Jessica King holding a child
1. Every human being is important because humans are made in the image of God.
– “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). This imago dei includes a baby still in her mother’s womb.
– The Psalmist rejoices, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16).
2. God is intimately involved in the process of making each baby still in his mother’s womb.
– “Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?” (Job 31:15).
– “Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you…” (Isaiah 44:2).
– Job reminds God, “Your hands have made me and fashioned me…” (Job 10:8).
– How a child grows is a mystery even in the modern scientific age, but the Bible proclaims that God is involved in the process. “As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything” (Ecclesiastes 11:5).
3. God orchestrates the birth of every baby.
– “Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord.
“Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God” (Isaiah 66:9);
“Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God” (Isaiah 66:9);
– “But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother’s womb You have been My God” (Psalm 22:9-10).
4. God has a plan for each baby before they are even born.
Jeremiah was called to be a prophet before he was even conceived. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you: Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).
Isaiah echoed this same sentiment. “…The Lord has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name” (Isaiah 49:1).
5. Abortion is murder.
– Most people are familiar with the sixth commandment, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). It is even more grievous to murder the innocent, “Do not kill the innocent” (Exodus 23:7) and who is more innocent than an unborn baby?
– Solomon in his wisdom condemns the “…Hands that shed innocent blood” (Proverbs 6:17). This condemnation would include abortion doctors who are paid to kill innocent babies. “Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person” (Deuteronomy 27:25).
– The sixth commandment is again mentioned in the New Testament and even strengthened by the additional motivation of love, “For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:9-10). The killing of a baby in the womb is the antithesis of love.
6. It is deeply evil to kill babies for the sake of convenience.
– The sacrificing of children to false gods is strongly condemned. “They served their idols,
Which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled by their own works, and played the harlot by their own deeds” (Psalm 106:36-39).
Which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled by their own works, and played the harlot by their own deeds” (Psalm 106:36-39).
– The modern day equivalent may be sacrificing one’s children on the altar of convenience or for the sake of a career. The prophet Hosea describes the horror of those who kill babies in a mother’s womb. “Samaria is held guilty, For she has rebelled against her God. They shall fall by the sword, Their infants shall be dashed in pieces, And their women with child ripped open” (Hosea 13:16).
When children were sacrificed on the red hot arms of Moloch, drums were beat so the parents would not hear their screams. Today, the unborn are sacrificed in the name of abortion. It’s legality does not silence their screams.
7. Even in the case of rape it is not right to kill the unborn fetus. Two wrongs do not make a right.
– The baby in the womb should be allowed to live even if his father committed a horrible crime, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Ezekiel 18:20).
8. To defend the innocent is the duty of every Christian.
– In contrast to the condemnation of those who kill the innocent, one is commended for defending the innocent. “Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3-4).
Free them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3-4).
– In fact, if one knows the innocent is being killed and holds back from saving them, God will not fail to judge the one who fails to act, “If you faint in the day of adversity, Your strength is small. Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?” (Proverbs 24:10-12).
9. Throughout the Bible, children are a blessing from the Lord.
– “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate” (Psalm 127:3-5).
10. Even babies in the womb can be used by God.
– When Mary, the mother of Jesus, entered the house of her cousin Elizabeth, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy. Elizabeth calls the baby in Mary’s womb “blessed.” “Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1:39-44).
11. The fetus in the womb is a human being.
– Is a fetus in the womb a human being? The Bible answers, “Yes!’ For example, the book of Job equates the unborn child with the born child. It makes no distinction between a fetus and an infant. “Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, Like infants who never saw light?” (Job 3:16).
– In a similar way, if a man hits a woman and causes her to miscarry, he is responsible just as if he had killed a grown man. “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21:22-25).
– When Rebecca was about to give birth to Esau and Jacob, the twins are called “children” while they are still in her (Genesis 25:22).
