Sermon Tone Analysis

Abortion June 5th 2022

The intention of the sermon today is bring clarity to what God’s Word says about life in the Womb as it applies to abortions of convenience.

My intention is not to shame, but to inform and challenge.

Today as we address abortion, when I talk about abortion I am specifically referencing abortions of convenience.

The killing of an unwanted child who is in the womb.

-Not abortion to save the mothers life, which God does allow.

-Before we go any further lets go to the Lord in prayer.

Pray

In the state of Georgia there are approximately 36,000 abortions that take place each year.

In our nation there are about 950,000 abortions each year.

The latest numbers I could find on abortion were shocking.

In Georgia Jefferson county is ranked the 6th highest in abortions per capita out of 159 counties.

The numbers show that in our county over 25% of pregnancies end in abortions.

Jefferson county’s percentages per capita are very close to Fulton county.

If you are a child in the womb and you live in Jefferson county, (as a baby in the womb) you are in one of the most dangerous counties to live.

To be honest, you would be in one of the most dangerous counties in the nation only to be outdone by major metro areas like Miami.

Jefferson County is a deadly place to live for the unborn.

1 in 4 are murdered in our county.

This county is in the midst of a fetal Holocaust.

It is very likely that you know someone who has had an abortion and you don’t even realize it.

When it comes to abortion, there are hurting people all around us that we are unaware of.

Let’s be clear.

Even among those who think abortion is morally OK.

The women who have had the abortions and the men who have encouraged & supported the abortions do not feel good about it.

There is a secret weight of remorse or grief that many of these individuals carry.

Transition - When it comes to abortion, God’s Word teaches something that is unique to Christian faith, this teaching is not found in any other religion, and that is that humankind is made in the “Image of God” - The Imago Dei.

Imago Dei

Being made in God’s Image enlightens me to value of all human life.

This Word “Imago Dei” is a fancy theological word.

It’s latin...

Imago Dei - it just means made in God’s image.

Read Genesis 1:27

You see, nothing in all of God’s creation is like human beings.

Our sin has spoiled how we reflect God’s image.

None the less we are made in God’s image.

Animals, As much as we love them (and as intelligent as some are), do not bare God’s image.

-God has crowned humankind with glory and honor.

-We are the crown, the Apex of creation, no created being has a soul and is like humankind.

-Humankind communicates with great complexity, invents and creates with great imagination and great detail, and humankind worships with great passion.

The Redeemed worship God as Savior.

Nothing else in all creation worships with intention and specificity like a Christ Follower.

-Humankind is not only a physical being, but humankind has a soul.

Humankind is spiritual.

When our bodies fail us and die, the soul lives on forever.

Human’s are the only being in all creation to have a soul.

-Similar to you having children in your own likeness, humankind was made in the likeness of God.

-We are image bearers.

-You are made in the Imago Dei.

-Humankind is unique and like no other part of creation.

Let me take a small detour in our focus on abortion.

Application - The Imago Dei is also, why racism is wrong and sexism is wrong.

Black people, Hispanic People, Middle Easterners, & women are made in the exact same image of God that you are.

-As a white person you do not have a corner on being made in God’s image.

-When you are unloving or you disregard someone who is a different race or different gender, you are showing disrespect to God Almighty - because that person is made in the same Imago Dei as you.

-That person is just as much an image bearer as you.

BUT! - When you look into the eyes of someone who is different than you - even though you don’t understand their culture - and you love them for simply being a human being made in the image of God.

You honor God as the creator.

You honor God as the one who has given another His image.

You honor the worth and the value that person has - that God has placed on them.

Your love for others who are different than you is an act of worship to God.

If you are married - The Imago Dei is part of why we don’t scream at each other and why we don’t call each other names.

When disagreements and intense feelings arise we may raise our voice (but we don’t yell at and treat each other like they are an animal), as much as your spouse may make you mad - they are made in the image of God and have innate value.

Even when they sin, and you rebuke them, you treat them with respect.

Because they are made in the image of God, you respectfully disagree, even in your hurt and anger.

The marriage of a Christ Follower is different than the unsaved.

Parents - It is similar with our children.

Sometimes our children can push our buttons at the worst of times.

But - because our children are image bearers of God we don’t scream at them.

We don’t call our kids names.

We don’t call them brats, jerks, bully or idiot.

We don’t shame them, like we do our dog.

Instead, we describe their behavior - “you are doing this… and that hurts your sister.”

You are doing this … and I am really tired and can’t take that right now.”

You tell them, “When you teased your sister or took that from your sister or disrespected your parents, you were wrong and that was a sin.”

You do this without screaming at them.

Yes, Our voice may be raised and it may be intense, but we are under control.

When disciplining our kids -

We don’t beat our children like an animal.

They are image bearers.

-When we spank it is very controlled, counted, it is limited, and intentional.

-When we ground or place in time-out, the punishment fits the crime and it fits what someone their age can handle.

Summary, The Imago Dei, The Image of God theology applies to many places in our life.

-We value human life, because all human beings are made in God’s image.

Transition - Someone might ask, “At what point were you made in His image?”

When did being in His image begin?

Was it in the womb or at birth?

Personhood begins in the Womb

Job 31:15 , Tells us “15 Did not he who made me in the womb make him?

And did not one fashion us in the womb?”

But Psalm 139 goes further adds more ...

Psalm 139:13-16 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

Each person is made with purpose by God in the womb of their mother.

In Psalm 139, when was the psalmist’s days determined?

vs 16 - Before he was born.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 “Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.””

Jeremiah tells us that before the womb that the child’s purpose was determined.