O most gracious and eternal, Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Author and Giver of Life, by whose holy hand we were created to live for Your own glory: we bless and praise You for Your Word of truth, Your Word of life. We pray that You will send forth Your Holy Spirit upon us, and even now breathe into our souls the breath of spiritual life which comes only from You through Your Son by Your Spirit. May our hearts be humbled before You, may our minds be renewed by the truth of Your Word, and may our souls be filled with joy in the pleasure of fellowship with You; that we may live more fully and truly as Your holy people, through the saving grace, mercy, and power of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE SERMON

This coming Saturday, January 22, is the twenty-seventh anniversary of the United States’ Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, in which abortion on demand was legalized in the United States. Since then, some thirty-five million unborn children have been "legally" killed in this nation. That’s hard to say, and harder still to imagine, but it is true. Through the years since the legalization of abortion, the governing elders of Rivermont Presbyterian Church have unanimously affirmed the sanctity of human life and have supported the efforts of organizations such as Presbyterians Pro-Life and the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center. We believe that the Bible clearly reveals that God created humanity, male and female, in His own image and that God has forbidden us to shed innocent human blood. The sixth commandment, "You shall not kill," prohibits every human being from unjustly taking human life. Exodus 21:22-25 makes specific case-application of the sixth commandment in terms of the life of the unborn child.

Each year at this time, it is our custom here in Rivermont Presbyterian to observe a "Sanctity of Life Sunday," and to mark that day with a sermon on this theme. I want to acknowledge, first of all, that, in a congregation this large and with as many visitors as we usually have, it is likely that quite a number of you here today have been involved, in some way or another, with an abortion. I said, "involved in some way or another," because it is not only the woman with a crisis pregnancy who is involved. In the case of every pregnancy, in the case of every abortion, there is a man involved, there is a man responsible. Abortion is not just a woman’s issue; it is not just about women. It is also about men, and their moral responsibility, their moral behavior, their moral decisions, and their moral accountability before God.

And then also, there may be parents of youth and young adults involved — perhaps parents who arranged and encouraged an abortion; perhaps, fathers who did not teach their sons and daughters the virtue of sexual purity; perhaps parents who did not live the example of faithfulness in marriage as role models for their children; and, yes, parents who were faithful and who did raise their children to love and obey the Lord, and who are now heartbroken over an abortion, and who grieve for their child and their unborn grandchild.

But even if you yourself have never been involved in any way in an abortion, and you know it’s wrong, and you would never support it, and you yourself are clearly and thoroughly pro-life, think about this for a moment, just think about this: how many of us — truth be told — how many of us here today, male and female, have been personally spared from — personally protected from, preserved from— a crisis pregnancy: spared, protected, preserved from that situation only, only, only, by the kindness and mercy and grace of God? So, you see, when we deal with the abortion issue as people of Biblical, pro-life conviction, we must do so without throwing any stones.

Do you remember the story of the woman caught in adultery? The self-righteous, hypocritical Pharisees brought her to Jesus to see what He would say and do. And, you know, He did not deny her guilt. He did not try to defend her or excuse her immorality. Jesus did not try to sweep her guilt under the rug or explain it away with moral relativism. In fact, Jesus did not deny that she deserved death by stoning according to the Israelite law. That’s important to remember. Jesus said, "He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her" [John 8:7].

Now, think about this: in that situation, who was without sin? Who was the only one there who really could have cast the first stone? Jesus. But He didn’t, because instead He was willing to take her guilt upon Himself. He was willing to suffer the punishment of death for her sin. He had come to seek and to save the lost and to give His life as a ransom for ...her, so that she could go free, forgiven, and live a new life, and sin no more. And that’s what He said to her, "I do not condemn you; go and sin no more" [John 8:11].

Jesus Christ, today, offers you — men and women — that same forgiveness and freedom from guilt and condemnation. Jesus said, and says to us today, "Come to me all, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" [Matthew 11:28]. The Scripture assures us that "because Jesus lives forever ...He is able to save completely (without limit) those who come to God through Him..." (Hebrews 7:25). We cannot turn back the hands of time, but we can turn to Jesus Christ and receive His mercy, forgiveness, and love, and be set free to live a new life, now and for all eternity. Jesus said, and says to us all today, "Whoever comes to me, I will in no way cast out."And so, you see, the almighty, eternal God who created us in His own image is also the gracious God who sent His only Son into the world, that we might be redeemed from all our sins and set free to live for His glory, forever.

The sanctity of human life is rooted and grounded in the fact that God created humanity, male and female, in His own image. The image of God is not a physical likeness. The image of God is the spiritual nature of man, male and female. We have been created with spiritual awareness and moral consciousness, with the powers of rationality, and creativity, and memory, and the ability to contemplate the future, and the inclination to contemplate our own existence; and the capacity to communicate deeply, and with complex language, with one another; we have the desire and the ability to know and to be known, to love and to be loved. All of this is part of what it means to be created in the image of God. And so, we were truly created to be God’s representatives upon the earth. We have been created in such a way so that our very existence, and the existence of our neighbor, reminds us that there is a God who created us — a God who created us for His own glory.

And so, the sanctity of human life is that unique and special value which God the Creator has placed on human beings. The value and dignity of human life comes from God Himself. As Psalm 100 says, "It is He who made us, and not we ourselves." Psalm 139 says, "You (God) created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb." The Scripture teaches us that God made us individually. Job 33:4 says, "The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life." We are not accidents in a random universe. No human being is an accident in a random universe, for it is God Himself, the eternal, almighty Creator who forms us in our mother’s womb and gives us life (cf. Jeremiah 1:5; Isaiah 44:2; Job 33:4).

This is the reason that murder, abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia have always been considered abominations by the people of God. Abortion is not an issue that has arisen in modern times. The ancient pagan peoples of the world practiced abortion and infanticide by exposure, and child sacrifice, but these sins were condemned by the Old Testament prophets of Israel. The Jewish philosopher Philo, and the Jewish historian Josephus, equated abortion with murder and infanticide. The early church unanimously condemned the practice of abortion. In the second century, the church leader Tertullian wrote, "...murder being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb." Furthermore, the early Christians were compelled by the example of Christ and the teaching of Scripture to care for the poor and the weak and the helpless and defenseless. And that is still our mandate today. And surely, the unborn child, and the severely disabled or handicapped, and the incapacitated elderly are among the weakest and most defenseless in our society. But the image of God is upon them, no less than upon the strong and powerful; yes, the image of God is upon the unborn, even in the womb, and upon the severely disabled, and the incapacitated, and the terminally ill. Their life belongs to God, and no one has the right to take it from them.

This is no longer a debate about whether the fetus is a human or when human life begins. All the scientific evidence reveals and proves that human life begins at conception. But we live in a society which for more than a generation has officially and publicly rejected the revelation of God and has suppressed the truth and lived according to a lie. And I want to say a special word to our young people who have grown up in this culture: do not be deceived by the lies of this culture in which you have grown up. Do not let your hearts and minds be shaped by the wickedness of this world.

We are now a society, rich and powerful, with technological capability almost unimaginable, but which does not know what it means to be human. Are we animals, of no more distinction and value than snails? Or are we machines, whose self-worth and self-esteem is determined by our efficiency and productivity, our usefulness to society? There are animals, you know, whose life enjoys greater legal protection than unborn children and newborns. Of course, yes, some species ought to be protected; but when a turtle egg or a snail is protected with more stringent laws than an unborn child in his or her mother’s womb, something is terribly, wickedly wrong. Or, on a lighter note, but still serious in terms of a commentary on our society, think of recent popular movies — in which a man is transformed into a machine, and a robot is transformed into a man. You see what this is indicating about where we are in American society today: without Biblical truth, we don’t know who we are or what we are or what value we have.

Am I an animal, captive to my native instincts, whose only real purpose in life is to eat and to reproduce? Is that the purpose of my life, is that the meaning of happiness — to eat, to reproduce, to maximize physical pleasure, to minimize physical pain, and to postpone death as long as possible? Does that sound strangely familiar? That’s the life of a beast.

Or am I a machine, whose value depends upon my being able to do something useful? And, if I am a machine and one of my parts breaks, then it is OK, I suppose, for me to get a spare part from another human machine that has been "put out of service" — deliberately killed for the sake of providing me with another part so that I can continue to be productive. Yes, aborted fetal tissues and organs are being bought and sold, like parts of a machine. Never has the world seen such incredible intelligence and technology combined with such primitive, barbaric cannibalism.

Am I a monkey, or am I a machine? Whatever happened to Man — male and female — created in the image of God? Whenever a culture denies the existence of God the Creator, that culture denies the existence of true humanity. Whenever a culture "does away" with God, that culture "does away" with Man, and is left with nothing but monkeys and machines. And so you see what a calling we have as Christians today, in affirming the sanctity of human life, and showing the world what it really means to be human: to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever!

And so I do not conclude on a dark and sad note. Jesus is alive, forever! The Lord reigns! He says, "Fear not! I have overcome the world!" He is The Man — the true Man who is true God — who has conquered all the powers of darkness. He says to us, "Be of good cheer!" He has not given us the spirit of fear and timidity, but the spirit of power, and love, and a sound mind [2^nd Timothy 1:7]. We have a wonderful opportunity to witness to the world about the joy of family life, and to celebrate the birth of children, and to celebrate adoptions, to celebrate life because Jesus, the Lord of life, is with us in this world! We are to be people of life and peace and joy and faith and hope and love because Jesus Christ is the Lord of heaven and earth, and His kingdom will not fail. The powers of darkness cannot win. And so we are to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, our labor is not in vain. And even now, the pro-life movement is making great strides in America, not only politically but also culturally. We ought to thank God and praise God for the fact that more and more youth are pledging themselves to sexual abstinence before marriage, and for the fact that the abortion rate is dropping.

And I want to make a special plea to our youth and young adults — for you have grown up in a dark time of cultural rebellion against God. Commit yourself to make a difference in this world for the cause of Christ and His kingdom by honoring the sanctity of human life. Honor the sanctity of your own life. You are a marvelous creation with marvelous capacities and abilities. You are the handiwork of the Almighty One who calls all the stars by name. Commit yourself — your mind, your intellect, and your heart, your feelings, your affections, your desires, and your soul, the strength of your will, to the honor of God by honoring the sanctity of human life. And commit yourself, in Christ’s name, to work in some way for the honor of the sanctity of human life in this society. By God’s grace and with His power, you can and will make a great difference even with small acts of faithfulness and love.

And, after all, isn’t it wonderful to know that you are neither a monkey nor a machine, but a human created in the image of God, for fellowship with God, a human being known and loved by the Creator of heaven and earth, and loved to such a degree that He Himself, for your sake and your salvation, would take upon Himself a human nature, and be conceived in the womb of a woman, and be born as a baby, and live as a Man — the perfect, sinless Man, in whom the Image of God is perfectly reflected and revealed — and, die on a cross so that you might be set free from sin and death and live forever as His beloved child. In Him is life. He is life. And we, as His disciples, are called and commissioned to declare and to share His life and His love with all the world. And may His kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

To God be the glory. Amen.