A Culture of LIFE is Foundational to the Christian Life
There is an infant girl in our past.
After one short weekend of holding, rocking, and loving her as our own—she returned to the arms of her birth mother, who had changed her mind about adoption.
Following that one weekend—which gave deep meaning to the beautiful and difficult in our lives—Son took Daughter-in-law away to grieve in private. At Son’s request, I spent the next few days in their home, removing the most obvious reminders of what almost was.
baby bottles left drying on the kitchen counter
an opened container of formula in the pantry
burp cloths that still smelled of sour milk
It is out of this memory I share on the culture of life that is foundational to the Christian life.
“In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12.10 (ESV)
The Christian life is founded on the belief the Creator and Maker of all things gave birth to the world. This includes our belief that Almighty God created and breathed life—His life—into every person conceived over time since the first man and woman.
Furthermore, our salvation is based on the belief that Jesus Christ came to earth to pay the sacrifice of death on a cross—that all would have the opportunity for life eternal.
This life in Jesus is a culture of life available to all.
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. [...] in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me...” Psalm 139.13-16 (ESV)
There are things I need to say now. My desire is to do so without bringing undue pain to the reader, who may have faced the heart-wrenching decision to give up a life carried inside her.
Perhaps you were a birth mom who chose to hand your newborn over to an adoptive mother, knowing it was the best path for you and your baby. You may have learned the child you carried had died in the womb or would not survive the birthing process. Maybe it was your own life at risk should a pregnancy continue.
I do not know your story, nor can I imagine the struggle and anguish you experienced. How does a mother make such a decision—when mothering arms long for nothing more than to hold and nurture that new life within, or already birthed?
Yet, as people of faith, if we believe the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind is in the hands of God, we have the assurance He is in control—that this, too, is in His hands.
There is something, however, that does not fit in the culture of the Christian life. This something is a mother, and often a father, as well, choosing to take life into their own hands.
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6.19-20 (NASB)
Again, I do not know your story and am not here to pass judgment, but let me share what God's Word says concerning the Christian life of a believer—a culture built on life, both now and for eternity.
When we receive salvation, we give everything of our life and self over to God—our Maker and Creator. When we pledge ourselves to Him who bought us with a price through His Son on the cross, we give up certain rights. This includes the right to decide when life ends, and how.
The truth is, the mindset of “my body, my choice” has no place in the culture of life that is the Christian life.
To anyone reading this who may have experienced a pregnancy resulting from the tragedy of rape or incest, I cannot possibly know the trauma and pain you went through. I can tell you I have known women who carried a child to term conceived in such tragic circumstances. Some placed their child for adoption with a loving family. Others realized that out of the ashes of tragedy, God gave them the grace to love, nurture, and raise their baby—despite such a beginning.
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb...I am fearfully and wonderfully made...”
There is an infant girl in our past. She is being lovingly raised by her birth mother. Following that season of great grief, our family was able to acknowledge what had occurred was right—for we believe a mother should always be given the chance to mother her own child.
Our experience that one short weekend was ten years ago. I always know how many years it’s been because our first grandson was born only a few months later. Just weeks after the heartbreaking return of that infant girl, Son and Daughter-in-law received word that another birth mom had chosen them to adopt her little boy.
None of us can really understand why things happen like they do in this life. I’m sure you, like me, have had reason to cry out to God on more than one occasion and ask, “Why did this happen?” It is part of the mystery of life and certainty of sin resulting from the fall in the Genesis garden.
There are other babies in my past, as well. Like many of you, our family has miscarried babies who never knew life this side of heaven. It brought great pain and sadness, and we paused to cry out, “God, why this?”
Today, I like to picture those babies rocked by one of their great-grandmothers, or perhaps an auntie, who've gone on before us.
Can you get a picture of that in your mind? Thousands of grandmothers, mothers, and aunties in heaven caring for the tens of thousands of babies who have passed from life in the womb to life eternal with God.
This foundational culture of life is not a life of what almost was. It is a life that never ends. It is a culture that treasures life—both in and outside the womb of life.
“…I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants…” Deuteronomy 30.19 (NASB)
Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org