What God Thinks About The Unborn

Intro – In 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision that today looks absolutely ridiculous. 7 of 9 Justices decided that a black slave named Dred Scott was nothing more than the property of his owner – and thus he had no rights as a citizen and no protection under the law of the United States or the U.S. Constitution! Justice Taney said, Negroes (blacks) – slave or free – were not included and were not intended to be included in the category of citizen as the word was used in the Constitution. Thankfully, this was fixed during the post-Civil War Reconstruction period with ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments which effectively overturned the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision by abolishing enslavement, granting formerly enslaved Black Americans citizenship, and ensuring them the same “equal protection of the laws” granted to all citizens by the Constitution.

Today, after a civil war and after civil rights, this atrocity has been corrected and all men – no matter what the color of a person’s skin, all people are viewed as equal by the Constitution. 49 years ago to date, on January 22, 1973, The Supreme Court made another incredibly horrible decision. The Court struck down the abortion laws in all 50 states deciding that a woman’s right to privacy gives her the right to abort her unborn child. In the Court’s opinion, they determined that the unborn child was not a person as defined by the Constitution and was therefore not entitled to or guaranteed the right to life. Instead, the baby was nothing more than the property of the mother, to choose, along with her doctor, whether the child lives or dies. Ironically, that same year, the Supreme Court amended the Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940 authorizing fines up to $500,000 in addition to jail time for destroying an unborn eagle in its egg. Today, in all 50 states, if a pregnant women is murdered, the suspect will be charged with two counts of murder. But if the mother wants to abort her child, well, that’s perfectly okay! Where have we come as a society?

I ask you this morning: what do you think about the unborn?

Do you understand that since 1973 almost 63.5 million babies have been aborted…murdered in the womb? We get up in arms when we think of the 11 million people murdered by Hitler in his concentration camps (6 million Jews and 5 million Germans who dissented). Yet where is the outrage over abortion?

What do you think about the unborn? An even greater question is: What does God think about the unborn?

There are 2 passages I want us to focus on this morning: Genesis 1:26-28 and Psalm 139:13-16

Genesis 1:26–28 NASB95

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Psalm 139:13–16 NASB95

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

What does God think about the unborn? There are 3 things. 1st…

1. HE SEES EACH UNBORN AS A PERSON. Gen. 1:26-28

- In Gen. 1:26-28 we see that God made man in His image…read…

- This means 2 things:

1) This tells us how unique we are – no other part of creation has this unique quality, only man.

2) This tells us we have the capacity to have a personal relationship with God.

- I ask you this morning: When does life begin?Life begins at the moment of conception – in that moment of time a miracle takes place, life begins.

- By week 4 the baby has a heart-beat. By week 8 the baby’s profile is formed. By week 12 the baby’s reflexes have kicked in.

- Modern day science and technology now clearly reveal to us – let us into the womb to see that there is a baby there - in the mother’s womb…not some genetic mass of impersonal tissue = but a living being (living person)!

TS – 2nd…

2. HE SEES EACH UNBORN AS HIS POSSESSION.

- Psalm 139:13-16…

- Who made you? Gave you life? Who is the Creator? GOD is!

- He is the One who knitted you in the womb, formed your parts, gave you all your traits and characteristics!

- This passage also further validates point 1!

- Do you think God takes great pride in you as His creation…handiwork?

- When you create something don’t you have a sense of pride?

- Multiple times in the OT we’re told that God chose the Jewish people to be a people “…for His own possession.” Then in the NT we’re told 2 times that God has chosen us to be a people “…for His own possession.”

- The unborn are God’s possession!

TS – 3rd…

3. HE SEES EACH UNBORN WITH A MISSION. (a purpose)

- He has a purpose and plan for every child (person) created!

- Problem is this: not every person follows and fulfills God’s plan and purpose for his or her life.

- But God has created you with a specific purpose and plan = mission for your life!

- You aren’t some accident that occurred in this universe.

- God didn’t make any mistake when He made you.

- God told the prophet Jeremiah, Jer. 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

- Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

- It is clear: God has a mission – a purpose for every child conceived.

- What every one of us needs to do is discover what God’s mission is – God’s plan is – AND FULFILL IT!

Conclusion

This holocaust of abortion must be stopped and ended in America once and for all!

John Piper says, “May we dare to believe that by the grace of God and the perseverance of His people in prayer and piety and political pressure there could emerge in the coming decades a consensus for life, and that the 21st century could look back on our generation with the same dismay that we look back on the slave laws of this land and on the concentration camps of World War II. Nationwide reformation has happened before – with Wilberforce in England and with Lincoln in America. It can happen again. May God help us as we stand for Him! - John Piper

Piper is right!

We must continue to pray…educate…vote for candidates who stand for life…and stand against this evil!