Hard to Believe?

Since the historic Roe vs. Wade decision in our United States Supreme Court, January 22, 1973, abortions in the United States have risen from 775,000 in 1973 to over 1.2 million per year. That’s over 3,315 abortions per day; or 1 child aborted every 25 seconds.   Since 1973, there have been over 53 million abortions in America alone.

Can you believe that unborn babies are more endangered in the United States that in any other nation of the world? Hard to believe? Not when you remember there is an abortion in America every 25 seconds. Every 25 seconds an unborn baby is murdered.

Did I just use the “M” word? Without apology! Those who support and defend abortion would say that abortion is not murder because the fetus is merely tissue that is growing inside the mother’s womb. Some of the people who support and defend abortion would also argue that the fetus does not become a human being until that fetus can sustain its own life outside of the mother’s womb. Furthermore, the proponents of abortion will try to make the case that a mother’s body is her body and that she has the right to determine what happens to her body and what happens in her body. They clearly argue that the rights of the mother outweigh the rights of the unborn.

But what does God say on this subject? The older I get, the less I am concerned what people say about a particular issue or subject; and the more I am concerned about what God has said in His Word, the Bible. When one begins to read through what the Bible says about abortion the first lesson to be learned is that conception is a work of God. There are several verses that could be pointed out specifically, but the main one I want to call to your attention is Ruth 4:13, “So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.” Did you pay close attention to those words? The Bible said that God gave Ruth conception! No conception happens by chance or by mistake. Conception is part of God’s creative work. Every time a woman conceives, God has given her conception. For the first 16 years of our marriage, my wife and I were unable to have children. She and I went to doctor after doctor. We tried medicine after new medicine. We tried procedure after procedure and routine after routine with no results. Finally a doctor told us that, because of some unknown reason, my wife and I would never have children. He suggested we begin the adoption process. The day that we mailed off our adoption application to the agency, my wife took a home pregnancy test and discovered that she was pregnant…and next month (February) our oldest daughter will turn 9. That right, God not only gave us conception once, but twice. We have two beautiful girls. My point…a couple can try every doctor in the book, take all the medicines that are available, but they will not get pregnant until God gives them conception because conception is the work of God. Furthermore, not one single conception takes place by chance or by mistake; every single conception is part of God creative work.

As you read through all that the Bible has to say about abortion, the second lesson to be learned is that the baby created at conception is created in the image of God. Genesis 1:26-28, Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; make and female he created them.” From the very moment of conception, that life has been created in the image of God. As a result, the Scripture says, “Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6). This verse is not telling us that we need to take up arms against those who promote and defend abortion. It is not telling us to take up arms against those who perform abortions. It is, however, telling us that abortion is murder in the eyes of God because the abortionist is taking the life of a human being who has been created in the image of God.

That is the third lesson you need to learn as you read through what the Bible says about abortion…abortion is murder. In Exodus 21:22-25, the Bible says that if two men are fighting and a pregnant woman steps in to break up the fight and is struck by one of the men causing her to go into premature labor, and the baby is born normal and healthy, then the one who struck her should be fined as the woman’s husband deems appropriate. But if the woman is struck by one of the fighters causing her to miscarry, then the one who struck the woman should pay with his life. Why? Because the man who struck the woman causing her to miscarry has committed murder and the Bible says, “…you shall pay life for life.”   According to God’s Word, killing an unborn baby is murder. Even Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines abortion as, the termination of pregnancy resulting in the death of the fetus. Simply stated it is murder.

Twenty-eight years have passed since the Roe vs. Wade decision by the United States Supreme Court, and over 53 million, unborn babies have been murdered…unborn babies are more endangered here in America than anywhere else in the world. It is time for Christians to stand up and speak up on the city square and in the voters’ box. We must speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves…we must protect those who cannot protect themselves. 

If you have had an abortion, or if you have participated in providing abortion services, I want you to know that you do not have to carry a load of guilt and condemnation. God says, “No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as a freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool” (Isaiah 1:18, NLT). I love that verse, don’t you? Did you catch what the verse says? “No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it…” Will you allow God to remove the stain of your sins? Confess your sins to Him, and experience His grace as He removes your sins and casts them into the sea of forgetfulness!

In His Steps,

Pastor Tim