Chapter 33
Aborted Values
The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and
honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship
of me is made up only of rules taught by men.”
No,
it is not that they are being disingenuous. For in most cases, they are
actually being quite sincere in their convictions.
Nonetheless,
be assured that all who support the banning of abortions based upon their
belief in the sanctity of physical human life have been woefully deceived [Ephesians 6:10-12]. For it is written: But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with
what kind of body do they come?" You fool! That which you sow does
not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the
body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.
But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a
body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one
{flesh} of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and
another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but
the glory of the heavenly is one, and the {glory} of the earthly is another.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another
glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the
resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable {body,} it is raised an
imperishable {body;} it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown
in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a
spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual {body.}
So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL."
The last Adam {became} a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is
not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the
earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also
are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are
heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also
bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the
imperishable. [1 Corinthians 15:35-50 NAS]
In
other words, it is spiritual life that our Heavenly Father holds sacred—not
physical life [John 6:63]. For physical life is meant to
end [Hebrews 9:27]. Whereas, spiritual life in His
only begotten Son [John 3:16], who truly is the Lord Jesus Christ [Matthew 3:16-17], will last forever and ever [2 Corinthians 4:17-18]. AMEN!!!
No,
physical death has nothing to do with spiritual life. For it is written: “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill
the body and after that have no more that they can do.” [Luke 12:4 NAS]
Oh
yes, this opens a can of theological worms that many would rather be left on a
shelf deep down in an abandoned root cellar, with a thick coat of dust covering
its label. For they have been led to believe that one must be at least
baptized into the church before being able to enter into the very presence of
our Heavenly Father in His Kingdom of Heaven, and that is not a belief shared
by others in their coalition.
Surely
it would do us all well not to share in such a belief. For the soul of
every aborted baby goes straight to the bosom of our Creator [2 Samuel 12:23]—be assured [Matthew 19:14].
Yes,
there is still plenty of common ground for them to make a stand upon, and part
of that has to do with lost potential. For it is preached from pulpits on
both sides of the Catholic/Protestant divide that the next aborted baby may
hold the key to the cure for cancer or world peace, but who in their
“right-mind” [1 Corinthians 2:6-16] would want to believe any of that [Jeremiah 17:5]? After all, is there anything
good about any of us apart from our Creator [Psalms 16:2]?
Besides,
is not preaching such the height of hypocrisy? For who from among us can
honestly say that there is absolutely no way that the next executed criminal
did not hold the key to those very same things by that sort of reasoning, and
is it not true that many who fervently oppose abortions also see nothing wrong
with capital punishment?
Oh
yes, there is a big difference between an innocent aborted baby and a duly
convicted felon, but we are talking about hidden potential here—are we not?
Besides, who from among us can guarantee that the next aborted baby would
not make Adolph Hitler or Josef Stalin look rather harmless by comparison if
allowed to live?
No,
none of this is meant to deny that abortion is murder. For what is
generally considered as being life in the eyes of this world does indeed begin
at conception [Psalms 139:13-16], and the taking of an innocent life
is indeed murder.
Subsequently,
it is those who see nothing wrong with the practice that are much more in need
of saving than the aborted babies, and this cannot be accomplished through the
enactment of any laws [Romans 8:3]. For everything really is in
the hands of our Heavenly Father [John 16:8-11], and if it is indeed in accordance to
His will that there will come a day when no one will want to have an abortion,
whether or not it is legal to have one will not matter [2 Corinthians 5:17].
Is
this to say that we should be in favor of abortion? MAY IT NEVER BE!
For to do so would be to support premeditated murder, but in regards to
political action, it would be in the best interest of all concerned for the
Christian community to stay neutral.
The
same cannot be said of capital punishment, however. For to lock someone
in a cage for the rest of their natural life truly is cruel and unusual
punishment [Leviticus 24:10-23].
No,
this is not to say that stoning should be reintroduced, but even if it was,
would that not be more merciful than keeping someone incarcerated for the rest
of their natural life—even if in one of our modern facilities? For the
sufferings of this world would be over for them at the instant of their physical
death.
Alas,
does this not speak to the crux of the issue? For in far too many cases,
being in favor of life sentences is more about punishment than keeping society
safe, and that warrants an eternal death sentence [James 2:12-13].
Yes,
it can be argued that life sentences stand as a strong deterrent, but do they
really? For that would only work in the case of someone in their
right-mind, and no one in their right-mind would want to do anything that would
warrant such a harsh sentence to begin with.
No,
this is not to ignore the suffering of the victims and their families, but
vengeance is our Heavenly Father’s to repay [Deuteronomy 32:35].
Besides, prolonging the physical lives of those who face eternal
damnation just prolongs when the real punishment will begin
(naturally-speaking, of course) [Revelation 20:10-15], but woe be it unto all who would
want to think in such a way as this [1 John 4:20-21].
Yes,
much of that sounds like grounds to be in favor of the legalization of suicides
and assisted suicides, and I must admit that this is a jar of some really
disgusting stuff that I would rather be left on a back shelf, myself. For
I have been there. That is, at least in regards to suicide.
In
fact, I am still there. For if it was not for knowing that anyone in
their right-mind who kills (even themselves) when it is not in accordance to
the will of our Heavenly Father commits murder, I would kill myself. For
my life in this world has been one of intense pain and anguish—both physically [Job 10:18-22] and spiritually [Jeremiah 20:7-9], and I have not received any
assurances that my sufferings will end anytime soon.
A terrible
thing to say, I know. For it would cause my wife an enormous amount of
grief, but that would pass soon enough. Whereas, the suffering that she
endures because of my infirmities keeps going on, and that is something that I
can honestly say that I do not want to be a part of [John 21:18-19].
Please,
do not misunderstand. For I know that everything that I have had to
endure is for our Heavenly Father’s glory [1 Corinthians 10:12-13] and my ultimate good [James 1:2-4],
but that does not make it any less painful [Ecclesiastes 1:18].
Oh
yes, I am naturally a gutless wonder, but that does not mean that I do not know
what I am talking about. For what I have been given to say is of our
Heavenly Father [Galatians 1:11-12], and if you don’t want to believe it,
I beseech thee to seek His counsel for yourself [James 1:5].
NOTE: All of that about my wife was written over ten years ago,
and I am pleased to include in this revision that her great suffering finally
came to end when she went home to spend all of eternity with our Heavenly
Father in His Kingdom of Heaven as an heir to all that is His in glory on
December 5, 2017. My great suffering
continues, however. Yes, the absolute
truth of the matter truly is that my suffering is not as great now because her
suffering ended, but missing her so terribly certainly adds to the weight of
the cross that I have been given to bear.
Be assured that I could not endure it without our Heavenly Father
carrying 99.993% of the weight.
No comments:
Post a Comment