All Human Lives Matter
We have been going through a time in our culture where the rights and value of the disenfranchised have taken center stage. In many points, I do agree with the sentiment that there has been a lack of equity in treatment for many people. The Word of God is clear in the fact that there is no difference in mankind that would allow for the preferential treatment of one ethnicity, gender, or any other natural trait. This is predicated upon the fact that God gives life to the individual making them a supremely valuable creation of the Sovereign Creator. We see this presupposition in the second chapter of the only authoritative rule of faith and practice the Word of God.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
God is the One that originated life giving a living soul that will never cease to exist. He is the One then to set the parameters of that life. It is because of this fact that every life has value and deserves to be treated with the same manner of respect. Whether that is a man or woman, white or any other ethnicity, handicapped or able-bodied, and additionally born or pre-born. The individual’s value or right to life is not mitigated by any of these factors.
Let me give an example of my thinking here. It would be wrong ethically in almost every rational thinking person’s mind for the termination of life of one that is handicapped because it was creating an undue burden on their care givers. It would be called murder and the perpetrator would stand trial for that heinous act. There is no difference from that to the termination of a pre-born life because of a matter of burden it may cause someone else. The rights and value of the individual is set by God and not the arbitrary thinking of a another individual.
This distinction of value is based upon every human is designed as God’s image bearers. In creation God created every living thing into existence but when He came to mankind, He took a different approach. As we saw earlier, He formed Adam out of the dust of the ground in Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Notice there that He breathed into him the breath of life making him unique amongst the Creation. Woman was then created later from the rib of man as seen in Genesis 2:21 -22 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
This unique approach can be perhaps understood when you remember that we were created in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. There is no other part of His creation that shares that designation. We enjoy a relationship with the Creator that does not exist in the rest of Creation. We are the only ones that have the ability to enter into a meaningful purpose that revolves around living for a cause that is outside of ourselves. The animal kingdom operates in a reactionary environment where the concern is the next meal and the perpetuation of life. Man is capable of living by conscious decisions that go beyond the reaction to action and meaning.
An evidence that God places value on all human life is found in the protection that He gives to it. Throughout the Bible we witness a consistent protection for those that are less fortunate. We see this in Jeremiah 22:3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
The disenfranchised of the day were to be cared for and protected by others not abused and used for personal gain. The prohibition of shedding innocent blood along with the doing no violence are clear indicators that we are to value every life as God does. This includes those that are operating among us in various capacities and the most innocent of our population being those that have yet to exit their mother’s womb.
The devaluation of any group of people is being attack with a fierceness that is unparalleled in our country today. Yet the continued ideology that the value of the unborn is subject to the opinion of another group is seen as an acceptable and even proper thing. This would not be allowed for any other group of individuals. The slaughtering of any section of our society would be seen as morally reprehensible yet it is protected by the laws of our land as long as that individual being terminated is a pre-born baby by its mother.
The fight for the rights of the disenfranchised should not end with those that are already birthed but continue on to those that are the most vulnerable and innocent in our society, the unborn children.
Pastor Eric O. Buhrow
Immanuel Baptist Church
Rice Lake, WI
Board Member of Baptists for Life of Wisconsin