This past Sunday (Jan. 21) we recognized Sanctity of Life Sunday. The phrase “sanctity of life” reflects the conviction that because people are made in God’s image, human life has an essential sacred attribute that should be protected and respected at all times. The very first chapter of the very first book of the Bible states in Genesis 1:26,
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26
The sanctity of human life is not due to the fact that we are such wonderful and good beings. The only reason the sanctity of life applies to humanity is the fact that God created us in His image and set us apart from all other forms of life.
Although that image has indeed been marred by sin, His image is still present in humanity. We are like God, and that likeness means that human life is always to be treated with highest dignity and respect – from the moment of conception to the last breath on earth.
The sanctity of life should motivate us to combat all forms of evil and injustice that are perpetuated against human life. Abortion, violence, abuse, bullying, oppression, human trafficking, self-infliction, & many other evils are all violations of the sanctity of life.
On one social media platform I recently copied and posted a meme that read, “Satan’s strategy is simple…make sin look normal and make righteousness seem strange. Do not be deceived. Every single one of us is being transformed either into the image of Jesus or into the image of this world.”
One person took odds against that first statement and contested that sin is normal. I disagree. Sin is only normal to the unrepentant sinner. Sin is common, not normal. To believe that sin is normal is to say God is a sinner. I am created, WE are created in God’s image. God cannot sin. Therefore, since we are created in God’s image, sin cannot be normal. Sin is only common.
We are all sinners, as the person contesting the above statement also asserted. We live in a fallen world; therefore we are born of a fleshly body and we are all sinners. On that we agree. Yet, we do not need to stay there.
Satan is the one who makes sin look normal and wants you to believe it is. Yet, the Bible speaks clearly, the opposite. If one does not believe the Bible, even morality speaks against sin, because it hurts not only the sinner but others as well and causes others to fall believing “sin is normal”. Satan laughs and some will call it normal.
As another person commented on the same post, “Jesus welcomed all sinners. So, He could point out their sin and implore them to go and sin no more. He accepts sinners, but not sin. Sin is never justified by the fact that we all sin.” May we recognize and observe sanctity of life and not the sanctity of sin. God never sanctifies sin.
