July 17 | Genesis 9:1-7 | The Sanctity of Human Life

Well, one of my to take your seats, open your Bibles to the Book of Genesis 1 chapter 9, this morning, for beginning, chapter 9, and the Lord has a lot for us here.

You know, we live in a culture.

That in one form or another increasingly devalues life? And we see that in a lot of ways in our culture and the Lord has a word for us about that this morning from all the way back in Genesis. If you're joining us or visiting with us today, we've been recently looking at the the flood account and we seen that God brought a flood as God promised to bring a flood to deal with the the rampant wickedness on Earth and he said, I'm going to wipe it out by wiping everyone out. And then we come to this passage on the sanctity of human life. And I'll be honest, I can be a little bit perplexing guy just killed and now he's going to tell us how important human life is.

But here's the thing. God is the righteous one. And any second chance that we are given. Is a gift of God's mercy. None of us deserve a second chance but God has freely chosen to give everyone a second chance of third chance. The fifth chance sometimes. I 100th chance and so will read today verses 1 through 7 of chapter 9, and if you have a Bible or phone of Bible a fat ass, get a look on that with me this morning. And God blessed, Noah and his sons, and he said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth, the fear of you and the dread of you be upon every beast of the Earth in the birds of the heavens upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea into your hand. They are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you, as I gave you the green plants. I give you everything.

But you shall not eat flesh with its life. That is its blood. And for your lifeblood. I will require a reckoning from every restart will require it and from man, For his fellow man. I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever shed the blood of Man by his blood. I'm Sorry by man. Shall his blood be shed? For God, made, man in his own image and you be fruitful and multiply increase. Greatly on the earth and multiply in it. God God blesses no, I hear any Theory establishes, the priorities for living in a New World by showing him the innate value. And the priority of human life. By showing Noah and by extension his family, the innate value and priority of human life. God's blessing revealed his Divine Purpose for mankind. This is the third time we read about God blessing. We seek God, blessing Adam. And then we see that recounted and now we see it here again, if I think the second instance of blessing for the third time, we see it in a text, if we're understanding, how the story is kind of retarded a little bit in there. So, Who's his previous blessing? What you gave to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1 when he said be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth.

When when Noah came off of the earth, Noah and his wife, and his sons and his son's wife came off of the earth, it was a very different world was probably shaped quite differently. Won't go into any specifics cuz I didn't see it. I wasn't there.

But life, essentially begin all over again.

No more Adam and Eve.

we've guessed ever since where the Garden of Eden truly was So this time when we see this blessing, praise be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth. We see twice in the seven versus, that's what helps us know. This is a good length of Passage to preach on here because its inverse one and its inverse, Kevin seven, which tells us, this is my point for this section, in the passage that Moses wrote for us. In verse 7 says, and you, this is a plural form of you. So not only know about you, people be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth. Increased greatly on the earth and multiply in it. That is that strong language. Repetitive language that says don't be shy. Get go in and let's start populating this thing.

Even that is a different message. Then we hear culturally

So God's purpose is to renew his purpose for them, God's purpose and creating men and women from the beginning 2 genders.

Two Sexes, no more. Is that they might enter into fruitful relationship with one another. but they might marry one another and in that married relationship,

no one another intimately.

Get pregnant and bear children. In Ezra 9, Ezra 9 is fee, if I don't have time to read the whole passage they cuz it's not short but it is run 9 if you have time later on this afternoon, this is one of the most beautiful prayers of repentance. I think, in the Bible, if you think, you know, when I repent for something and I say God I'm sorry, I'll try not to do it again. Thank you for your grace and I want to walk to follow your ways, you know? Hey Craig, good for you. If you are in appointing you say you know what, I want to learn how to repent, well, read Ezra 9, Ezra is on done. He's embarrassed to go to God that you'll hear me say frequently, we ought not be embarrassed to go to God, go to God, wherever you're at and that stands true. But when someone is truly grieved over their sin, there is a sense of embarrassment but it should never keep us from going to God. And it did not keep Ezra from going to. He just called it. What it what it was he says, oh my God, I am ashamed that I'm Blush to lift my face to you for our iniquities, our great sins. Have risen to the heavens Higher than our heads. And our Guild has mounted up to the heavens. Why why? That prayer will the Israelite daughters? I'd begun to marry outside of God's people. Got that. Don't marry outside my people, I'm creating a holy people for the sake of my name. In order for that to happen, you need to marry my people. So here's a Reliance Mary Israelites and it is real got bigger and they he got around other nations. They got to know these other people in there like all missionary date them, right? I know God said, don't date a non-Christian kind of pulling from the New Testament here. If you catch my drift, I'll date that. And maybe we'll bring them to God, except it's almost never works that way. And they began to be more and more like the other nations. The begin to once with the other nations. When referring to preach that text, I didn't get back. And so God. Holy race had mixed itself with the people of other land. Malachi, gives us a little bit of insight on this. I mentioned this to several weeks ago, I believe when the Lord reviews Israel, it is real sort of in the Book of Malachi Priester, Malachi a year or two ago. And and the people of Israel or sort of, like,

And they're just going to church. They're just going through the motions.

We're poor. We don't have any blessing how come you won't answer our prayers. It's the kind of voice were as parents. We say to our kids or ice, it is kind of a phrase. I say you can say almost any words that you want to me if you change your tone of voice,

There, their, they're whining. They're just satisfied with God and God makes it clear. God says that they're his main purpose for men, for marriage. If you want, if you're a note taker, this is Malachi to 10416. His purpose for marriage is one single fold, really? He makes people husband and wife and makes man and woman husband and wife with a portion of the spirit in their Union or in their marriage. And then. Ask this question, he said, what was the one God United and father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What was the one God speaking? Godly offspring.

Husband and wife Christians get married and they follow God so that God can populate the world with his people.

Where to Bear children. And where do I fill the Earth for God's glory? How does a whole conversation here in about, like, you know, are we supposed to have a certain number of children going there, right? But nobody knows what your quiver is except for the Lord, okay.

We're supposed to fill the Earth for God's glory interstates are Chumps are 8:21. We read something that the Lord said in his heart last week, like he said, a couple of weeks to go to God was breathing and heart that you made grieved in his heart that he had made, man on the earth in his heart, was filled with pain for a man was only Evil. All the time for that the thought of his intent. Intentions of his heart was only Evil. All the time. Are we going to that in a minute? Okay, I had to get my translation back. But a state 21, God says in his heart that though mankind is evil from his youth. In other words, I know this. From their youth Dairy but didn't change. After the world was cleared of everyone except for Noah, and his family for the intentions of our heart is still only Evil all the time. And the Lord knows this. It's called doctrinally, we call it original sin or total depravity meaning. Send has impacted every aspect of Who We Are. Put in God, and Grace were able to live in a reasonable way among one another. We would have loved one another. So God communicates that the Earth will remain until its appointed time, right? You're going to see seasons are going to continue years, are going to continue. That's that's what he's communicating in the end of verse or I'm sorry, chapter 48, but God's purpose and we all need to hear this. Every one of us needs to hear this. God's purpose for your marriage. God's purpose, for my marriage is not primarily about our own happiness. God's main priority. And purpose for your marriage is that you would grow in Holiness and that you would have if you're able and not everyone is able children. The Rays Ephesians 6 tells us in the fear and admonition of the Lord, or in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. That's why God created marriage. That's why God gave us to one another. But friends, that will ultimately

Before our ultimate Joy. when we're leaving according to God's way when were self-sacrificing, when were not just trying to be a happy married couple and if God's in the match grade, if he's not really striving for and and, and after sometimes many years, God works in a heart and God works in a heart and got hit chisels off the edge of the NHL's off the edge of her. Like, I wasn't paying for this. I'm not sure if I like him or her, not sure if I like him or her feelings. Are usually mutual. And God says,

Working working Jesus. Over my family.

I keep looking to the lord. It's okay. Car. I believe that you're working in faith. I trust that you're working.

And so God, purpose is our purposes for the lives of our children must align with the gods, or there's going to be friction with the Lord. There's a lot of wonderful things that we can do for our children. Their number one priority is not to be a professional athlete. It is for some

It's not for as many as who dedicate their life to travel Sports and stick Church on the background and for a third of the year, you're not at church and I love you. Whoever, whoever I'm speaking to, I love you, the lord loves you. But your number one priority on this Earth, is to train up your children in the discipline in the instruction of the Lord to love your spouse with a Grace With God supplies. So that you're able to do that. By the way, I just kind of picked on travel Sports many, many, many other things that I could mention. Your sports person might still be friends going on at takes away from church and our culture, any more of human life because God made it really clear that human life is just a from animal or creature life that we instinctively know this. But there are people all around us again, culturally hoody, value human life, and an end value or escalate or Elevate the life of animals, even over human life at times.

It is completely opposed to God and it is wicked in every sense of the word know where to be good stewards of our world and of animals, and all kinds of stuff. I can't even go in till we are to be good stewards, but God makes it clear. The human life has the priority. God gave plants and animals to sustain people. And to provide for atonement. That's the second point. We see that verses 2 through 4 here. He says here, the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every animals. It's almost like giving animals at Head Start in a race, right? You ever done that? You raise somebody, you know, you're faster and you know, you got to me, like, I'll give you a head. Start, I'm going to count to whatever you count to 10, you let him go and like you didn't give me enough of a head start. God, put the fear of mankind in every animal. He says, To give him a a head start. So that in our seeking them for food, we don't wipe them all out. Right, notice it all line up at your door in the morning. Like, hey, anybody need eggs.

Hey, want some venison here. I am. I just waiting for you?

They run and we seek them and we hunt and we try to be good stewards when we hunt we use every part of the animal that we can. Absolutely. Yes and amen. To all of that. One commentator said, did the horse know, his own strength and the weakness of a miserable wretch, who owned mercifully, rides him and drives and whips and go then oppresses him when he not with one stroke of a hook, destroy his tyrant possessor. But while God hides these things from him, he impresses his mind with the fear of his owner so that he is trained up for and he is employed in the most useful and important purposes. God, as he has given every plants to Adam and Eve before. Now he gives plants and every animal to mankind for food. No received the specific instruction do. Just as I gave you every plant before every every green thing. Every leafy thing. Now I give you every animal butts Do not eat its lifeblood.

God begins to communicate something incredibly important. Massively important about blood here. He gives man, kind permission to eat meat.

And now he gives them everything but he says don't eat flesh with its lifeblood with its life or with its but it would be an honest way of saying. Go kill a deer but don't eat its blood or don't eat it with its life in it. We know generally speaking, what that means, blood, the equivalent of life. And so this prohibition against eating animals with its life. What is significant both been in today why? Well because it's what sustains Life by God's decree and that matters greatly the importance of Bloodshed in. The Bible is made incredibly clear by how often the word is used the word. It is used a 425 times. + 355, separate versus verses throughout the Bible, that's an English Standard Version. Blood was the sign of Mercy for Israel. At the first Passover you paint the blood over your door post, blood seals, God's covenant with Israel, blood Sanctified or or made set apart and holy The Altar for sacrifices blood set aside the priests in their Ministry of making sacrifices God's Plumbing. Blood made atonement for the people of Israel. It's sealed the New Covenant. It justifies us or four makes us right before. God blood Brings Redemption blood brings peace with God. According to Colossians 1:20, blood cleanses us, entrance into God's. Holy Temple is sanctifies us. It enables us to overcome Satan Revelation tells us the blood of Jesus.

Listen to the Leviticus 17:11 and 14.

For the life of the flesh is in its blood. And I have given you. I'm sorry, I've given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls. Where does the blood that makes atonement by the life?

For the life of every creature is in his blood, the blood, the blood is its life. And therefore, I said to the people of Israel, you should not eat the blood of any creature for the life of every creature is in. Its but whoever eats it shall be cut off.

All throughout the Old Testament brothers and sisters. God, through all of the detail of the sacrifices, all of the detail of the offerings. God is communicate communicate in something incredibly important. without which a proper understanding of it. We don't understand the magnitude of the cross of Jesus Christ. The immense amount of sacrifice that the blood that would have at times, that people have sent have been up to knees, maybe even above knees. So much sacrifice can so much member of the thoughts of the intentions of the thoughts of his. Heart was only Evil, all the time. And even after the yard, no, man is still evil from his youth. The seasons will roll on.

Next week, we're going to see God's covenant, where he says, I will never kill man. In this way. Again, I'll never wipe the earth clean of this way. Again. Communicate the party or the man over animal and the meaning of one's blood As He blesses. No one here establishes priorities for living in a new world and now God very specifically States the priority and the sanctity of human life. Listen to the store before he says, human life is sacred because mankind is made in his own image.

We are so set human-centered. in our world, we want to tell people how precious and valuable they are to God and they are

ultimately, however, because they are made in His image.

We're not liable. What precious in God's sight.

Because Were Made In His Image. Exodus 21, 28 talks about when oxgord is a man or a woman to death. The ox shall be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten because the owner of the ox shall not be liable. God God Institute here, capital punishment for murder now to its support to understand. There's a distinction between killing and murder and I really don't have time to get into the Weeds on but there's a ring. Somebody is killed versus if someone is murdered.

right, there are times when Killing is not murder because it may be justified whether that's self-defense or maybe its capital punishment. Of some would still say that that's murder. I don't think of that would be murder if there's, there's two process and all that sort of stuff goes in there with it. If there's a just War Are there been many wars? Everybody who's on either side of the ward doesn't get hanged or killed for murder? It was a war.

Answer the Bible teaches that the punishment of the guilty. One is the role of the government. God gives the government to help restrain man's evil, or to restrain man depravity to restrain. If you will the Only Evil all the time intentions of man's heart. God gave him a government to restrain that And to reward, those who live a good life. For one another, we would call that God, grace of God, shares with everyone, Martin Luther said, God establishes, the government and gives it to the sword. Meaning the ability to rightly punished, fairly punish those who need to be punished to hold lack of restraint or control in check otherwise violence as we saw in early Genesis would run rampant.

Member bragging about how many people they'd kill.

The point is that got it takes intentional senseless, killing of people who bear His Image, incredibly seriously.

Because people are created in God's image and every life is sacred, every life is to be treated with special care.

Life begins at the moment of conception. Twenty-three pairs of chromosomes come together. This is where life begins and it goes through a varying stages. And we're not talking about viability of a human or viability of an embryo. When I talk about all those kinds of things right now, but we're saying is

1 personality one's hair color, ones sex.

When those chromosomes come together. A person is created.

And every person has the image of God woven into them.

John frame Theologian in his book medical ethics. He says, there's nothing in Scripture that even remotely suggests that an unborn child is anything less than a human person from the moment of conception or fertilization. And so as Christians, I want to tell your friends, we should do everything that we can to dedicate Our Lives to preserving the lives of The Unborn. In many ways. That might happen. If some ways that you may not necessarily be thinking about Waiting until your married to have sex, for instance. Is God's primary way for helping us protect the lives of The Unborn. Because we don't have children that were not ready for. So young people college students teenagers. However, young you are and you can understand what I'm saying. God's good is for you in this. To believe his promises and to wait until you're married. To have sex. That you're not a second, secondary second-class. Citizen, if you didn't do that, why? Cuz God loves us. We can go back to him and find forgiveness and Grace in Jesus. But it is not popular in our culture to wait to have sex. I see it all the time. On TV. Hear people talk about it work. We're old-fashioned prude people. In fact, your morons.

If you consider her abstinence until marriage.

Chilling. I want to show a couple months ago and just the way they're driving culture.

It's a way that they're wait until I get married. I mean, it's just they just mockery just mockery. They're mocking God, they're mocking what God says they're mocking God's intent for our good and for the preservation of human life.

It's still true that if a man and woman don't have sex or get to close another conversation that women only women don't get pregnant.

Don't have sex. You don't get pregnant.

Another way is deciding which forms of birth control are morally, acceptable in God's eyes. Another conversation, be happy to pull off to the side with you and talk about it. If you're not sure what to do.

If a form of birth control terminates, the life. Of a person formed with God's image in it. I believe it's immoral birth control.

There are forms of birth control. That are moral. There are preventive forms of birth control.

I mean you're difficult conversations. They're not simple. Yes, or no's. We have to use judgement ways to use wisdom. But we also need to do is to make sure that as we're striving to make decisions. We must it is not optional and especially for Christians. It is not optional for us to just to do what we think. Sounds best. We must consult the word of God. We must learn from those Christians, who gone before us, who hold, highly the word of God in heaven teeth. Christian ethics and help us understand how to make these kinds of decisions that are wise. If you make the wrong one tomorrow, if you made the wrong one yesterday, You're not barred from a wonderful relationship with God. Nobody can change anything that's happened in our past, but the decisions we make From This Moment forward. Impact how accountable you are to the Lord. As we know more about what God's word gives us a third way that we give our lives to continuing the fight against careless is to continue the fight against careless. Elective abortion. I'm trying to use very careful, word words, hear careless, elective abortion, others, a lot of debate that surrounds abortion when it comes to extreme and the smaller percent very small percentage of what's considered a medically necessary. Termination of a of a pregnancy in order to save the life of a mother.

What I'm referring to in, by the way, I would be happy to sit down with you. If you just say, hey want to pick your brain on this want to learn more or want to share my perspective with you be more than happy to sit down and and carve out some time with you.

But to choose to abort a child because he or she may have Down syndrome and we make a quality-of-life decision about this Soul created in. God's image is murder Remember, there's a difference between killing and there's a difference between murder. It's murder. To willingly electively choose to take an innocent life because it's created in the image of God.

He? Or she.

For decades, elective abortion has been promoted. Impart, as part of the sexual Revolution, and promoting promiscuous, living for children, for teenagers, for young adults and four adults for everyone.

So it's no wonder we have loads of accidental pregnancies, unplanned pregnancies and the church needs to be ready. And I think a lot of ways it is and has been ready. To demonstrate care for those in those positions so that they know the church is here to support you because we value life, we value your life and we value the life of a child and we value the life of the father come in scars and all we love you because God loves you because you are made in the image of God. Some more now than ever, the war is not over. We need to continue, we need to legislate that. I bet adoption can be cheaper to have to cost 50, 60, 70 80 thousand dollars. The amount of money that this nation waste on frivolous garbage.

could more than pay for far, more options, then we could probably calculate

And so yes Christian get involved physically get engaged in helping to advocate for those kinds of policies. Why? Because we're supporting about unborn Life by supporting mother so that they might have their child when they might, otherwise, not

many years ago, my sister She had one child biologically and she I mean I think she would have had a dozen if God would have let her have one. She began to pray God. I desperately want another child. Will you connect me? with someone that might have an abortion but would hold off if they knew that someone would adopt their child,

And today, Maddie Joy is 17 years old. A pistol.

And 48, many years is my sister. Do living in different states would drive back to New Jersey.

And would let Maddie see her mom?

Anagrammer.

First, we got to stay engaged. We got to love people. Well, that's a lot of people sacrificially 4th way that the church can be actively engaged in. This is with understanding the reality of euthanasia in our nation, this idea of of of mercy killing by someone's own desire so that they can die on their own terms again and be careful with my bro. But I'm not talking about somebody that's end-of-life and they're on a respirator and we make the decision to Medical decision to pull them off of a respirator because it's become very clear that their body has failed them. Nurse. Bring those kinds of things. I'm referring to a pride of life that says, I won't go out like that sometimes. Sometimes I believe it's it really is. Selfless, self Leslie, intended, meaning. I don't want to be a burden on other people. Because they care for their relatives that they know we're going to have to take care of them. But friends even in our situationally ethic minded way of viewing this It's God's decision. Hours. Did you know that suffering? And I guess I'm going to say this with us as humbly as I can. But when we suffer, we give other people opportunity to love us.

You see in suffering, God raises up the body of Christ in suffering, God gives opportunity for other people to sacrifice and not live for convenience in suffering. However, difficult it is, this is difficult to say cuz I don't suffer like this.

I don't suffer like this yet.

But God has purpose in it.

It is never an accident.

And it does not mean that God loves a person, any less.

So, if we would learn people church, that's called you people. If we would learn not to Value how much God Loves Me by, how good I look how wealthy. I am, how connected I am and how easy my life is. No you got a you got a saturator self enrollment date, friends, saturate yourself in it. This beat the level of suffering that we experience here on this Earth is intended in part to help us see the magnitude of the glory Riches of Grace that await Us One Day in heaven. Everything in this life is intended to point our eyes and our And that would include. Spring and where we can be a part of a solution. Let's be a part of the solution.

short of prematurely and willfully ending a life of a person made in God's image.

Then we've gone too far. Then we we stepped Over The Line.

Brothers and sisters is an entire cultural disregard for God. I know you're not shocked at that. There's in it. As a result of that though, there is an entire cultural disregard for the value of human life.

Every decision a person makes regarding our lives and the life of another must be first theological, meaning, it must flow from a right understanding of God and his word and the Primacy and priority of life that God instituted when he created Adam and Eve male and female and when he made them, I'm sorry when he made the World After the flood, how to close with several passages that just refer to human life before a person was bored. And I'm literally lifting like three or four that I'm going to reference, but there are many, many more Psalm 139 for you. This is the psalmist praying to God, for you. Formed my inward Parts, you needed me together in my mother's womb, I praise you for. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your Works. My soul knows it full. Well, my frame is not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the Earth.

Your eyes saw, my unformed substance in your book were written every one of them days that were formed for me when yet. When as yet there was not one of them in a way that we can't really fathom. God has sort of given his stamp of approval as though he was going through every single day of our life and said, yes, oh man, this is going to be a tough one, but for his good and from my glory, I give approval to it. It's going to be hard yet, followed by another one. And another one and he's are all going to be hard, but I am shaping him. I am shaping her to be more like the image of my son, Jesus, and it is necessary on account of their life. And a multitude of lies that Derek christlikeness will impact the Lord. Told the Prophet, Jeremiah before I formed you in the womb, I knew you before you were born. I consecrated you. I sent you a part. I appointed you. A prophet to the Nations before you were born. Any Luke 1:39 and 34 I'm not going to read it but we read that John. The Baptist was Jesus's cousin he leads in the in Elizabeth's room. When Carrie, when Mary came into the house pregnant with Jesus, Mary goes to visit her sister and she's like pregnant, right? And she goes to visit and they get near each other and John the Baptist beliefs in his room.

Somehow some connection, no idea how to explain it. Weeps in his room next to his cousin.

As God blesses. No, he re-established. His priorities for living in this new world. He makes it clear. That he has created human life. and at the moment of conception,

A new life. Formed in God's image.

Is Matt. and we know, Not every zygote makes it to birth.

We know that.

as cells grow and move along they, they split

They become twins.

There's a lot, we know there's far more that we don't know. What we do know.

Is that God is God. We are not. We do know. that we often have more questions than we do answers, but in our Pursuit for answers, we must pursue The word of God. For our leading, we must be rooted and grounded in the word of God.

It's honorable. when a person chooses to give his or her life, To save the life of another.

In fact, it's what Jesus did. When he willingly allowed himself to be beaten stricken crucified on your behalf on my behalf so that we might have a right relationship with him.

As we celebrate communion. One invite you to come forward to, with two stations up front, two in the back with a gluten-free station. Over here, we would invite you if you're trusting in Jesus as your savior, the Sin sacrifice for you. Come eat, drink.

but as you do, First, thank God for your own life. Cuz I, I just have to believe that in this room. There are people.

Because of something you've done maybe because of something done to you. You're not sure if your very valuable.

Friend know that you are value, is massively in the value. That God gave you when he knitted you together in your mother's womb, What happened to you? What you have done to others is not a devaluing of Who You Are.

If you have been made in complete complete in Christ, or if you have it come to Jesus. Today, throw off the cloak of your sin. Without explaining yourself just grasp on to Jesus. Who gave his life for you. Cuz you are special. Holy in his sight was Bram.