Thus Sayeth The Lord - Life is Sacred

This week, we come to the sixth commandment - "You shall not murder." It’s a simple command, but one that cuts deep. Sam Parker unpacks why life is sacred, why every life bears God’s image, and how understanding the Giver of life shapes how we view justice, mercy, and the value of every person. 

Transcript

Thanksgiving break. Right. So we're actually halfway through our study of the tin commandments. By the way, if you want to follow along with the notes, any passages that I'll be using, you can break out the U version app. We have that loaded in there. Go to U version, more events, CCF will pop up on the little map, and there you go. Or you can just follow up here as well. So yeah, we're halfway through our study of the tin commandments. It's kind of crazy how quickly it's been going. And as I was preparing for tonight, I was just thinking back when we started this, perhaps you were kind of wondering coming into this, okay, what's what's my grade going to be? You know what I mean, right? Like how am I going to do with the tin commandments? Most of you probably could have at least named most of the commandments. How many raise your hand would give yourself a passing grade? You know, it's like, yeah, I think I'm, you know, six out of 10. I can hit that, right? But we're halfway through now. And if we have done an adequate job of actually teaching the commandments, then I just got to say, I think we're on a losing track. Sorry. I know I'm over so far. And so as we're going along, it's like, well, for lucky, maybe we're going to get through on like two out of 10, three out of 10. I don't know. Hopefully there's a nice curve at the end for lucky. But we come to commandment number six tonight. And if you're familiar with your commandments, it's kind of funny even to direct you to you version. I can say turn to Exodus 2013. You can look up on the screen. It's a short one. We got the scripture tonight. Murder, don't. That's the FSIV version of scripture. The father Sam inspired versions. In the original Hebrew, it's actually just two words. You know, shortest verse in the New Testament, Jesus wept, two words, Hebrew, Old Testament two words, low, rad, shock, no murder. I think everyone here is on board with this command, right? Ending someone's life makes sense that it makes the top 10 list of don't do. Right. I think we're all there. I'm a little surprised. It falls behind after honoring mom and dad. Maybe God knows something we don't. Maybe some Israelites were tempted to get around honoring parents by getting rid of parents. And so Jesus like, let's just go ahead and stop that thought train real quick. So with a short and simple command like this, we might be inclined to think, hey, he's going to be short tonight. I mean, what else needs to be said? Don't murder. It's wrong. Thank you. Have a good evening. Let's close. Wait a second. Get out. But even the most simple truths can actually be very deep. And I think we're not even really going to scratch the surface with the time we have tonight. And I kind of begin lightly, but I was sharing with the other ministers that this is going to be kind of a heavy evening. And that's okay. Because as we teach the word of God, when we come to the tough passages, we don't skim over them. We don't skip them. We sit under them. And so even when we come to a passage that we all agree with, but I think we understand. Let's dig into it a little bit more. And I'll admit, it's going to be really difficult to mentally not jump to the new testament, right? Because most of us know the Sermon on the Mount where we're going to be in the spring. We know the hatred and anger that can lead to murder. And that's what we're going to be talking about next semester when we study the Sermon on the Mount. And I think it's pretty obvious in a group this size. Probably I'm taking a guess. But I think it's safe to say probably no one has actually broken this commandment and taken another person's life. But we do know we've all been guilty of what Jesus teaches about in the gospel. And so we can want to go ahead and just jump there. But we're not going to do that tonight. You're going to have to wait till next semester. And so tonight we're we're just going to stay with what does this mean? No murder. Is it does it need to be explained? So what else is there to I want us to be able to articulate what I hope to accomplish? Tonight I want to I want us to be able to articulate why murder is wrong. We know it's wrong. But we live in a culture we live in a world that can be confused, can misapply, what it means to live and what it means to die. And so as we see tonight we need to be able to hold out life. We need to be able to hold out truth. All of humanity naturally comprehends that taking an innocent life is wrong. But I want us to be able to articulate why. Paul talking about unbelievers. He's speaking actually about Gentiles. He says in Romans 215 that the work of the law is written on their hearts. So across the world every society would would be in agreement. Yes, murder is wrong. But knowing murder is wrong is just a starting point. We need to be able to answer why it's wrong. And as believers as stewards of the gospel, can we explain it patiently and biblically to the world that we live in? So that's our first goal. And then we're actually going to talk about a variety of circumstances or situations just to clarify hopefully understand are there occasions where it is biblical to take a life and what are the circumstances where it is unbiblical? There is so much that we won't be able to get into. It's not going to hit on everything but I think we can all agree if if we turn to the Word of God, he will provide clarity and at least the right direction when we come to him. So let's pray and then we'll dig in. Oh Lord, we need your help because while your Word is abundantly and sufficiently clear Lord, how we live it out, how we apply it, how we talk to others about it, we need your Holy Spirit's help, we need your Word to guide us and may bring us to you always. We love you. We ask it in your name. Amen. So why is murder wrong? In a phrase, murder is wrong because life is sacred. I hope you can remember that tonight. Murder is wrong because life is sacred. There's a lot of other reasons to supplement and add to that but ultimately murder is wrong because it is special. It is sacred. How special is life? Well as I was thinking about that, I just got to thinking about creation. And I mean here in the 21st century we're starting to kind of understand how big creation is. I mean galaxies that are really beyond our ability to comprehend even though they can throw some numbers at it. And so if you look at the graphic, I saw this the other day. So any guesses on current technology about how long it takes man if we were to travel to the moon about how long it would take? Not that. Wrong. Sorry. You got to leave too. If we are traveling two days, two to three days, the speed of light if you're traveling there, 1.2 seconds. If you're looking at a round trip, do the math, 2.4 seconds. That's pretty darn quick, right? Again, the speed of light, you're traveling to the sun. I don't know why you'd want to go to the sun. It's kind of hot there. But if you were, eight minutes, if you want to get across or galaxy, traveling at the speed of light, I'm going to see if there's any other nerds out here. What how fast is the speed of light anybody? Okay, you guys just making a bunch of numbers. And I don't know if you're doing it per second or what. But in a year, get this. Because I did the math or at least I looked it up on Google. In a year, 670 million miles per hour, not per year, but in an hour, 670 million miles. That's crazy. And if you're traveling that fast, just to get across our galaxy, 33 years. That's just our galaxy, right? The known universe traveling each year, 5.8 trillion miles, it would still take you 46 billion years. I mean, at this point, we're just like, I don't know what to do with that kind of information, right? It's crazy. And you're thinking the graphic is cool and all, but Sam, where's the connection to our verse tonight? To murder. Well, that's where we put all the murders. The point is this, guys, life is sacred. No where else has anything been remotely observed that compares to this planet. In all of that, to the best of our knowledge, Christians and atheists agree, and so murder is wrong. It's rare. It's sacred. It's special. And so murder is wrong because there is life. But we can't just stop there. We need to go beyond and see the one who gives life, because that's actually where we're going to begin to separate ourselves from perhaps the atheist, the unbelieving scientists, the agnostic, the secular humanist. We would say we are not here by some random mutation, by the slow development of evolved creature. No, we're going to say God declared, let there be life. Not just a little life either, but teaming life. When you look around, there's just life everywhere on our planet, creatures that fill the sky, fill the ocean, fill the land, the jungles, the, you know, when I'm driving down the road, there's squirrels everywhere. They're just running in front of me. I'm trying to dodge them. But life is teaming on this planet. And over all of that, he places mankind. He says, you are going to be unique in this very unique place. I have made you a creature, just like all the other creatures, but I have changed. There's something significant and special and different about you from every other thing that I made, because you are made in my image. And so he places mankind, reflective of his very nature, to care for the land, and guess what, to care for one another. Behind life is a life giver. And so to take another's life, to take one's own life is to go against God. Thomas Watson, a Puritan writer, put it this way, what? Because someone wrong you? Will you therefore wrong God? To take his work out of his hand? He has said, vengeance is mine, I will repay. And he goes on to say, murder is a sin because it is in a front on God, a breach of his command and trampling under his royal edict. It is a wrong offered to God's image. It is tearing God's picture and breaking in pieces the King of Heaven's broad seal. Man is the temple of God. John Calvin put it this way, if we would not violate the image of God, we must hold sacred the person of man. Guys, we have been given life by a life giver and it's rare, it's special, it's sacred. All sin is egregious before God, a holy God. But to end a life, there is a consequence like few others. And so we understand that because of the one who gives it, there is a value that he has placed on it, an incredible value. And it's because we are made in his image as well. The world may reject this. I think you guys have probably been on board with everything that I have been saying. It's like, yeah, we know that. But we need to understand this. The world doesn't agree with that. There's a lot of people who, good people, I'm not trying to vilify anybody, moral people. They try to live a good, honorable life. And yet, they live as if there is no God. And we want to understand the importance of life is because we, we know the giver of life. Alistair Begg says, our Western democratic governments, together with modern philosophers, have so promoted the sovereignty, the sacredness, and the rights of the individual, with a strong emphasis on personal rights that they have often forgot the one from whom those rights derive. All those things that we have have come from some, some, the world will begin to assign value based off of autonomy and agency rather than from the authority and sovereignty of God. Let me say that one more time. While all humanity will agree that life is special, the world will begin to assign value based off of autonomy and agency rather than from the authority and sovereignty of God. That goes on to say, he gave a lot of good quotes on this. We alone of all creation have been made in God's image. We owe our existence to the existence of a God who is personally and purposefully created in us in his own image. Establishing a continuity between our finite selves and his infinite self and giving our lives unique dignity and value. Did you hear that word, dignity? And sometimes I know the things in the world and the choices I make, I don't feel that that word applies to me. But that's not what God has said. Our guilt, our conscience for things we might do, say, think, we'll find ourselves thinking, yeah, I'm not worth much. But God says you have value and dignity. Don't forget that. It's important that we be able to explain this to give an answer for the hope that we have. We need to see that the world around us needs to hear this. So that's the first point. Why is murder wrong because life is sacred because of the one who gives it? So let's see a few areas that this applies. And I just want to say a caveat to this. We're going to get into some touchy difficult things as we're talking. I'm not trying to be super heavy, but it is just the world that we live in. And when we again teach the word of God, it's not that we just skim over this, but we're willing to actually tackle it. And so the first two that are somewhat connected is homicide and suicide. First off, just on homicide, that's just the definition of that is taking another person's life. And so God's law, actually, for Israel, very judiciously provided how to handle a variety of circumstances where a life ended, whether it be accidentally or purposefully. And so I think it's worth noting that there are biblical standards for how or why a life is to be taken. We're not going to look at all those possibilities, but there are occasions where war is just. There are occasions where war is unjust. There are occasions where capital punishment is right. It doesn't mean that we like it, that we want it, but it is at times necessary. Again, Thomas talks, explains for us that he says this, by not executing the law upon capital fenders, the felon having committed six murders. And the judge may be said to be guilty of five of those murders, because he did not execute the felon on his first offense. In other words, because it was not handled at the beginning, there were five more that lost their life. He goes on to say a private person sins if he draws the sword, a public servant sins if he puts up the sword. Essentially saying those in public office, their duty, their job is the preservation of life, the protection of life, the justice that is deserved to those who have been wronged. Whether or not you agree with Hobbes assessment, God has placed natural consequences for the murderer. They may be eternally forgiven for their sins. In other words, by confession, acknowledgement, they have forgiveness with God, but yet their life may still be required of them for what they've done on this earth. The point is, there are occasions where homicide is not considered murder. Even in our own judicial system, our legal system, there's a technical jargon to differentiate between the ways, the many ways someone might have their life defined as being ended, and so there's man slaughter, which I don't know, that's the one that just sounds the worst of all of them, right? The slaughtering of a man. But first degree murder, second degree murder, negligent homicide, even justifiable homicide. All of these have different categories, and all of these understand that the circumstances change the consequences. That could mean jail time, it could mean capital punishment, it could mean that it was justified. I do think we see our generation today where more and more justice is misapplied, and I think it is often because justice is not being seen as being derived from God. But I do think it's important that we understand this, guys. God has instituted government for stability, for safety, and justice of humanity. Those civil servants will give an account one day for how they handle that responsibility. We don't individually desire to cause harm. We want to see our fellow man live freely and responsibly, but at times the role of government doesn't always mirror that while upholding justice. The Bible, New Testament, Old Testament, reserved strong language for the murder. Genesis 9.6 says, "Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed for God made man in his own image." Again, we see that the preservation of something that is sacred requires potentially a very heavy cost. De Young, Kevin De Young, comments that human life is so precious that the taking of it was to be punished severely. So we recognize that homicide is wrong, and at times it may require the taking of a life. Secondly, suicide. I just want to take a few minutes acknowledging the sad reality of individuals taking their own life. I want to speak candidly, and yet I want to speak carefully. I don't know everyone's background in here. Some of you maybe have been personally affected by a loved one or a friend's suicide, and so I don't want to come across harsh. I'm sorrowful if there's anyone that is here that has had that painful experience in life. And yet we see even in the fact of that pain caused by suicide, the ripple effect in the lives of others, how suicide is wrong. We aren't to take another's life even our own. The autonomy we have as humans does not take away God's autonomy as God. The freedom you have been given to live life does not give you the liberty to end it. And yet sadly, every year there are more suicides and homicides. Double as many things you might hear about St. Louis or Kansas City, the danger there across the nation, the number of homicides is less than half of suicides. In 2023, it ranked as the 11th leading cause of death. Guys, for your age bracket, it's the second leading cause of death. It's a serious. Suicide like homicide is the decision to end a life. But as we already talked about, guys, life is sacred. We must remember who gives life and who takes it away. Two passages of Scripture, 1 Samuel 2 6 says, "The Lord brings death and makes a life." He brings down to the grave and he raises up. Ezekiel 184 says, "For everyone belongs to me, the parents, as well as the child, both alike belong to me." We're not to injure, to mar, to disfigure, or end our life because of who we're made in the image of. That's just what the Scripture tells us, guys. Two other topics related to this that I want to address. Again, they're both difficult. Abortion and euthanasia. I want to address the sad reality of abortion. When we hold out life as sacred and as we understand it is to be protected, we must acknowledge that the life in a womb is a unique person made in God's image. This too is a sensitive topic that may hit home for some of you that are in this room. And again, I don't desire to be insensitive and yet insistent. Life is a gift from God. We can find it strange that the ways the natural has, the unnatural, the abnormal that God brings about life into this earth. A life established in haste, in sin, possibly even in abuse is still a life. As proclaimers of the sacredness of life and the giver of life being God, we must continue to work to defend those that are defenseless, to speak for those that don't have a voice. So, Christians have done throughout society. We still have to do that. Science continues to provide more and more evidence of life in the womb and I am thankful for that. And yet, science can never supplant the condition of the sinful heart and to end the life in the womb except for rare, unusual circumstances is to take a life according to God's word. I also want to say this. God is merciful and I'm quoting Alistair Begg. He says God is merciful in relation to this sin just as he is in relation to all other sins. When we seek salvation forgiveness through the sacrificial blood of Jesus. In other words, the pain that may come associated with all of this is knowing that God is merciful. To those who come to Him. One more area to touch on. I appreciate your guys' time tonight. One more area to touch on and it circles back somewhat to where we began and just a desire to be able to explain why murder is wrong because again the world around us tends to rationalize it, explain it away. Something that is continuing to become more and more normal in our world is euthanasia, the ending of a life to alleviate suffering. Now there are countless ways in which this may come about a decision whether it be someone who is on life support or who knows how long and a family is trying to decide do we continue to offer life sustaining efforts or do we just go ahead and turn them off and let them pass on their own. The other side of it is someone who just says I'm going to go find a doctor and this is available in our world. I just want to find a doctor because I don't want to live anymore but if I go to a professional who has this as a career they can give me something and I will just peacefully die. Dr. assisted suicide, voluntary and in some places potentially even involuntary assisted suicide. We live in a world where when a physical body has possibly become close to death or is just no longer choosing life it can be strangely considered that to assist and even speed along that death is somehow an act of mercy. And I think we can see that and we can say well that is kind of rational. I'm not sure where I stand on that and that's something I want to invite you to continue to pray and pour into your Bible and talk to others about because this is the world we live in. There are numerous countries where it is now easily available. The reality is that the world continues to inch closer and closer to just a view of life as being strictly utilitarian. A desire to separate the body from the personhood that if the body just decides to no longer be then that's just okay. No harm, no foul. We create life, we can in life. I'm the master of my own fate and if I'm discontent that I desire to stop my life I can choose that as well. No where in scripture do we see that ending one's own life is viewed in any kind of favorable circumstance. No murder. Simple, complex. So tonight we wrap up this somber topic. Just a needed reminder that life is worth living. Our circumstances, despite our circumstances, life is worth living. We have an opportunity guys to put on full display before the world that is confused or wrong about this. What life looks like full of satisfaction, contentment, joy that no matter the circumstances around me of what I am going through inwardly, I am being renewed. My physical body may almost be absent of life and yet inwardly God is preparing me for something that I can hardly even fathom. When his time calls me home I will never be more alive than I am on this planet. That's our hope and that's a hope that we can hold out to the world guys. Knowing him, loving him, pursuing him, honoring him. And we are right to protect life until God decides our time. Let's close in order prayer. Dear God, thank you for again clarity even though you don't give us all the answers. Lord, you have given us sufficient light to illuminate our feet that we can pursue you, that we can come to you, that we can come to one another and talk about these things. And Lord, you don't give us all the answers because you have given us minds to thank, to pray, to consider and weigh. So Lord, I pray for each one of these young lives that these are things that they will have to consider and weigh through themselves as they just become adults in this world. And Lord, I am so excited for the many ways that they are leading the next generation of believers who can hold out the truth of Jesus Christ. Lord, I thank you that you entered this world that we would be able to not be condemned for falling short, even of potentially murder in our heart, the desire that someone would end. Even if we would never act out upon it, Lord, you see into our heart and Lord, we confess that and we know, oh God, because you have given us the promise that you are faithful to forgive, that there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. Lord, thank you that we can hold on to that promise as you hold on to us. Lord, may we hold out that promise to the world around us. We ask it all in your mighty name, amen.