Most commentators see Genesis 1:27 as a poem or a song and put it that way in the Bible. It’s a summary statement of God’s creating mankind. It says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Being created by God in his own image carries an unquestionable sacredness of life. Both men and women are sacred in God’s eyes. Life is a sacred trust and as we’ll see throughout the Bible, both the New Testament and the Old Testament that we are called to stand up and defend the life of innocent victims. Murder is not only a crime against society it is a sin against God.
It still astounds me that as a whole we just don’t get it. Maybe we just don’t want to take the responsibility it. Politicians argue that they are protecting women’s health when they support a woman’s right to choose an abortion. They suggest that they are protecting their reproductive freedoms over the uses of their own bodies. They argue that life is not real life in the womb which contradicts the teachings of the Bible. I love John Piper’s sermon some years ago when he spoke on this issue when Obama was president. He said, “No, Mr. President, you are not protecting women’s health; you are authorizing the destruction of half a million tiny women every year. No, Mr. President, you are not protecting reproductive freedom; you are authorizing the destruction of freedom for a million helpless people every year. No, Mr. President, killing our children does not cease to be killing our children no matter how many times you call it a private family matter. Call it what you will, they are dead, and we have killed them. And you, Mr. President, would keep the killing legal.”[1] How can we not see this? Pray for the reversal of Roe Versus Wade?
Two of the most ancient Christian writings: The Didache, and the Epistle of Barnabas did not make it into the canon of the Bible as we know it. Yet they are good reading for any believer and make this issue very clear. The Didache says, “The second commandment of the teaching is: (2) ‘You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery’; you shall not corrupt boys; you shall not be sexually promiscuous; ‘you shall not steal; you shall not practice magic; you shall not engage in sorcery; you shall not abort a child or commit infanticide.” [2] The Epistle of Barnabas says, “You must not waver with regard to your decisions. You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain. You shall love your neighbor more than your own life. You shall not abort a child nor, again, commit infanticide.”[3] How can our nation ignore the historical moral teachings of our Christian heritage? It’s beyond me, but I will vote on this issue!
[1] Piper, John. 2014. Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014). Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God.
[2] Holmes, Michael William. 1999. The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations. Updated ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
[3] Holmes, Michael William. 1999. The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations. Updated ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.