Does Every Life Matter - Yes
Notes
Transcript
This has been a stressful week. It has been a stressful year. So, I do not want to put anything heavy on you this morning. That is not to say that I am giving you fluff. This will be a doctrinally rich message. I think Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German preacher during the rise of the NAZIS in before and during WWII said it best. When opening his message to his students confirmation, he said:
Dear Confirmation Candidates! When in the last days before your confirmation I asked you many times what you hoped to hear in your confirmation address, I often received the answer: we want a serious warning which we shall remember all our lives. And I can assure you that whoever listens well today will receive a warning or two by the way; but look, life itself gives us enough and too many serious warnings today; and so today I must not make your prospect for the future seem harder and darker than it already is — and I know that many of you know a great many of the hard facts of life. Today you are not to be given fear of life but courage; and so today in Church we shall speak more than ever of hope, the hope that we have and which no one can take from you.
Since January, we have had constant division and stress thrust upon us by the media, and our government. Think about this for just a moment.
January into February, Presidential Impeachment
February through present, Coronavirus
April into May, concern over Murder Hornets
May to Present, Racial Division and rebellion
There has been so much stress that it has become a running joke about what will happen next.
So, as Bonhoeffer said, “so today I must not make your prospect for the future seem harder and darker than it already is”.
I want to take a spin on something that we have heard much about in recent days. Today we will begin a new series. Much has been said over the last weeks and even years of lives mattering. Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, Cops’ Live Matter, are all chants we have been hearing. But, is this true? Do all lives matter? The fact that there is a no answer to this will probably surprise some. However, this “No” answer must be conditioned and qualified. That is what I am setting out to do.
The initial reaction of some to a “No” answer is probably shock or outrage. How could any life not matter? Others are probably trying to figure out whose life would not matter. They may be thinking about criminals on death row, or bad guys who are killed by cops, or enemies killed by the military. For the purpose of this paper, those are not the lives I am talking about. Actually, based on the intent of this paper, those lives matter too.
There will be three messages in this series. Today’s message is “Does Every Life Matter - Yes”. Next Sunday’s message will be, “Does Every Life Matter - No”, and then Lord willing, the final message will be “Living a Life That Matters”.
So, getting into our message today, Yes, all lives do matter. I will go ahead and warn you, we are going to jump from Genesis to Revelation, and in between. However, we will spend a lot of time in Paul’s letter to the Romans. There are three points I want to make about this. They are:
1. All Life is given by God
2. Almost everyone matters to someone else
3. Life separates us from eternity
Let’s consider each of these points.
I. All Life Is Given By God
The first point, all life is given by God. Because life is given by God, it has intrinsic value. The scripture says,
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
This was different from every other creature that God made.
God gave life to all creation, but he breathed life into humanity that was made in his image.
The set man apart from everything else that was created. He had value above everything else.
This is why Bible believing Christians do not support abortion. That life matters, and was given by God. The Psalmist wrote about this idea in Psalm 139.
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.
God forms each of us and we are made based on his design and desire.
Because of this, all lives do indeed matter.
This includes every
race
nationality
socioeconomic status
the law abiding citizen
the criminal
the unborn
the elderly
friends
enemies.
Because every life was given by God, it matters.
II. Every Life Matters to Someone Else
Second, we consider that almost every life matters to someone else. It is said that I have to include the word “almost” in that statement. However, reality is, some people have no one left who cares about them. There are those who have no family or friends left. Then there are those who have family that is indifferent to towards them. At their death, the only concern is what the family might inherit (or swindle) from their estate. While this is all too common, thankfully it is not the majority of people.
For the majority of us, we have people who care about us.
So, if our life ends, they will mourn for us.
To them, our lives matter.
Regardless of how the life ends, or the circumstances (justified or unjustified) that led up to the life ending, most people’s lives matter to their family and friends.
Mother’s of heinous criminals will often weep over the grave of their lost children.
Why? Because his life mattered to her.
I want to be completely clear, I am pro capital punishment. The Bible clearly teaches capital punishment carried out by governments. Clear guidelines were given by God regarding capital punishment, and they are a good idea for all governments to follow. Often, other verses, like love your enemy, are taken out of context to condemn capital punishment. That authority was given to the government. As individuals, we are to love our enemies and forgive. The government is to execute judgment and justice. If God is anti-capital punishment, then why do a lot of his laws require a death sentence. Also, as we will see later, our sin earns us a death sentence.
This requires individuals to act under the authority of the government to carry out judgment and justice. In so doing, they must carry out their duties without malice in their hearts. It is a tall order for those individuals, but it is a God given order and responsibility. It is not one to be taken lightly.
III. Life Separates Us From Eternity
Third, life separates us from eternity. What do I mean by this? The writer of Hebrews said it this way,
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Every single human being who has been given the breath of life will stand before God in judgment. Life is all that separates us from this judgment. Any decisions we will make, our personal relationship with God, and our seeking forgiveness for sins are all conducted in life. Once that life ends, we are faced with the consequences of our choices. Because life separates us from judgment, it matters.
I would be guilty of a terrible malfeasance if I did not expound upon this. If we are to be judged by God for what we do on earth, we should want to make sure that said judgment is favorable towards us. No one ever wants to be found guilty before a judge; no one! That is because a decree of “guilty” is followed by sentencing.
The first thing we must understand is that no one stand before God guiltless of breaking the law. In the language of the Bible, breaking God’s laws is called “Sin”. Those who break God’s laws are called “Sinners”. Romans 3:23 says,
King James Version Chapter 3
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Prior to saying this, the Apostle Paul expounded upon this idea:
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
All means “ALL”. We all, in our natural state, stand before God as sinners. While this is not a pleasant thing to hear, if we are honest, we must admit that it is true. We have all broken God’s law. We must all admit that we have lied. There has been something that we are dishonest about. If we were to consider just the 10 Commandments, and how Jesus expounded upon these, we would find that we are guilty of them all. We are all sinners!
Because of our sins, we are guilty before God. What does this mean? Again, looking at what the Apostle Paul said the Romans.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
What Paul said was that sin brings a sentence of death. Death is always a separation. When our physical bodies die, the spirit is separated from the body. The physical observance of this death is in the body. The life has departed from the body.
The Bible speaks of a second death. John the Revelator wrote
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
What John saw was those who died with their guilt of sin still on their record. Their crimes had not been pardoned and so they had to face the judgment for their sins. This judgment was to be cast into the Lake of Fire (often referred to as Hell, though this is not completely accurate.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Now I have raised another point. The possibility of the pardon of our sins. If sin brings judgment and death, how do we avoid this? How do we avoid “hell” and go to heaven?
For many, they are trying to earn their way into heaven. They think that if they live a good enough life, go to church, say certain prayers, give to charities, draw the correct straw, or a combination of all this, that they can get to heave. They believe that there will be some cosmic scale that their good and bad deeds will be weighed in. So, they go through life hoping for the best.
This approach is reckless and foolish. As we will see, this leaves the hoper with a zero percent chance of getting into heaven. Why, you might ask. The Prophet Isaiah wrote,
But we are all as an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;
And we all do fade as a leaf;
And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
And there is none that calleth upon thy name,
That stirreth up himself to take hold of thee:
For thou hast hid thy face from us,
And hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
What Isaiah was saying is that all our “good works” are disgusting to God. This is because sin taints everything we do. Think of this, bandages are white. The medial tape we use is white. Before they are put on a wound, they are pure and clean. However, once they get put on a wound, they absorb the blood, fluids, and infections of the wound. Also, they pick up dirt outside the wound. Isaiah said our “good works” are like this. Do we really want to try to get into heaven by giving God nasty contaminated bandages that we have used to try to cover the contaminants that infect our lives?
So, what hope do we have. One of the most well-known scriptures in the Bible answers this.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
God sent his Son to give us life. He gave his life so that we could have eternal life. This eternal life is the opposite of the death that John saw in Revelation 20 and 21. This raises another question; how do we get this life? Is it as simple as believing?
Yes, it is as simple as “just believing”. However, it must be more than a belief that Jesus existed and died. To understand this, lets once again look at what the Apostle Paul told the Romans
(If you can’t tell, the book of Romans is very important concerning this topic).
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Paul said, that we must confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in our heart that God hath raised him from the dead, then we will be saved. The confession of the true Christian (as opposed to someone who simply identifies as a Christian) is just that. Jesus is God, who died for our sins, and rose from the grave. We believe in our hearts and that belief is expressed through our mouths.
The confession simply means we are not ashamed of our faith. Those who are mute can still be saved. Salvation is not dependent upon the act, but on our faith that we are unashamed of. Jesus said,
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
A mute person will demonstrate their faith in other ways. The importance is that we are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16).
When we by faith make this confession, we are pardoned from our sins. Of those who make that confession by faith, John said
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
John said that the second death has no power over us! We are in Christ and are protected from the judgment from our sins. There is A LOT of scripture that deals with this, but we still have a lot of ground to cover; so I will move on.
Conclusion
After all of this, it is hard to imagine that I will preach a no answer next week. You will have to come back and hear the message. However, today we learned that Yes Every Life Matters. EVERY LIFE MATTERS because it was given by God, it matters to someone else, and because life separates us from eternity. This last point is very important if we have not received Christ as our Savior, for it is life that is keeping the lost out of hell.
For those of us who are saved, this underscores the importance of sharing the Gospel. The only thing keeping our lost friends, family, neighbors, and enemies that we are called to love, out of Hell is this fragile thing called life. So yes, it matters.