“Fearfully & Wonderfully Made” - Biblical View of Life, Identity, and Abortion

We need to be equipped in order to live in the society we live in. As we develop more proof, evidence, and great responses - the hard hearted design new questions. To which, again, we must equip ourselves to answer for ourselves and those that might listen to learn, but of course the hard hearted won’t. But if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves being swayed towards their side in small ways.

Purpose: To equip Christians to defend biblically and logically that life and personhood begin at conception, and to expose the deception undermining this truth.

1.) SATAN’S TACTICS

Why is abortion so popular, and in a very historical anomaly type of way?

(PPT) We need to see how Satan works, as 2 Corinthians 2:11 says, “so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.”

Confusing/Conflating Word Definitions

(PPT) The dictionary is a weapon of the modern era. But Satan has always used it to his advantage. (ex. baptism)

In STEDMAN’S Medical Dictionary, they made a big change in the definition of “conception” that supports the abortion stance. In the 26th edition it talks about conception at fertilization, 5 years later the 27th edition it connects conception to the end of the implantation process which pushes the time table back a few weeks. A little change is a big change.

Once defined that way there’s suddenly there’s this gray area—a couple of weeks where people claim: It’s not really a person yet...It’s just tissue...It’s a potential pregnancy.

So abortion pills, like Plan B or chemical abortions, get justified as simply ‘preventing conception.’ But what they’re really doing is destroying life that already began.”

We’ll also see in arguments for abortion how the terms the lines have been blurred recently between personhood and personality

(PPT) Governing Authorities

Egypt (Exodus 1:15-16)

King Herod, ordering all males to be killed in Bethlehem 2 years and under (Matt.2:16)

Satan even tries more covertly with legislation, not just tyrants. But legal doesn’t equal good/morality. Human laws don’t determine morality.

(PPT) Satan Uses Deceiving Voices & The Deceived As More Voices

QUESTION: What is really driving abortion?

Abortion is a HUGE business to be in….One leading market research firm reports that the market size, measured by revenue, of the family planning and abortion clinics industry was $4.2 billion in 2023. And each year they spend large amounts of money on lobbyist and campaigns.

They make crazy amounts of money and pay politicians as well to keep peddling it.

Money is one thing driving it, and many have been deceived that it’s morality behind the push.

(PPT) Statistics:

According to the Guttmacher Institute, these are the reasons most frequently cited to abortion clinics for having an abortion:

74% said having a child would interfere with a woman’s education, work, or ability to care for other dependents.

73% said they could not afford a baby at that time.

48% said they did not want to be a single mother or were having relationship problems.

40% said they had already completed childbearing, meaning the child was unexpected and they were done with their family.

30% said they were not ready to have a child.

Less than 1% of the women who told abortion clinic doctors why they were getting an abortion said it was due to the insistence of parents or partners (though this is often touted as a very common reason women get an abortion).

The Age of the Women Of Those Having Abortions:

9% are teenagers — 57% are in their 20s — 31% are in their 30s — 4% are in their 40s

85% are unmarried and 15% are married.

Since 1973, there have been 65 million abortions in the U.S. Compare that number to over one million Americans who died in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined.

Consider this perspective: the combined population of the six largest U.S. metropolitan areas—New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, and Washington D.C.—is more than 62 million. You would have to kill every person in all those cities to and it still wouldn’t equal the number of abortions that have taken place since Roe v. Wade. That is more deaths than either Genghis Khan, Stalin, or Hitler were individually responsible for. The only difference is that today abortion has been legalized and is even viewed as “health care.”

In 2024, 1,038,100 clinical abortions occurred in the U.S. (in a clinical setting…)

Is this really a good moral stance?

2 Corinthians 4:4 “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Satan is after our minds! He’s trying to distort our thinking in small ways here and there that lead to big sinful issues and being comfortable with others sinning. If Gods way isn’t actively influencing you, Satan’s is.

Satan’s goal is to push the belief that identity begins later than conception so that life in the womb is looked at as disposable.

2.) Arguments FOR Abortion

(PPT) “Part Of A Woman’s Body”

(PPT) Just let science tell you how inaccurate that claim is!

At conception, 23 genes from the mother and 23 genes from the father combine to produce a unique individual with 46 genes. The DNA at conception is not the fathers or the mothers - it’s a whole unique different set of information. BRAND NEW AND DISTINCTIVE! At that point of fertilization/conception, that’s all the information you will have, you don’t develop anymore.

From the moment of conception, the babies DNA information is completed, then they just grow and develop. Who they are is scientifically established at conception/fertilization.

(PPT) After just a few short weeks the baby’s is pumping its own blood — and the baby might even have a different blood type than the mother. It has its own brain, heart, and fingerprints. Every cell in the unborn child’s body has a different genetic fingerprint from the cells in the mother’s body.

(PPT) “Woman’s Right”

“Decisions one makes about one’s body, particularly one’s reproductive capacity, lie squarely in the domain of private decision-making. Only a pregnant woman knows whether she is ready to have a child, and governments should play no role in making that decision for her.”

(PPT) But this article and the premise of the “woman’s right” argument fail to recognize several basic truths. Abortion is not safe—the child in the womb is killed every time, and the mother often deals with severe physical and emotional trauma. And a woman has no more right to end an innocent life in her womb than to end an innocent life outside the womb.

A Big One - “Life and Personhood are separate and begin at different time”

(PPT) Pro-abortion advocates have moved the argument, agreeing now that biological life begins at conception, BUT personhood begins at a later point….what point?

Some say when the embryo attaches to the wall of the uterus 8 days after conception, some say when the mother feels the baby move, the former bioethicist for Princeton University says not until you gain consciousness…implications of that are disastrous. (2 or 3 years old?)

In other words, the abortion debate is really about human identity, about who and what human beings are. The confusion Satan has caused is between personhood and having a personality - they aren’t the same but the pro-abortion stance says they are.

The pro-abortion argument says, ‘Yes, it’s biologically human—but it’s not yet a person.’ That’s a dangerous lie. Because if personhood is based on what you can do instead of who you are, then anyone who loses their abilities—like the elderly, the disabled, or the unconscious—could be stripped of their personhood too.

God doesn’t define personhood by abilities. He defines it by His image stamped on us from conception. That’s why every unborn child already has worth, dignity, and rights that must be protected.”

3.) STORIES ARE DOORWAYS...NOT FOUNDATION

(PPT) Both sides have compelling stories. Compelling personal stories are what the enemy has chosen as the current battle ground - and if you fight on their home turf we lose. This has taken place in personal encounters and in politics. Whoever has the most compelling story wins. And lets be honest, the wrong side has very compelling stories too.

What’s the place of the personal stories? To gain an audience, to call someones attention to listen to the real arguments and truth behind it.

STORY #1 —

STORY #2 —

But what about the voices on the other side believe this way: “Yes it’s killing a life, but each woman must decide”

An article from SOLON reads: “....a fetus can be a human life without having the same rights as the woman in whose body it resides. She’s the boss. Her life and what is right for her circumstances and her health should automatically trump the rights of the non-autonomous entity inside of her.”

Said another way, “preborn babies might be human, but they have fewer, or lesser, rights than the mother. Every woman should have the right and freedom to make this choice for herself.”

Since they’ve found it difficult to gain majority approval, they’ve intentionally switched tactics - they stopped trying to persuade everyone to be in favor of abortion and instead began convincing people to affirm each woman’s right to choose. That’s why they gradually replaced the pro-abortion label with pro-choice.

Near the end of the same article she even writes, “If by some random fluke I learned today I was pregnant, you bet your *** I’d have an abortion. I’d have the World’s Greatest Abortion. My belief that life begins at conception is mine to cling to.”........in a word, that’s BRAZEN. That’s a hard heart.

She has stolen the argument that it’s life and says “yea i agree - but so what”, and on top of that claims “it doesn’t matter, they don’t have the rights like a grown person does.”

Will your story change her? Will your story win the day? What’s your personal anecdote for someone like that?

You see, stories only get us so far. They don’t establish truth. BOTH SIDES have stories that are emotionally rich and BOTH SIDES can tug at your heart. Stories are only doorways — not the foundation. They gain us a hearing for the real arguments and persuasion, but they are not the bedrock themselves.

Here’s the problem with her position: choice is not an inalienable right that has no bounds. By law, and morality, our freedom of choice ends when it risks another person’s innocent life.

Proverbs 31:8–9 “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” ‘

I don’t know of anyone more vulnerable than an unborn child. They have no money, no voice, no vote—nothing. They can’t defend themselves or speak up for their own lives. And yet, they’re the ones under attack the most in our society, often done with the permission of their own mother.

These others say “they don’t have rights so it doesn’t matter” — God says you stand for those that don’t have the rights, you protect them MORE, you go out of your way to ensure their safety.

(PPT) Stories can draw a crowd, but only truth can change hearts and morality.

Abortion is spiritual warfare! And you don’t win spiritual warfare with personal stories! (back off Devil, I’ve got a compelling story!...?)

4.) GODS VIEW OF LIFE & PERSONHOOD

(this is where the lesson gets more cheery and enjoyable)

We’re Made In His Image

(PPT) Genesis 1:26-27, image & likeness.

(PPT) Image = artistic depiction, Hebrew root that means “to hew, cut or carve.”

(PPT) Likeness = “to be like” or “resemble.” It also means “appearance, pattern, or similarity.”

When paired, “image” and “likeness” describe mankind’s unique relationship to God, one that is patterned after Him.

Genesis 2:7 — When God created man in His image, He created a two-part being: body and soul.

Genesis 5:3, 9:6 — Gods image in us wasn’t ONLY with the supernatural creation of Adam and Eve, but continues through to each person conceived.

Imagine if we took the view of a non-literal Genesis and how that view would cascade into a failure to see human identity as God intended!

James 3:9 “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.” James affirms that the image of God in mankind remains in spite of the fall, so take care in how you treat Gods image.

(PPT) Every human bears the image of God. And therefore, every person—from conception until death—must be treated with respect, honor, and dignity.

That’s important for us to stand on - because the same arguments for abortion are also a case for infanticide and euthanasia. But they don’t recognize that, or don’t care...

Abortion is spiritual warfare! And you don’t win spiritual warfare with personal stories! We need a strong Biblical foundation.

(PPT) Killing the unborn/children/innocent is EVIL

(PPT) Exodus 21:22–23 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life,”

God required that the unborn child be treated as equal to the mother, not the same person, but equality. Equality in rights and need for protection.

The same protection and justice for any person murdered!

(PPT) Psalm 106:37–38 “They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.”

The Psalmest laments over Israel’s bloody and sinful history that they were judged for and sent into captivity. God made it clear how displeased he was with their evil.

And people say “we’re not offering them as sacrifices to pagan gods” — no. But your offering them as sacrifices to yourself and the god of convenience.

The only difference is that now its more sanitary.

(PPT) Life/Person/IDENTITY begins at Conception

Psalm 139:13 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.”

Formed (conception) = “to weave, shape” and is often associated with embroidery and artistry. There is a heavy amount of DESIGN that goes into life at conception, and that design points to an intelligent and artistic DESIGNER.

Artwork says a lot about the artist.

You can look at older and well done art work and see how the painter or the sculptor perceived things to be in their work, and when you look the level of intricacy on the statues or the paintings you can see the thought, care and devotion put into it that was within its artist.

MORE THAN THAT, when you look at the process of a baby being formed, you can’t help but be in awe if you really look at it, and we begin to have an inkling of understanding of the grandness of God’s intellect and deep care for his handiwork. Because none of us are crude creations, we aren’t made as junk or a test piece.

“Inward parts” = kidneys literally, but often used poetically as the place of your character and emotion

Jeremiah 11:20 “But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind...”

God formed our inward character, heart, and emotion, the each of us are. He gave us a great starting point. And God test and checks to see what we’ve done with it throughout our life. “What are you doing with what I intimately formed?”

MY/ME - not who I would be, but you began me as me the person. David says you didn’t start me as a potential person.

He knows that only God is capable of the meticulous work required to create not just matter but to give it that matter a unique IDENTITY.

Life doesn’t become valuable at a certain point. It starts valuable when it .

“knit me together” (development in the womb) = highlights God’s skill and creative handiwork in growing and developing human life in the womb. This is still God’s process and handiwork on display!

“fearfully & wonderfully made”

Fearfully = AWE. Wonderfully = DISTINCT and greatly difficult

I am in awe at the what God and only God can do because it it so much higher and grander than any person on earth could accomplish alone, the ability to make a unique being body and soul — IT IS A MIRACLE!

“You thought the universe and planets were awesome - wait until you see this.”

That’s why Genesis 1:28 God set man OVER everything and once man was made v.31 he said it is VERY good. Because the crowing achievement of creation had been wonderfully made.

Perhaps this is the best point for Christians who are on the fence about whether or not Identity and personhood is at the moment of conception, and not 8 days later or weeks or months.

Jesus. We have fallen for the trap that this issue is all about personal stories, and therefore we need to have more compelling personal stories than the other side. Why do I need to give you my story when I have his story I can tell you.

Jesus who gave up eternity for a short time, and was conceived within Mary as Matthew 1:20 says “But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

Did Jesus, who is as eternal as God, un ending as God, cease to exist for 8 days or weeks or months when He was conceived? And of course the answer is no. Jesus left eternity and started at the first point of life here on earth! That embryo was the full identity and person of Jesus who submitted to the developing process as much as He committed to the process of suffering and dying.

Whether we’re talking about protecting babies in the womb or older men and women who are weak and frail at the end of their lives, Jesus’ conception all the way through to death preaches loudly the value of life at all stages!

Philippians 2:7 “but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” He EMPTIED, humbled, Himself. He did not cease to exist into nothingness and then was brought back. He is eternal and unending as God so He could never cease to be.

God is pretty clear. From the moment of conception, there is IDENTITY and UNIQUENESS that is in the very image of God.

(PPT) No matter the circumstances, abortion is wrong because it harms the innocent and takes the life of someone who has done nothing to deserve death. The emotions, stories, and what-ifs around this issue are real and difficult, but they can never change what God has said.

We cannot let emotionalism and subjective reasoning lead us into moral fog. We must anchor ourselves where God does—from conception. Our calling is to protect, speak for, and defend the most innocent lives among us, who cannot speak for themselves.

The Good News... God’s Grace is Greater Than Any Sin. God can forgive you of even abortion - whether you’ve supported it or have had one.

Romans 3:23–24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”

Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Acts 22:16 “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’”

1 John 1:8–9 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

For All Of Us Christians, Here’s Our Response To The Subject of Abortion and Life

Be committed to God’s authority and what He says.

Be Salt and Light - preserving what is good and showing people what is good. Be present in the rot and the decay of the world! But don’t be part of it.

Offer the saving message to those who are on the wrong side of this in a loving way. People don’t care what you know until they know how much you care.

Conclusion: Gods View of The Unborn - “Human life—and the unique identity of a person—begins at the instant of conception, because God the Creator weaves both body and soul in His image from that very first moment.”