God will do for me.

Now, the context of this is important.

David is in the midst of being pursued by King Saul.

He's just left a place where there were some priests, and King Saul is actually going to

go there and destroy those priests.

King Saul is right on his tail.

In the midst of his fleeing, David goes to the king of another country, a country that didn't

always get along that well with Israel.

He goes to the enemy, if you will.

He says, will you take care of my mom and dad?

Will you watch over them, keep them safe?

Because it's not safe in my country right now.

He took the time out of his escape to care for his aging parents.

If the elderly are to be respected and cherished, and human life is precious because it is the

image of God, then here's the point.

A life is to end at the timing of God.

My title this morning was Let God Be God.

And so there's a time not to prolong death.

Standing in God's way, shaking our fist and screaming, I will not let them go.

Because if God desires that person to have their life in today, he doesn't need our machines

to continually and permanently pump the blood and push air into the lungs.

But the person's value as an image bearer of God does not diminish with illness or accident

or disease.

So what we must ask, are there still signs of life?

Is it still possible that they might recover?

Are we providing the basic care?

It's called palliative care.

God's way, God.

That the individual needs if God sustains their life.

Regardless of the cost.

Regardless of the convenience.

Regardless of the emotional stress that it causes us.

And then, we let God be God.

God not only gives the initial life.

He not only gives the length of days.

But God gives the quality of life.

I hope you're still in Psalm 139.

If you're not, a couple more times.

Psalm 139, verse 17 and 18.

Psalms 139:17

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God.

How vast is the sum of them.

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake and I'm still with you.

The term quality of life is the measure that our society wants to use.

And they believe that that means meaning and direction and so forth.

They use it to measure the happiness and the accomplishments of an individual.

But when we start with creation.

I think that same term, quality of life, is very good.

Except it means a life that glorifies God and declares his majesty and goodness to the world.

It's that fact that brings joy.

Quality of life that cannot be understood by the world.

Quality of life means whether one day or a hundred years.

We see life as simply a mist.

As James 4 says.

So little time to declare his goodness.

I want to grow old.

Declaring God's goodness.

Not how tired I am.

Not how I don't have anything else to accomplish.

Not how rough life is.

I want to keep declaring how good God is for the rest of my days.

I hope you do too.

And then, following James 4.

If the Lord wills, we'll do this or that.

So that if the Lord wills, I'll meet him in glory this afternoon.

And if he doesn't, then I'll try to glorify him here on earth with my life.

Psalm 139 verses 19 to 24.

Psalms 139:19–24

Human life redeemed by God.

Interesting conclusion to that.

Listen to this.

Search me, O God.

Know my heart.

Try me.

Know my thoughts.

And see if there's any grievous way in me.

And lead me in the way everlasting.

The psalmist stood against error.

He stood against wickedness.

He stood against godlessness.

But he did so by saying, God, search me first.

He did it with humility.

How can we stand in opposition to the world?

We do it with humility.

I'm going to give you some practical steps.

First, study the word of God for yourself.

This is a topic that impacts absolutely every one of you.

You will face it on one end of life or the other.

Or both.

Know what the word of God says about life.

And prayerfully consider what stands you will take.

Where do you draw the lines?

Because someone is going to challenge you to pass those lines.

Second, I hope every one of you will consider a baby bottle.

Another plug for the baby bottles.

I hope every one of you will consider taking one of those baby bottles,

putting your change in it, putting a check in it,

whatever you believe.

Fill it with money.

Bring it back.

Give women a choice that leads to life.

Maybe you say, I can't do that.

I can't.

I never have change.

We never have change.

We take a baby bottle and we put a check in it

because we never, if we put change in it,

it would come back empty.

But if you can't do that,

there's still things you can do.

You can volunteer.

You can give your time.

To help Pregnancy Distress Center,

to help the Maternity Resource Center up at Emanuel.

They would love to have more volunteers.

And you'll get to talk to ladies who are seriously questioning

what should they do.

Third,

if you hear of legislation extending euthanasia

and physician-assisted suicide,

and you will,

in our nation or in our state,

I hope you'll consider writing to your congressman,

signing petitions,

and of course,

voting,

your conscience,

and God's principles.

But you know what?

None of those things,

none of those three things,

are really going to change things.

I think those are valuable things to do.

They're valuable list of do goods.

But you could have heard that list

in a Mormon tabernacle

or in a Catholic church this morning.

That's not the answer.

And now the answer.

Fourth,

recognize that only the gospel

can change our society.

When we set the truth of the gospel

against the backdrop

of the information that I started with,

it's easy to see just how far off

our society has actually gotten.

But at the same time,

that same gospel

that shows us the despair

and the hopelessness

of man's lost condition

also provides us with the beauty

and the hope

that comforts our soul.

Last week at lunch,

Peggy and I were talking.

I was sharing some of the things

that I was studying

and some of the things

that I was going to say today.

And I was pleading with her,

please pray for me.

Please pray for me.

And as we're talking,

she said,

you know,

our society's becoming

like Sodom and Gomorrah.

To which without a thought,

I said,

which would have been saved

for ten righteous men.

That leads us

to 2 Corinthians 5.21.

How do we get ten righteous men?

For God made him to be sin

who knew no sin,

that we might become

the righteousness of God in him.

What is the answer to our society?

The righteousness of God in him.

I'm a parent.

I'm a grandparent.

Sometimes I think,

I've got a grandson

who was a junior in high school.

Okay?

I'm thinking,

wow,

I could be a great-grandfather.

Not that many years away.

And I think,

is there any hope for this place?

Could anything good come out of this?

And I think,

yeah,

for ten righteous men.

The rights that we might become

the righteousness of God in him.

The account in Genesis 1

of the creation

that we're created in God's image

is all wrapped up in

he's got a plan

for restoring that image

from the brokenness of sin.

First of all,

the gospel points us to

the despair,

the despair,

to the hopelessness

of man's condition.

It points us to Romans 3.23,

for all have sinned

and fall short of the glory of God.

Maybe I'm not guilty

of some of the things

that we thought about this morning

in taking a life.

But Jesus said,

if you hate your brother,

you are guilty of murder.

If you call your brother a fool

when he cuts you off in traffic,

you're guilty.

But then the gospel points us

to the perfect atonement

provided by Jesus Christ.

A passage I got to preach on

several months ago or so,

or maybe two months ago.

John 3.16,

for God so loved the world

that he gave his only son

that whosoever believes in him

shall not perish,

but have everlasting life.

The gospel provides

the personal solution

of confession

and acceptance

of the Savior.

My personal relationship,

the hope I have,

Titus 3.5,

he saved us

not because of the works

we have done

in righteousness,

but according to his own mercy,

by the washing regeneration

and renewal

of the Holy Spirit.

This good news

of the gospel

that all of your sins,

maybe you're guilty

of all of them

that we've talked about today.

Maybe you're guilty

of none of them.

All have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God.

And only salvation

through Jesus Christ,

the perfect atonement,

can care for that.

Is that where you are

this morning?

If you come to the place

of accepting Jesus Christ

as your personal Savior,

Savior,

if you have,

all of the sins

that you've committed,

all of the darkness

is covered

by the blood of Christ.

Let's pray.

Father, I pray

that you would work

in the hearts

of men and women

that as we consider

the image of God,

that we were created

from,

that we would recognize

the need

that we have.

Lord, if there's anyone

here this morning

that has not come

to the place

of a personal relationship

with you,

I pray now,

this moment,

they would cry out to you

and say,

I accept

that I'm lost,

that I'm hopeless,

and I accept

the atonement

of Jesus Christ

and trust

in the eternal life

that I'll have

as a result.

Father,

those who are here today

and know your grace

but perhaps

are struggling

with the areas

of life

and the sanctity

of it

and now recognize

the importance

that this has

to you

as your image

bearers,

I pray that you

would bring

confession

and through that

forgiveness

and a restoration

of joy.

Father,

I pray that during

this year

that we are

focused

on the sanctity

of life

and doing

everything

that we

can

and need

to do

in our

individual lives

to show

forth the value,

the preciousness

of the image

of God.

I ask it in your

name.

Amen.