Formless to formed…Emptiness
to fullness…Darkness to light…Water to sky and evening to morning…Dry ground
and waters gathered into seas… These are
the precursors on earth to the creation of life: First sea life, then plant
life, then animal life, then human life. Genesis 1:27- So God created man in
his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created
them. In many places, God’s word
refers to the human race as “man.” Here
it specifies that “man” means both genders and it continues to include both
throughout scripture.
God is a God of life…of
birth and of rebirth and renewal. He has
the power to breathe the very breath of life into our physical or spiritual
being. Genesis 2:7-The Lord God
formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life, and the man became a living being. God is consistent across every aspect of His
being and He is the giver, supporter and promoter of life. He values every single life (regardless of
race, nation, gender, disability) from the aging to the middle aged, to the
youth, to babies and the unborn babies in the womb. Psalm 139: 15&16-When I was woven
together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in
your book before one of them came to be.
There is no question that God is pro-life and that when He instructs us
not to kill, He includes those babies in the womb whom he already “knows.”
In contrast is the thief who is Satan: John
10:10-The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they
may have life, and have it to the full.
The very existence of death is a result of evil in the world and the
being that promotes it.
God is also a God of
choice! When man was first created, God
showed them all the trees of the garden, allowing them to eat from any tree
except for one. We talk of the forbidden
tree (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) more often than we hear of
the tree of life. What is this tree of
life? It was central in the garden next to the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil. It seems to represent and give
life…without death. It shows that when
he gave them full access to this tree and its fruit, God’s plan and intent for
Adam and Eve was only life. And only one
tree in the entire garden was off limits (the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil). God wanted to leave them with a
choice. Sometimes I wish he hadn’t(!), but
God is love and He didn’t want them to follow His ways without a choice. He
didn’t want them to follow His ways because they were the only ones to follow.
He wanted, and still wants, man to choose Him, choose His life, and His
goodness, giving us an opportunity to obey.
Three years ago my dad
died. His life ended when he took his
own life. I was a complete dysfunctional
disaster for about 6 months after this happened but had wonderful support from
people all around me. I was in a very
hard place during that time. I honestly feel like God allowed me to get to a
similar place as my dad was in order that I might have some understanding. I had never really experienced depression
before. Other people’s verbal responses
varied in a large spectrum in trying to make sense of such an event. Some people said, “Well, maybe he didn’t have
a choice” or “Perhaps that’s just what he had to do.” I told my kids, and will continue to
emphasize with them, that he did indeed have a choice. “You always
have a choice,” I say. If you are ever
in that place, there is always another option, always someone to talk to,
always an avenue of hope, and always some form of help. This is not a simplistic or easy answer
topic. I know the lies of depression are strong… I heard some of them myself.
The really awesome thing is
that even after Adam and Eve’s sin of eating of the ONE tree that was to be
avoided, God still endlessly gave them the opportunity to choose to have
connection with Him. Though their choice
of fruit (to disobey God’s command) had consequences, they were able to decide
again to follow God. We choose these
things on a daily basis often starting anew when we fail. We can choose kindness over grumpiness,
giving over selfishness, trust over fear, faith over control, love over hate,
intimacy over lust, justice over injustice, forgiveness over revenge,
responsibility over laziness, obedience over our own self-will, resisting
temptation over giving in, and birth over abortion. Yes, we even have the power
to choose our own life over physical death!
Whether or not the government makes assisted
suicide and abortion legal, available, free or even if it wrongly forces it upon
its citizens, God gives us (as humanity) choices. Whether our society approves
or disapproves doesn’t change God’s position on life. And He still gives us a choice. Based on only one single choice of choosing
to trust Him, He invites us to live in His presence eternally. Amazingly, when he bookends his word, we find
that the tree of Life is not gone. The tree of Life is mentioned again. Revelation
2:7-He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right
to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
AND Revelation 22:2-…On each side of the
river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit
every month and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations….
What great gifts we have been given: Not only life, an ability to choose and
discern, but forgiveness and healing and opportunities for renewal if we don’t
always choose what is right.
J.Kondratieff
photo credit: Aleksander Markin. Александр Маркин <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/33104187@N04/31261048732">Man was born! Grandson!</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>
