Value Life

Each year, the Southern Baptist set aside a Sunday to emphasize the necessity of valuing human life. "Sanctity of Human Life" Sunday was January 16th. It is crystal clear that this is a much needed emphasis, now more than ever.

We know that God gives life and God alone has the authority to end life, with perhaps the exemption of self defense when a person is attempting to protect their own life or the lives of other innocents. Humans are created by God, formed in His image and made with a soul in order that man might have fellowship with Almighty God. Because humanity was given a free will so that our love and obedience to Him would be by choice and not by force. Man has the capacity to surrender or to sin. Adam and Eve chose sin through rebellion and disobedience, thus, all of their descendants from then until now have inherited a fallen nature. Humanity's first inclination is to sin. Our first sin, even as mere babies, is selfishness. We want what we want, when we want it. Without Christ reigning supreme in our hearts and lives, those ambitions and desires can come even at the cost to other life and, in some cases, our own. Many have killed to get what they crave. Abortion, murder, euthanasia and suicide is humanity's way of robbing God of His rightful authority. This selfish expression of sin and, in many cases, crime, is not just sad, but inexpressibly dangerous. When man attempts to play God, we not only offend a God of vengeance and wrath, but we prove without faith that we are woefully inadequate for the task.

Every news report, statistic, and research data points to the same conclusion. It is evident that people across this globe are rejecting God more and more with every passing day. The rising suicide rates, abortion rates, and murder rates all point to a lack of value on human life. The value of human life is the key determination of every society.

All sane Americans want our society, culture and country to thrive until the Lord returns. We all want the next generations to be happier and more successful than the previous. If I may be so bold, let me share with you the foundation and cornerstone of that ambitious structure. The answer is Jesus Christ. Isaiah 28:16 says: "Therefore I lay a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation." According to Ephesians 2:19-22, that stone was Christ.

When Christ is who we build our lives upon, greed, anger, lust, pain, grief, confusion, etc. will not or can not force us to rip the most precious of all gifts from His hands and destroy it according to our will.

What is happening in our cities, primarily with all these senseless murders, is an outward sign of an inward arrogance. They don't care!!! They don't care about others because they don't care about themselves. Our self-worth and values that we put on our own lives must come from God. He first loved us! For God SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. . .
Parents, grandparents, teachers, pastors, society should teach it and convey it, but sometimes one, some, or all fail. That is why we evangelize.

People need the Lord. He is the foundation for every thriving society. We are destroying ourselves. If America would come home to the heart of God. we would find our way again.

Value Life.
Every life belongs to God,
preborn to the elderly,
including yours.

In Christ,
Pastor Todd