Do you remember where you were on September 11th, 2001? I remember that day, the outrage that followed, and American’s running to war. Yet, every day in this country more babies’ lives are taken in abortion than were lost on 9-11 (current statistics are around 3,753 a day).
At the current moment we are in the midst of a pandemic. Your chances of dying from COVID-19 if between the ages of 0-55 with no co-morbidities are something like 1 in 19 million (statistics vary of course). However, if you are an infant in the womb you have a 1 in 4 chance of death from abortion.
Here is why I believe the loss of every one of these lives is a tragedy.
God Creates Life and A Human Life Is Made In God’s Image.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27) Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. (Genesis 9:6) Thou shalt not kill. (Exodus 20:13)
The value of human life is derived from this statement: “made in God’s image.” In the Western legal tradition, we speak of murder as harm to the victim, the victim’s friends, family and circle of acquaintances. But, in Scripture, the primary harm is not to the victim nor to the victim’s friends and family, but rather to the dignity of God Himself. The offence of murder is very great because the taker of human life is a destroyer of God’s image. God says in his word, “But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:36)
In Christian crisis pregnancy centers, women are shown the image of their unborn baby on a screen. When the mother sees her baby’s image, 80% to 90% of the time she will change her mind about wanting an abortion. Why? The image of her baby reminds her of her own image, which in turn is a reflection of Gods’.
During a visit to an abortion clinic the ultrasound screen is turned away from the expectant mother so that only her technician can see the unborn baby. The image on the screen is hidden from the mother’s eyes as the technician measures the size of the baby’s skull to determine the charge for the termination. Abortion in the United States is a billion-dollar industry.
I have been to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC and also The World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem. Both of these massive complexes display gruesome images of horror in room after room. Why is it so important for us to see these graphic image reminders of the eleven million that died? The answer is to ensure that a mass murder like the holocaust never happens again.
Notice that the reverse has happened with taking the lives of the unborn. As of today, the images of sixty million babies are scrubbed, censored and hidden from the American conscious. This destruction of God’s image is hidden from our eyes.
God Plans Life and There Is No Unplanned Life With God.
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalms 139:13-16)
The Psalmist tells us that God has no unplanned pregnancies. The prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5), John the Baptist (Luke 1:41), and the apostle Paul (Gal. 1:15) were all told by God that they were separated to their life calling before they were born. Scripture tells us that we were known before the foundations of the world. God, unlike man, is no respecter of persons. Rich, poor, black, white or unplanned; all are of equal importance to God
At your conception there was a flash of light that happened as zinc atoms in the your mother’s egg are literally lit up at the moment of fertilization (You can view this flash of light on YouTube). In a flash of light, your DNA blueprint was created for your entire life (“In thy book all my members were written”). You are to this day a continuance of what was started at conception. Likewise, we should recognize that unborn children do not become human at a later time and date. They are human upon conception. No living thing can ever become anything other than what it already is! There are, however, different stages of human development: fetal, infant, toddler, adolescent, adult, and then elderly. You currently are in one of these stages. In the fetal stage, at approximately eighteen days, the heart begins pumping; at twenty-eight days there are budding arms; at thirty days the brain has been multiplying by ten thousand times, and at thirty-five days the baby has a mouth ears nose. The mother does not choose after conception whether or not she is a mom. She already is one. She has a human being developing inside of her. She has a God planned life in her womb.
Consider the following manmade determiners of life:
- Size – “A fetus is very small.” By this criterion, a ten-year-old is more human than a one year old. A lineman in the NFL is more human than a horse jockey.
- Development – “A fetus isn’t fully developed.” Neither is a toddler, adolescent, or a teenager, and an elderly person is un-developing. The term “Fetus” is a medical term for a stage in human development. A first grader isn’t as developed as a twelfth grader and a twelfth grader is less developed than a graduate student, but one is not less a human being another.
- Environment – “A fetus can’t live on its own outside the womb.” You and I can’t live outside of a house or shelter permanently either. This is also a protected environment. Notice also just because I am in my house or car does not mean I am a part of the house or car. A person inside of another person is still a separate person.
- Degree of dependency – “A fetus is entirely dependent upon its mother and therefore is at its mother’s disposal.” A one year old is just as dependent on others for its for care as a baby is in the womb. Some twenty-five-year old’s are as well! Many elderly people are also dependent on others for their care.
- Heartbeat – If you were to fall unconscious on the floor, we would immediately check your pulse. If your heart stopped and we could not resuscitate you, you would be pronounced dead. If you were pronounced dead, that means you were formerly alive! Eighteen days after conception a baby has a detectable heartbeat. Essentially 100% of all abortions happen after seven weeks. Every abortion stops a heartbeat.
Consider the following four situations:
- A man has syphilis and his wife has tuberculosis. They have had four children, one of which has died, and the others have what is considered a terminal illness. The mother is pregnant. What do you recommend? Abortion? If you did, you just killed Beethoven.
- There’s a preacher and wife who are very, very poor. They already have fourteen kids. Now the wife finds out she’s pregnant with the fifteenth. They’re living in tremendous poverty. Considering their poverty and the excessive world population, would you consider recommending she get an abortion? She gives birth to John Wesley founder of the Methodist Church.
- A white man raped a thirteen-year-old black girl, and she got pregnant. If you were her parents, would you consider recommending abortion? This was Ethel Waters, the great black gospel singer. (We must ask ourselves this question: What is worse rape or murder?)
- A teenage girl is pregnant. She’s not married. Her fiancé is not the father of the baby, and he is very upset. Would you recommend abortion? This baby is the Saviour, Jesus Christ. Remember that virgin birth was unexpected, unplanned by Mary and Joseph. Baby Jesus interfered with his parents plans, but His was a life planned by God.
God Determines Life
The Baby has a different body and a separate life than that of its mother. We have heard the argument, “my body my life” or “I have a right to do with my body what I want.” I agree with both of these statements. A person should have freedom and autonomy over their own body. The mother’s body, arms, legs, tonsils, etcetera all have her genetic code, but her baby has different genetics, body parts, DNA, and half the time a different gender as well. What is inside the mother is not just her body but another person with another body.
If you murdered a pregnant woman in most states, you will be tried for double homicide. The state recognizes that you have killed two people. Often you hear of tragedies like car accidents where a mother loses her baby or occasionally the mother will die and the baby will survive. A pregnancy consists of two lives, two persons.
Since the slaying of Abel by Cain in Genesis 4, the blood of the innocent cries to God from the ground. These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, (Proverbs 6:16-17) What can be more innocent than a baby in the womb? What Can We Do?
HERE IS WHAT WE CAN DO:
GIVE A VOICE TO THE VOICELESS
Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:8-9) If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works? (Proverbs 24:11-12)
William Wilberforce was a Parliament leader and a born-again believer. He was strongly influenced by former slave trader turned preacher, Pastor John Newton (writer of the Hymn Amazing Grace). William Wilberforce, “opened his mouth” for those who were unable to speak on their own behalf. He was a voice for the voiceless slaves and in the late 1700’s he won the abolition of slavery.
During the Nazi occupation of Holland, Dutch woman, Corey Ten Boom was asked by a Pastor friend to take a noisy Jewish infant baby (They lived in town and Nazi’s would be able to hear the crying). “No” – she placed the infant back in his arms. “I can’t. Someone might die for having this child.” Corey’s aged Father picked the baby up, “I would count it an honor to die for this child!” If you read the book, “The Hiding Place,” you will find that Corey’s father did die for hiding Jews. God wants us to, “deliver those that are drawn to death.”
Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer gave a voice to voiceless Jews during the Nazi holocaust and was martyred for what he believed in. His stand was unpopular in the Christian circles of his own day, but Bonhoeffer proclaimed to Christians of his day, “He who does not stand up for the Jews has no right to sing Gregorian chants. God is not fooled!”
Guided by the experts and medical science of the day, governments at the time of slavery and the holocaust determined either Blacks or Jews to be lesser persons. They could be enslaved or terminated legally. In 1973, the American Supreme Court in similar fashion dehumanized the unborn.
The same evil that existed in the days of William Wilberforce, Corey Ten Boom, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer exists in our day. We must rise and be a voice to the voiceless. We must stand for the unborn.
SUPPORT A CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER
The Christian heroes of yesteryear were heavily involved in helping children and we must as well. George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, George Mueller, D.L. Moody, Amy Carmichael (Missionary to India), Hudson Taylor (Missionary to China) all had orphanages and were advocates for unwanted children.
Crisis pregnancy centers are almost always in great need of trained godly volunteers and financial support. Most likely there is one in your town that could greatly use your help.
ADOPT OR HELP SOMEONE ADOPT
Consider adoption. If you are not able to adopt. Help someone who can. Unfortunately, the current cost for adoption is around $40,000 dollars. There are approximately 1.5 million families in America waiting to adopt.
PRAY FOR REVIVAL
Our nation has experienced two great awakenings in its history. Both revivals shaped public behaviour, opinion, and policy. Revival is a time when people’s relationship and understanding of God are radically changed, thereby changing morals. Our country has a moral crisis. With the spiritual climate of the day, if Roe vs. Wade was overturned tomorrow half of the country would violently revolt. We must pray for a revival.
RECONCILE PEOPLE TO GOD
There are millions of women who have had an abortion. Multitudes of men are guilty of pressuring women into this decision as well. These parents need to hear about redemption, reconciliation, and the forgiveness of God. Many of the best Pro-Life advocates were people who have been formerly deceived into taking a life. You and I must help people with broken lives and hearts to pick up the pieces and join us in this great fight.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
The story is told of an old man walking along the beach where thousands upon thousands of starfish were washed up on shore. The old man spotted a little boy diligently throwing one starfish after another back into the sea. “You’re making no difference at all!” the man said to the boy. The boy looked at the starfish in his hand and replied, “I am making a difference for this one!” as he threw the one starfish back into the water. Sometimes we can feel like we are making no difference when thousands upon thousands of lives are perishing. However, if we could make a difference for just one life all the effort would be worth it.
My Father and Mother wanted to adopt a child. I remember my Father working on the side for a friend to help save money for the cost of adopting. One Sunday evening at our church the congregation presented my Father with a generous check to help with the cost of the adoption. A short time later a ministry in Amsterdam, New York called Life Savers Ministry called my parents with the good news. A young expecting mother of fifteen years old chose my parents application. She wanted them to adopt her child! I vividly recall at nine years old the trip to pick up my new baby brother. Andrew was five days old when we picked him up. Life Savers Ministry, Andrew’s birth Mom who chose life (she is a hero), and my parents made a difference in the life of one!
Below is a picture of my Mother and Andrew the day he was adopted. The second picture is Andrew now with his wife, and their five boys. You can make a difference!
