The Sanctity of Life (1/29/16 Stand-alone)

ATTN: Today, I want to speak on the value of life. Last Sunday was the national Sanctity of life Sunday. And if you don’t know what that is, it is a day to remember the sacredness of life, especially the life inside the womb. It was started by Ronald Reagan on January 13, 1984, designating Sunday, Jan 22, 1984 as National Sanctity of Human Life Day noting that it was the 11th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, in which, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that guaranteed women access to abortion.” I know we are one week off, but I think this is a topic well worth covering to emphasize the value of human life either inside or outside of womb as God created it. And please know that I’m not trying to be political. I have no confidence in politics. To me, it doesn’t matter ultimately who is the president of the United States or who sits on the Supreme Court. Jesus is the king over them all! He is the king I serve. But Ronald Reagan has said something that was important that was in accordance with Jesus and that is the only reason why I want to address this. And I only have one statement today that I want to defend. And that is: The value of life comes from God alone and the value of the events of life is determined by whether it will lead to eternal life – eternal life being knowing and loving Christ.

I get that from John 9 in Jesus’ encounter with a blind man. We will take that long sentence and break into 3 phrases: 1) The value of human life comes from God alone. 2) The value of events of life is determined by whether it will lead to eternal life. 3) Eternal life is knowing and loving Jesus.

 

1) The value of human life comes from God alone.

1. 1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

As Jesus and the disciples were walking along, they happened to be passing by a man born blind. And probably out of curiosity, they ask, “who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Now, those of us who were born and raised in the West, this is a very insensitive remark by the disciples. We do not look at a handicapped person and think, “They are that way because they are being punished by God either because of he did something wrong or his parents. ” No. that would be just wrong. But if you grew up in the East, this is not that unusual.

ILL: I remember growing up in Korea 20 years removed from the Korean War, I would often see the crippled beggars on the street begging for money. These were people who lost family and limbs during the war or through a crippling disease. And yet, many passerby will spit on them or even kick them saying, “Bad luck!” and would keep their distance from them and walk around them. Why? Because in their minds, these handicaps were getting what they deserved either for the sins they have committed in the previous life or this life. Or they were paying for the sins of their parents. And so, when I read that the disciples of Jesus asking the question, I know exactly what they are thinking because it’s the similar culture. A typical Eastern culture mindset looking at an unfortunate situation.

Now, before we get to how Jesus responds to their question, I want to point out that Jesus valued this man with a birth defect. Jesus could have walked passed this man just like the disciples were intending to. They weren’t asking Jesus to heal this man although they’ve seen Jesus heal many diseases before. They were walking out of the temple and they see this blind man and decides to have a theological discussion about his condition! But Jesus is not going to stop there. He is going to do something about it. So, he stops, and spends time with this blind man. And I have to think that this was by design. Jesus arranged for Himself and the disciples to pass by this blind man so that He can give him eternal life. Why do I say that? Because, right before this encounter with the blind man, in John 8, Jesus had an argument with the Pharisees where He told them that He is the light of the world and that before Abraham was, I am – basically revealing Himself as equal with God. This didn’t go over well with the Pharisees who picked up stone to kill Him. And Jesus had to go away from them. And while hiding from them, He and the disciples pass by this blind man who would be a perfect example to show how spiritually blind the pharisees were even though this physical blind man was spiritually seeing. And not only that, Jesus later looks for this man to make sure that he knows who it is that healed him. So that he will have the knowledge of Jesus Himself who is eternal life.

Jesus valued this man’s life. While, no 1st century Jew would’ve given a second to this blind man, Jesus, just several days before He was to be killed, spends time not only healing this man, but later looked for this man to reveal His identity to him. This man’s life mattered to Jesus. His value did not diminish in God’s eyes because he was crippled.

APP: What made this man’s life valuable is not what he contributed to the society. But that he was made in the image of God. And the Son of God affirms his value by giving him his full attention. One of the evidences of our being saved is that our value system changes to match that of God’s. No longer do we value things the way the world values. What does the world value? health (youth, fitness, further removed from death the better), intelligence, wealth, independence. Just ask your child what they want to become when they grow up – doctor, lawyer, engineer – the careers that epitomizes health, intelligence, wealth and independence. No child would say, “I want to be a beggar on 72nd St!” They are simply mimicking what we taught them. They are valuing what we value. Then, what does God value and thus we should value? Answer? Characteristics that will lead us to eternal life. And that is the second phrase.

 

2) The value of events of life is determined by whether it will lead to eternal life.

The world values whatever will give them maximum pleasure in this world – money, sex, independence, prestige, safety…  but God values whatever events or characteristics that will lead to eternal life. That is why God values humility, dependence, obedience, holiness – almost exactly the opposite of what the world values. And what leads to humility, dependence, obedience, and holiness? Usually not health, wealth and success, but sickness, poverty, and failure!

Listen to how Jesus answers the disciples about why this man was born blind. Remember Jesus is answering the silly question of the disciples whether this man born blind was his fault or his parents’ fault in v. 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned.” Good! That’s exactly what I would’ve said and I would’ve added, “Look, It happens. It can happen to anyone. It was nobody’s fault. Just be glad that you are not born blind…” But that is not what Jesus says! He says, “But this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” What? What is Jesus saying? Surely, Jesus is not saying that God made this man born blind on purpose just so that God will get the glory? But that is in fact what He seems to be saying! I used to think when I read this passage in the past, “Oh, Jesus must meant that this defect just happened by chance and Jesus just discovered him that way and used the situation as a teaching moment bring glory to God.” In other words, I was excusing God. But if you want to stay faithful to the text, that’s not going to work. It says this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. In other words, it would be far more natural to interpret that God made this man born blind, so that later on by healing him God will get the glory!

        Immediately a red flag goes up, doesn’t it? What? God made this man a handicap on purpose? What kind of a good God makes someone miserable on purpose? That makes God cruel. This is a whole can of worms here theologically, but in this particular case, I’m going to say “Yes.” That’s right. This man was born blind on purpose, it was God’s doing, so that he can be used later.

Why would God do this? How is this not cruel? Only if God was letting him suffer for 30 years so that He can give him 30 trillion years of bliss called eternal life! What Jesus ultimately wanted to give this man was not physical sight but spiritual sight that would lead to eternal life. And this man being born blind allowed him to meet and know Jesus – the light of the world. Imagine if you met this man in heaven who’s been there for 2000 plus years if it was worth being blind on earth for 30 years so that he could meet Jesus and have eternal life. “Eh, I don’t know… I’d rather have been seeing for those 30 years and end up in hell…” No. I think he would’ve been glad to be blind all his life and die a blind man if he could gain eternal life. God will throw whatever is necessary in our way to get us to focus on Him. He is fiercely committed to us to give us the very best – Himself.

APP: So, can and would God on purpose make some people born blind, crippled, have down syndrome, or any other horrible deformities? Yes. He can and He does. So many of our why questions directed toward God can be answered at least intellectually in the fact that God cares about our eternal life more than anything. And at times, He will lead us to physical harm or disability if it will result in our eternal life. If God let a child be born with disability so that not only that child will be saved but she will be an agent of forming Christ in those around her, is that not worth it? And this includes children still in the womb whether they were planned or not and whether they are “healthy” or not.

 

3) Eternal life is knowing and loving Jesus.

So the value of human life comes from God alone. And the value of events of life is determined by whether it will lead to eternal life, in which case hardship, sickness, poverty might be more valuable than success, comfort and ease. But what is eternal life? Eternal life is not realizing the American Dream, just bigger and longer. Not eternal life is a person. When Jesus healed this blind man, he didn’t even know who it was that healed him. But Jesus makes sure that he does know because it’s not good enough that he is physically healed but he is still spiritually blind. 35Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”c 36He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

So, Jesus finds this man to make sure that he knows who it is that he healed him. And once the blind man recognizes that it was Jesus, He worships him as Lord. Mission accomplished. This man acquires eternal life. And what led him there? His blindness.

ILL: In our Community Group last week, we were sharing how God used tough times in our lives to bring us to Himself. We were at the end of our ropes and when we cried out, Jesus came and rescued us. And that is pretty much how all testimonies go. Matter of fact, I’ve never heard a testimony that went, “You know, my life was going so good and prosperous that I decided to believe in Jesus for making me so happy.” Never. It’s usually my life was falling apart, nothing was going the way I wanted and I needed help and Jesus found me…”

Time and time again, what we consider undesirable and desperate conditions God uses to bring us to Himself – the eternal life. So, the value of life comes from God alone and the value of the events of life is determined by whether it will lead to eternal life – eternal life being knowing and loving Christ.

 

Implication 1: Since God alone determines the value of life, we have no right to determine whether a baby should be born depending on his/her condition. And definitely not depending on how that baby will change our lifestyle. It is a baby and not a tissue. Science has finally caught up with the Bible and tells us that at 10 weeks, less than two months in the womb, he looks and feels just like a 9 month old baby. His heart, kidneys, intestines, brain and liver are all functioning already. It is a person made in the image of God. If it is murder to dispose of the baby that is 2 months old out of the womb, then it should be murder to dispose of the baby that is 2 months old in the womb. America has sinned greatly. 1 million babies are aborted each year. We have killed far more persons than Nazis killed the Jews during WWII. This is not a small matter. One day, we will look at this day and think, “What were we thinking? How could we have allowed it when it was going on right under our nose?” We need to do everything we can do stop this evil practice.

 

Implication 2: Since the value of the events of life is determined by whether it will lead to eternal life, your hardship with pregnancy or your girl friend’s pregnancy, might be what God is using to bring you to God. God does not want to condemn you but rather forgive you and bring you closer to Himself. Even to the murderers who were killing the very Son of God, Jesus said, “Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

Jesus is gracious to all who are broken and humble to come to jesus. This includes thieves, prostitutes, and even murderers. But you do need to come to Jesus. Forgiveness is not automatic, but “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”