Image

Genesis 1:26-27
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

We will be wrapping up the 40 Days of Life Prayer Vigil in the next week or so and I would like to share some of the things I have learned about the struggle to end abortion and the struggle to care about the most innocent and vulnerable of all.
When one stands in front of a building where 6000 preborn babies die every year, it becomes easier to understand how Germans and Austrians in world war two were able to go about their daily task unaffected by the butcher of thousands of Jews in their own communities. For us post moderns, what goes on behind closed doors is someone else's business. We are taught that two consenting adults can be sexually unrestrained as long as their acts of perversion, adultery, or cruelty are not witnessed by us, the public. What's more, we feel locked doors and drawn shades invoke an inalienable right to privacy, regardless of the sequestered activity. We really believe that as long as we don't see, we are not responsible to think, feel, or act upon the action.
So, an unseen child is carried into a normal building on an average day in March in a dying Midwestern city. The girl carrying the child is usually accompanied by a friend, lover, sibling or parent. Most abortions are unusual events for the mothers and we would "certainly understand if we knew her unique circumstances". She has yet to hold her baby. She has yet to here it's cry or smell it's tender little body. This child is to her and to us a "non-person".
The mother will not hear the muted cries of an infant whose lungs are still fluid filled from the placenta. The parent or friend or sibling or lover won't have to cringe as the little person is crushed or poisoned and torn limb from limb as it is being removed from the safety of the womb. You see it doesn't count because it is being preformed by a physician, behind closed doors, in a sterile environment. The act is legal and endorsed by those holding the most prestigious judicial seats and the highest offices in our land.

Abortion is Legal

The reason the Germans could live next to a death camp without guilt was because they didn't have to daily look at the horror of showers converted to gas chamber, excavated holes turned into mass graves, nor the stacks of no longer needed clothing and personal effects of dead Jews. The odd flakes of ash, and the constant flow of people in but not out were of course indications of something unusual. However, the activities taking place at the death camps were overseen and scrutinized by the best that Germany had to offer. Noble and well educated officers of the Third Reich were in charge of the operations and good German boys were responsible for the safety of the camp as well as the neighborhoods surrounding them. What's more, the laws of Germany permitted the German government to do what it had to. After all, this was a time of war. One would expect unusual means to be taken at such a time as this.

Concentration Camps were Legal

When a preborn's life is tortured from it there is ample pain and suffering to go around. Not only is the baby decimated, but the mother is emotionally marked. The father too often experiences difficulty coming to terms with the violent termination of his child's life. The abortion plagues most for the rest of their lives. Like a slow moving cancer, the post abortion stress moves unseen and unsuspected until it is too late. In order to cope, many turn to compulsive, self destructive behaviors to assuage the guilt. Many pour themselves into causes that are deemed good and worthwhile in order to subconsciously do penance for the barbarism unleashed on their bodies. Short of forgiveness and healing, they are destined to live emotionally muted lives.

I opened this discussion up with some very important verses from the Old Testament. We are told there that God made man in His image and His likeness. We were created with the fingerprint of God upon us. We were made majestic and holy and good, and upright and.........perfect. By an act of free will, the first man introduced disobedience and death. That fundamental change to our essence has led to the death of ten's of billions image bearer's. It has led to disease, hunger, war, heartache and murder. These were not part of God's intention for man but they came because of Man's choice.

Today, we find ourselves to be mere shadows, zombies roaming the earth consumed with our next meal and controlling our own destiny. We are the walking dead, still baring the image of God in our body and soul, but deteriorated to the point that we become unrecognizable as the majestic children of God that we were intended to be. The fall is so complete that our culture not only excuses, but advocates and supports the destruction of preborn humans. We must never forget that each person alive bares in themselves the fingerprint of God. Each time a person is made, it is a being that will live somewhere forever.

It is not in our prerogative to take the life of the innocent, whether in the womb or out, whether legal or illegal, whether convenient or burdensome. It is not our prerogative to choose to randomly engage in acts with whomsoever we choose, that will bring into the world, an image barer who is eternal. Ultimately the choice to bring life into the world and to terminate before birth has has been taken by us. Just as we usurped God's authority in our lived out lives, we now find ourselves party to the choice of extinguishing the lives of the yet born. We have made mockery of God by mocking His reflection, likeness, and image here on earth. How much longer will He tolerate our arrogance and mockery? I really don't know, but I am fond of quoting my wife when I say, "We can choose our sin, but we can't choose our consequences".

Why?

Some might ask why it matters. Why do you risk the ridicule and mockery associated with the use of the name “Jesus”? After all, religion compartmentalized is fine...........for you. But why do you insist upon foisting your fanaticism upon your friends, family, and even perfect strangers who might wander across this odd titled corner of the other world? After all, we can tolerate Jesus from Nazareth as a good moral teacher and religious leader. We can certainly appreciate that Jesus may be one of a long line of ascended masters provided by the universal god consciousness to help the fledgling race take the next, dramatic step in its unfolding evolution as a species. It might even be possible to view him as a deluded man that had good but misguided intentions. Even better, Hollywood might have it right. Maybe Jesus was a shrewd fellow that led a band of people around a remote outpost of the Roman Empire, faked his death at the opportune time and then escaped with one of his female “disciple” and raised a family in Europe. I suppose that all of these views could be held by some.

However, I am drawn to the horrible possibility that the Truth of Christ is found in His own words. These words were penned by a friend of his named John, the son of Zebedee, a fisherman of the lake at Galilee. The ‘beloved” friend of Jesus quotes Him when in Chapter 14, verse 6 he writes, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” What a preposterous proposition. This man of seeming low birth, claims that he “is” the way, the TRUTH and the life. To make matters more untenable, He claims that no one comes to the Father (God) expect through Him??? Could this be possible? Can such an audacious claim be made with a straight face? We are faced with three possibilities here and they originate with a future friend of mine named Clive Lewis.

One: Jesus is a liar. He was a man driven by power and greed. He was a man who knew the art of manipulation and mind control. Worse yet, he intentionally set about to deceive and betray his followers and “friends” leading them to die a martyrs death for a fraud.

Two: He was a delusional lunatic. While his motives where pure, they were rooted in a megalomaniacal savior complex that led him to die a needless and tortuous death at the hands of a second rate Roman Governor.

Three: He was exactly who He said He was. Indeed, He was the Son of God and the Son of Man. He was the Christ of the Jews and gentiles too. He was the creator of heaven and earth. The great I Am of the cave and the spotless, sinless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He was the suffering servant and ruling King on the throne of David. Yes, even the only savior that a lonely, lost and dying world could have.

Now for the answer to the original question. Because if He is who He says He is…………………….He is our only hope. He provides us with rescue from our condition. He provides us with restoration from our fractured relationship. He leads us by still waters for His name sake. He provides peace for our troubled soul. He and He alone is qualified to sit on the throne of our hearts as Lord, Savior, and King.

Because I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also the Greek.
Romans 1:16