How Precious is Life

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her class of five- and six-year-olds. After explaining the commandment to honor thy father and thy mother, she asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Without missing a beat, one little boy answered, “Thou shalt not kill.”

There is a positive and a negative message. That is true of all the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments are not only a list of “don’ts”; it is a list of “dos” as well!

So, let’s talk about the sixth commandment. “You shall not murder” The King James Version states “Thou shalt no kill.”

That sentence or shall I say that command is found three, yes three times in the scriptures:

Exodus 20:13 NKJV

13 “You shall not murder.

Deuteronomy 5:17 NKJV

17 ‘You shall not murder.

Matthew 5:21 NKJV

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’

In Exodus 20:13 we find that the Lord has given Moses instructions to go down from Mount Sinai and speak to the people the instructions given by God.

In Deuteronomy 5 and 17 we find that Moses again read the Ten Commandments as a reminder to the children of Israel after they had defeated the Sihon, king of the Amorites and Og King of Bashan. This reading occurred on the east side of the Jordan river.

In Matthew chapter 5 verse 21 we find Jesus giving the people a reminder of the sixth commandment, “You shall not kill” as He teaches on the Beatitudes.

Deuteronomy 5:29 NKJV

29 Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

Many of us think of the Ten Commandments as a list of rules, but God’s intention is evident in His words to Moses: “so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” Deuteronomy 5:29

We see in verse 33 that Moses recognized God’s desire, saying that obedience to the decrees would result in their enjoyment of His ongoing presence with them in the promised land.

1. God Proclaims the Sanctity of Human Life

The First Murder

The first Murder of a human being was reported shortly after sin entered the world. Most of us know the story of Cain and Abel. Cain brought an offering to the Lord that was not the best of the crops he grew, while Abel brought an offering from his flock which was the first born, the best of the best shall we say.

The Lord respected Abel and his offering, while He did not respect Cain and his offering. Cain wasn’t very happy with this and when he was alone with Abel, he killed him. (Genesis 4:1-11)

As I was preparing this message I found this prophesy from the late Pope John Paul II.

In the late Pope John Paul II’s 2000 Christmas message, he warned of a “culture of death” threatening the world. Looking around the world at the violence in the Middle East, as well as many other places in the world, he saw a culture of death.

Little did he know that nine months later, the world would witness the barbaric taking of three thousand lives on September 11, 2001.

📷 Photo of World Trade Center

We see the culture of death everywhere—in daily life, movies, video games, schools, etc.

God speaks to our culture of death in this simple command. He is saying that murder is wrong because human life is sacred. Why is human life sacred in contrast to animals? Because we are made in the image of God (Genesis 9:4–7).

Genesis 9:4-7

Genesis 9:4–7 NKJV

4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man. 7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”

According to God’s command, when a man’s blood is shed there must be an accounting for it. Because man is made in the image of God, his life is inherently precious and cannot be taken without giving account to God.

Because life is valuable, when murder is committed the death penalty is in order.

In its original languages the Bible makes a distinction between killing and murder. Not all killing is murder, because there are cases where there is just cause for killing (self-defense, capital punishment with due process of law, killing in a just war). There are other instances where killing is accidental. This is killing, but not murder.

The Bible also consistently teaches that the punishment of the guilty is the role of human government (Romans 13:1-4) so as to restrain man’s wickedness.

Scripture also teaches that the guilt of unpunished murder defiles a land (Numbers 35:31-34). As Luther said, “God establishes government and gives it the sword to hold wantonness in check, lest violence and other sins proceed without limit.”

The question is, why is there a culture of death? Well, it could be because our culture has forsaken the biblical teaching that man is made in the image of God.

Have you ever heard of Planned Parenthood? Margaret Sanger, its founder, said, 1920 book Women and the New Race when she said, “The most merciful thing a large family can do to one of its infant members is to kill it.” Elsewhere in The Pivot of Civilization, she referred to undesirable people and races as “human weeds.”

That has happened in Western civilization and as believers, we must proclaim the sanctity of human life.

We must counter the prevailing philosophy being taught in our schools and institutes of higher learning that says that people are no different from animals.

We must do everything we can to promote and protect

human life.

2. God Prohibits the Murder of a Human Being.

When God commands “Thou shall not kill”

What is God forbidding here? Well, I want to address right off the bat what it is not talking about.

• It is not forbidding the taking of a life in war.

A Christian soldier is not violating this command. Neither Jesus nor Paul condemned soldiers as murderers.

• It is not addressing the taking of a life in self-defense.

• It is not addressing the taking of a life by a police officer in the line of duty.

• It is not forbidding the killing of animals (Gen. 9:2–3).

• It is not forbidding capital punishment.

There are no fewer than eighteen crimes for which the Bible calls for the death penalty. To put a criminal to death is not murder, but justice.

This, according to Paul, is the role of government (Romans 13:1–5).

What the commandment forbids is not killing, but the unlawful killing of a human being.

I know you are thinking, Pastor, I am so confused. What is God forbidding here?

Well, there are Three classifications of murder:

1. Intentional Murder

2. Invisible Murder

3. Insidious Murder

Let me explain

1. Intentional Murder

Intentional murder is the malicious, unjust murder of a legally innocent life. There are many examples of intentional murder.

a. Homicide

b. Suicide

c. Euthanasia

d. Abortion/Infanticide

So, how can people justify the taking of an unborn life?

In his book Practical Ethics, Dr. Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University, says: The fact that a being is a human being, in the sense of a member of the species Homo sapiens, is not relevant to the wrongness of killing it; it is, rather, characteristics like rationality, autonomy, and self-consciousness that make a difference.

Infants lack these characteristics. Killing them, therefore, cannot be equated with killing normal human beings, or any other self-conscious beings.

I believe that is sick but is the logical conclusion of evolution. What he is saying is that a fetus, or for that matter, senior citizen, is not much different from a dog or a deer that you shoot.

Abortion, no matter what stage or for what reason, is the taking of a human life.

The second classification of murder is:

2. Invisible Murder

This is the most common and yet heinous of all murders. It is almost the most devious kind of murder. It occurs on a daily basis at the hands of non-Christians and Christians alike.

Some of you are murderers this morning. Hold on, let me explain!

Invisible murder is murder from the heart. Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:21-22 that if you harbor hatred and bitterness in your life, you are committing invisible murder.

Matthew 5:21–22 NKJV

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

If you are angry with someone, without a cause, you are guilty of invisible murder.

If you harbor resentment, you are guilty of invisible murder.

If you slander another person, you are guilty of invisible murder.

The final classification of murder is:

3. Insidious Murder

“Pastor Thomas,” you may tell me silently, “I am feeling pretty good right about now. I have never intentionally murdered anyone, nor have I invisibly murdered anyone that I know of. I am not a murderer.”

Ah my friend, but you are wrong. You are guilty of the most insidious murder in all of human history—the murder of Jesus Christ. Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, told the gathered crowd: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death . . .” Acts 2:22–23

Acts 2:22–23 NKJV

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;

We put Jesus to death because it was our sin that nailed Him to the Cross. But God conquered death with life. Peter went on: “. . . whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” (v. 24)

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are God’s clear, unmistakable message to all people, regardless of nationality, skin color, age, etc., that life is sacred!

They are God’s personal word to you that your life has value and worth.

Conclusion

I want to close with a New Testament readings from 1 John 5:1–5

1 John 5:1–5 NKJV

1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

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