On behalf of Human Coalition’s staff and volunteers, happy holidays and many blessings this season! And thank you for your continued prayers and support of our lifesaving work.

As you know, our focus in 2018 was on the theme of justice, concentrating on Amos 5:24. I wanted to finish the year with a special Christmas message on this theme, as we all celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the ultimate embodiment of justice. As you’ll recall, justice isn’t just about punishing the oppressor; it is also about rescuing the oppressed. And there are no greater oppressed people in America than preborn children.

Debate

I recently debated a pro-abortion advocate on an international podcast. During our discussion, the abortion advocate asserted that life in the womb doesn’t have the same value as life outside the womb. I’m paraphrasing her comment, but she made a point to support her claim, saying, “A fertility clinic recently reported they had a malfunction that resulted in the loss of thousands of fertilized eggs. Why aren’t we mourning the loss of those embryos the same way we mourn the loss of life in a hurricane or a terrorist attack?”

In fact, two fertility clinics had similar malfunctions around the same time earlier this year, one in San Francisco and one in Ohio. It is likely that thousands of eggs were lost, as well as thousands of frozen embryos.

At the root of the abortion advocate’s assertion is an essential, although deeply flawed, worldview claim: that we should have the right to value human life based on the way we FEEL.

God’s Image Bearers

This Christmas, I’m challenging us to look at God’s image bearers – the entire human race – through a biblical worldview. And that requires us to make a distinction between intrinsic value and emotional value.

There is no question that we emotionally value some human beings more than others. I value my wife and sons more than anyone else in my life. If I were to lose one of them, it would be emotionally devastating.

When I hear a story on the news about a child perishing in some tragedy, I feel an immediate sense of loss and grief for that family; but it in no way compares to the loss of someone close to me.

Emotional Value and Intrinsic Value

Christians must be very careful, however, not to equate emotional value with intrinsic value.  My wife’s life is worth more to me emotionally, but she has the same intrinsic value as someone else’s family member or an embryo I’ve never seen, don’t know, and may never meet.

This is true because intrinsic value is not determined by us – it is determined by a loving, holy God who creates each human being as a divine work of art.

So we should, in fact, mourn the death of thousands of embryos in a fertility clinic, though we should not expect to experience the same emotional loss as someone close to us.

We cannot overstate the importance of this truth: We are valuable because we are human, because we are God’s unique creations, and because ultimately our value is not determined by ANY OTHER factor except that God created us. Christians must always determine the value of human beings based on God – not race, color, creed, gender, size, level of development, income, or how we emotionally feel about another human being.

The Creator Came to Earth

In years past, I’ve attempted to contemplate the conception of Jesus Christ in my Christmas message to you. And I confess I’m no further along in my understanding of that event. I still marvel that God chose to come to earth through the same act of creation that you and I did. The Creator came to earth through the same act He designed to create human beings! (Granted, He was conceived through the Holy Spirit.) To me, this is one of the most staggering, mystifying truths in Scripture.

Is there any more powerful statement about the intrinsic value of human beings than the fact that God Himself came to earth as a zygote? Do we not celebrate His birth but also His earthly arrival nine months prior? John the Baptist certainly noted His arrival in the womb, as should we.

You are Extraordinarily Valuable

This Christmas, I encourage you to consider this: You are extraordinarily valuable. You are a divine work of art. You are so valuable that God Himself came to save you from the bondage of your sin. Not only did He create you to be distinct from any other being in all of history, but He calls you to Him and desires to BE with you.

Don’t be fooled by our world’s attempts to convince you that you (or anyone else) are valuable based on others’ emotions toward you. You are intrinsically valuable because God gives you value. And He proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt when He came to earth as a zygote and was born in a manger – a fact we joyfully remember this month.

Merry Christmas!

Brian

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