God told Adam and Eve to go forth and multiply which undeniably put the emphasis on life as opposed to death. Though God deals with death, to the believer it is but a moment in time, a brief interruption before the resurrection and eternal life which Jesus promised and through his resurrection we know it exists.

There is no desire at this time to discuss abortion in this lesson; yet it must be mentioned because it is part of the culture of death from several points of view that are used by many when discussing their fascination with death. One of those thoughts making the rounds is “quality of life.” One of the justifications given for abortion is that the baby won’t live a quality life due to parentage and environment. That is patently false and an examination of the Bible tells us why.

First it is necessary to briefly discuss death and its meaning. It means the natural end of the earthly life, Hebrews 9:27, And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: and by extension of the principle involved when looked at in relation to God, separation. That is seen in the sending of Adam and Eve from the Garden after disobedience to God’s commands. A reading of Genesis 1:16-24, reveals that their quality of life was destroyed when they were banished from the Garden. Cain led a terrible quality of life after slaying Able as found in Genesis 4:12: When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. In both of the instances cited, Adam, Eve, and Cain were separated from God and had to lead a lesser quality of life.

The lives of Adam, Eve, and Cain plainly indicate that suffering is natural part of life, but God didn’t tell them to go die since they were suffering. That isn’t to say that all those who suffer in this life from illness and disease are responsible for their less than desirable quality of life due to their own actions. In the cases cited that is the case, however.

Those who attempt to be enlightened take scripture and Biblical principles in general out of context to prove many things. In an article that appeared on WND, 'Blessed are the merciful'  the writer attempted to prove that mercy killing was allowable.  His last paragraph is as follows: "Thou shalt not kill" may have its necessary and tragic exceptions, but there should be no exceptions whatsoever to Christ's admonition: "Blessed are the merciful." Christ never in any respect attempted to lessen thou shall not kill or equate it in any manner with a God given right based on mercy to kill anyone who isn’t found guilty of a heinous crime or in self defense.

The verse, Matthew 5:7, cited by the writer actually says, Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. (Matthew 5:7) But from whom will the merciful receive mercy?  From someone who will kill them when their quality of life  is no longer good? No, the mercy received will be from God and it isn’t for the mercy killing of anyone. Those who are beguiled by the idea of the quality of life are members of the culture of death when they cling to the idea of helping put people out of  their perceived misery. We don’t have that right. It is called murder no matter how it is twisted. For those who need a reminder Jesus said,  [John 10:10] The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  God didn’t give us the culture of death and it isn’t ours to determine when the innocent should die. Abundant life is the message, not mercy killing to relieve suffering in the name of being merciful.

© 02-08-06 DEC

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