While we wait and the sanctity of human life

Our church followed last Sunday's sermon by singing "Glorious Christ" as the congregational song of response. What a glorious song, and what a glorious way to close that time of corporate worship. The final line of the final verse says: "And all will be made right when You appear."

It was a wonderful truth to proclaim and to remind ourselves of after two weeks of sermons on how we are to live as Christians in an age that does not embrace the sanctity of all human life. Abortion, racism and human trafficking will all "be made right" when King Jesus appears.

But in the "already/not yet" tension of Christianity, those evils continue to exist and wreak havoc on countless human beings. So we have responsibilities as ambassadors of our coming King to bear and share His name, His truth and His love while we wait for the day when "justice [will] roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:24).

In these two sermons, I pointed to two primary themes of Rom. 12:9-21:

1. Loving others made in the image of God begins in the church;

2. Blessing others made in the image of God extends to all people.

As we saw in this passage, we do not genuinely love if we do not hate evil. At the same time, we are to bless and not call down condemnation on those behind evil. They also are made in the image of God. So the unborn babies killed, the women trapped as sex slaves and the people oppressed because of their skin color or ethnicity are image bearers of God, but so are the abortion doctors, the human traffickers and the racists. God will mete out justice, we saw in this passage. Our responsibility is to bless our enemies and persecutors and let God act justly in His time and His way. Because He is merciful toward sinners, He will save some out of their evil ways. In all cases, He will punish evil -- either in His judgment on sinners or His judgment on His Son in the place of sinners.

The first proving ground for true love on the sanctity of human life issue is the body of Christ. Paul tells us in Rom. 12:10 we are to "give preference to one another in honor" or to value one another greatly. Even in a small church like ours, our fellowship increasingly demonstrates diversity. With it, we have a growing opportunity to show to one another and the world that every brother and sister, every human being, is valuable. By the way we live together, we can attest to this non-negotiable truth: Each human being – regardless of location, development, age, gender, size, mental or physical condition, ethnicity, religious belief, social standing, appearance or popularity with the ruling government -- is made in the image of God.

Being a pro-life church means loving one another.

* -- Photo attribution.