The Sanctity of Human Life
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:6)
Genesis 1:26–28 records the creation of humanity by a direct act of God. Four times in the passage we are told that we were made in God’s image. No other creature has that privilege. While the Fall of Genesis 3 has marred that image, we continue to be image-bearers of the Creator (Genesis 5:1; 9:6).
Creation Establishes the Sanctity of Human Life
Because we bear God’s likeness, we are spiritual, moral, conscientious, relational, intelligent, creative, and everlasting beings. We are distinct from the rest of creation, as even the method of our making reveals (Genesis 2:7, 22).
Whereas most of creation was made with but a word from God, Adam was crafted with special attention, from the ground, as though “by hand.” Similarly, Eve was formed from the man’s rib as the crowning creation of God. Even more intimately, God breathed into human lungs the “breath of life” (2:7), again designating man as exalted above other creatures. Human life is sacred.
Whereas most of creation was made with but a word from God, Adam was crafted with special attention, from the ground, as though “by hand.”
But Psalm 139:13–16 teaches that God’s creative genius continues in the womb through the miracle of procreation. The psalmist uses vivid imagery to depict God as an artisan Who is “forming” and “knitting” and “weaving” the unborn child in its mother’s womb (vv. 13, 15). From the moment of conception, every human life is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (v. 14). Human life is sacred.
God Gave Governments to Protect Human Life
Following the flood through which God judged the sinful world and hit a cosmic “reset button,” God guarded human life. He promised never again to judge the world with a whole-earth flood (Genesis 8:21–22; 9:11–17).
But God also protected human life from other humans. In Genesis 9:1–7 God established government to be the protector of men, women, and children. Indeed, God is so protective of human life that He instituted capital punishment to protect it: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by [civil authorities] shall his blood be shed” (v. 6, see Romans 13:4).
God’s reason for such an extreme defense of human life? “For God made man in his own image” (v. 7). Capital punishment has become rare in modern society, and at times it has been administered unjustly. But its basis in Scripture is sound, and it shows the value of human life to our Creator. Human life is sacred.
The Cross Affirms the Sanctity of Human Life
The cross of Jesus makes an even more compelling argument for the sanctity of human life. Scripture teaches that God so loves and values humanity—despite our sin—that He sent His Son to die in our place and to provide for us eternal life (John 3:16–17). Salvation is uniquely offered to humans as the bearers of God’s image, not to plants or animals. Human life is sacred.
The Gospel Calls Us to Defend Human Life
Tragically, many of the very governments charged by God with protecting life have been complicit in the murder of their weakest citizens—including the United States. Attempts to adequately grieve over abortion in America and around the world stretch the soul.
God has created the human mind with an amazing capacity to ignore bothersome sights and sounds. It’s possible to tune our minds out to the buzz of an annoying light, the rumble of incessant traffic, or the smell of something unpleasant. But we must not tune out the travesty of abortion.
We must be startled by it again, as William Wilberforce was with slavery and as Martin Luther King was with institutional racism. It’s intolerable. Scripture is crystal clear: The unborn child is made in God’s image and therefore is to be protected as sacred. Human life is sacred in heaven. May it be so on earth, by God’s mercy.
Let the gospel remind you that all human life is sacred and precious.
