Precious in His Sight – the Sanctity of Preborn Human Life

Ps 139:1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

Ps 139:13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

God’s Plan: [1] Marry, [2] Conceive, [3] Give Birth

Ge 1:26-28 [God] created man (male and female) in His image. He blessed them. “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it …”

Ge 2:24-25 One man. One woman. Joined by God. One flesh. Union. Conception. Birth. Growth. Training. Maturity. In that order! REPEAT!

Ge 4:1 Now the man knew (had relations with) his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. … “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD.” 4:25 God appointed me another offspring …”

When did each baby’s life first become a gift from God? At birth? At viability? At the first heartbeat? At a certain week or trimester?

Does man, or does God, bestow “personhood” on each conceived life?

Isaac, Jacob & Esau, +12: at Conception!

Ge 15:4 The LORD told Abram, “… one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” From Abram’s body? Think about it!

Ge 21:1 Then the LORD … did for Sarah as He had promised. 2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age …

Heb 11:11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, … she considered Him faithful …

Ge 25:21-26 Isaac prayed. Rebekah conceived. The twins struggled within her (before birth). God: “Two nations are within your womb.”

Ge 29:31 … the LORD … opened [Leah’s] womb (enabled her to conceive) … 30:22 Then God opened [Rachel’s] womb.

Samuel, David, Jeremiah: at Conception!

1 Sa 1:19 … Elkanah [had relations with] Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 It came about in due time, after she had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the LORD.”

What was the primary result of Yahweh remembering Hannah?

Ps 139:13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will thank You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.

Jer 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet …”

When did / does this “forming” begin?

John the Baptist: at Conception!

Lk 1:15 John to be “filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.” 24 … Elizabeth became pregnant … 25 “the Lord looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.” 36 “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son …

Lk 1:41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 “And how has … the mother of my Lord would come to me? 44 “For behold, when … your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.”

Greek βρέφος (brephos) “baby,” newborn or preborn. Cf. Lk 2:12.

Jesus the Christ: at Conception!

Lk 1:30 “… Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. Lk 2:21 Eight days after His birth, He was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

Mt 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

20 … “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her (that which has been begotten in her) is of the Holy Spirit.”

The miracle of the virgin conception led to the virgin birth.

What Our Loving God Hates

Prov 6:16 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.

What Our Loving God Commands

Prov 24:11 Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, oh hold them back.

Human Life – Human and Alive from the Start

Here is a detailed account – and an amazing video – of the baby’s development within the womb, by Justin Taylor. Check it out!

The World’s Most Realistic Animation of the Development of a Baby within Her Mother’s Womb

Article: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/the-worlds-most-realistic-animation-of-the-development-of-a-baby-within-her-mothers-womb/

Video: https://youtu.be/S-lQOooYAs8

Fertilization – A new human life begins! Gender, ethnicity, hair color, eye color, and other traits are determined. This is a person.

Week 1 – Baby implants in the lining of his/her mother’s womb, which must be his/her safe and secure shelter for the next 9 months.

Week 3 – Heartbeat detected. Brain and gastrointestinal tract have begun to form. Cells for nerves, blood, and kidney have appeared.

Week 4 – The buds of arms and legs are visibly forming; the right and left hemispheres of the brain are beginning to take shape.

We could go on! Check out that website for the rest of this list!

What Has Happened in Our Beloved Nation?

Initially: Declaration of Independence: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable (absolute, indisputable) Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness …”

Created … Creator-endowed right to life … (a biblical worldview!)

Then the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified in 1868) guaranteed various rights to “persons.” Sounds good! But on 1/22/73, by a 7-2 decision, the US Supreme Court declared the unborn are not “persons” and therefore have no guaranteed rights or privileges of any kind!

So, such a “non-person” may be killed on demand!

Abortion: a multi-million-dollar business. Planned Parenthood, the #1 abortion provider and promoter, 345,672 abortions from 10/1/17 to 9/30/18—highest number ever reported in a single year.

2019 revenue: $1.6 BILLION, including $616.8 million from our taxes.

Political leaders, even whole party platforms, promote “freedom to choose” death for babies. They call us “anti-abortion,” not “pro-life.”

ABC News (online, Devin Dwyer, 12/28/21): “2021 was pivotal year for abortion laws in America.” Progress in Texas, Mississippi. Supreme Court may overturn Roe this year, return matters to state governments.

Pushback (one example): “The Biden administration announced this month (December, 2021) that the abortion pill mifepristone can now be distributed by mail or at commercial pharmacies if authorized by a physician, rather than in-person at a hospital, clinic or medical office.”

The full article may be found here. https://abcnews.go.com/US/2021-pivotal-year-abortion-laws-america/story?id=81860784

Sheila Butt, our sister in Christ, mother of Kyle Butt, and a personal friend, is also the former Majority Floor Leader of the Tennessee House of Representatives. She posted the following on Facebook 12/30/21 (used here with her permission):

My mother had a line that encapsulated her sex education lesson to me. It was, “Why buy the cow when you get milk for free?”

Because of that little phrase, I decided from an early age, “No sex before marriage!” You see, I really wanted to get married!

She also told me without an ounce of hesitation, that if I got pregnant, it would be no one’s fault but my own. I had a choice.

Over the years since then, I have watched our government subsidize everything that undermines the home and the traditional two parent family.

Have kids? Not married? That’s OK! The government will give you food, housing, a phone, day care, health care and your boyfriend can even move into your government subsidized housing for most of the month.

Pregnant? Want to kill your baby? Oh! That’s Ok, too! We’ll get that paid for as well. There is a huge market for those baby parts. Never mind that God’s Word tells us that, “God hates hands that shed innocent blood.” We have managed to silence anything He says that we don’t like anyway. They are much too inconvenient truths.

We really have “come a long way baby” haven’t we? We don’t need men anymore and why should they want to marry us and take us away from our fantastic jobs or off of the government payrolls?

I have often wondered over the years why we didn’t subsidize two parent families along the way who actually stayed together? Maybe after 5 years, give them a great tax break or a bonus! How much cheaper that would have been than becoming the “Nanny State.” Right now, there is often more financial gain not to get married!

Over the years, I have had the privilege of teaching hundreds of teenaged girls. Occasionally one will come up and tell me that she has been sleeping with her boyfriend. Every now and then one of them says, “I just can’t help it.” Or, “No one has a long term relationship anymore without having sex.”

They have bought into the lies and brought tears to my eyes. Just because “everyone does it” or you “couldn’t help it” does not change the fact that our Creator intended sex for marriage. Sex outside of marriage is a sin. That’s straight Bible. Either you believe it or you don’t, but culture cannot EVER change the truth of God’s Word or the consequences of sin.

It’s no wonder that fewer and fewer people are getting married these days. There is no reason to buy the cow when the milk is flowing freely and being paid for by someone else! And as far as I can see, nothing about this enabling scenario has made the world a better place.

There is still a right way to do things! And God’s way is always the best way. For now; and for eternity. We need more great models of that!

Precedents and Principles: the Bigger Picture

The abortion issue involves much more than abortion itself. Here are some of the many factors that have contributed to the problems associated with, leading to, and reinforced by, the practice of abortion in the US.

The Silencing of God, the Bible, and Religion

The Separation of Intimacy from Marriage; the “Hook-Up” Culture

The Elevation of Lust, Pleasure, and Consensual Choice

The Breakup of Marriage and the Home; the Absence of Fathers

Genetic Advances; the Desire for “Perfect” Children

The Redefinition of Marriage, Gender, and Morality

The Prioritizing of Freedom of Choice Over Protection of Life

Media: Entertainment, Sports, News, Social Media, Pornography

Our response to abortion must be about more than abortion itself!

Yes, the supply side, but also the demand side. Root causes and choices.

Why Do Women Seek Abortions?

3/4 said baby would interfere with work, school, other responsibilities.

2/3 said they could not afford to have a child.

4/10 said they had already completed their childbearing.

1/2 did not want to be a single parent or had relationship problems.

Younger teenagers said they were not mature enough to raise a child.

Younger teenagers said their parents wanted the abortion.

Unmarried women: keep secret their sexual behavior and pregnancy.

Many delayed abortion, afraid to tell their parents or their partner.

Responsibilities to others, financial constraints, lack of partner support.

National Library of Medicine. See the research here. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16150658/

Be Informed!

“Abortion.” “Fetus.” “Pro-choice.” “Anti-abortion.”

All who favor abortion have already been born.

About 1 in 3 women – abortion by age 45.

About 85% in the U.S. – unmarried women.

Man’s immoral “solution” to a moral crisis.

Pleasure without consequences. Men walk free.

Yet there are many unintended consequences.

Abortion imposes a death sentence on the victim.

85%-plus will change after seeing an ultrasound.

Take Action!

Don’t fight or flee. Instead pray, vote, and engage.

Ask questions that prompt thinking and discussion.

“Who – or what – gives human life its value?”

“Is the unborn fetus human, one of us?”

“What is the value of human life, and why?”

“Why was abortion illegal before 1973?”

“Could your mother have rightly aborted you?”

“If one can be ‘pro-choice’ about taking unborn human life, can one be ‘pro-choice’ about taking other human life?”

“Is partial-birth abortion morally acceptable?”

“If so, could you assist with this procedure?”

“If not acceptable, why not?”

“Is abortion in the third trimester morally right?”

“If abortion, why not infanticide and euthanasia?”

“How is the value of human life to be measured? By size? Maturity? Brain capacity? Habitat? Degree of dependency? Contribution to society? If so before birth, why not after birth and in old age?”

Written by Cory Collins

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