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This is probably one of the more difficult subjects
to tackle in the study of the Bible.Besides salvation through faith in Christ, which has more rejection in
this world than anything else, the subject of life, birth, abortion and such,
generate a great deal of emotional reaction in folks than almost any other
subject.
It is interesting that folks will not view their
own spiritual life with much passion, but they will take any given subject,
isolate it from all of the other subjects, and express extreme passion
regarding it.
That of course should teach us all something.And that is, that folks who lack spiritual knowledge, are the folks who get all upset over subjects
over which they know virtually nothing about.
Life is a good subject to help the student of the
scriptures to learn about many of the terms and original language meanings.Because without that knowledge, then you are
left with emotion and popular thought, and that is a product of worldliness and
evil.Or something to get you caught up
in controversy rather than knowledge, speculation rather than certainty,
opinion rather than truth.
There are two fundamental views on the origin of
life Creationism and Traducianism.
Creationism is the view that all life originates
from God.This is of course the view of
Christianity.
Traducianism is the view that all life originates
from the physical universe.This view
was originated by Tertullian who lived from 155-200 A.D., and really did not
come into world view until 1836 through the work of Charles Darwin.
In short, Traducianism states that all life
originated from the beginnings of the universe, and evolved through many
various processes into its current state. That all life, whether human, plant,
or animal, originates totally from the physical and material universe.This follows that the human soul is material
and mortal, just as the human body is material and mortal, and both are subject
to permanent termination.Thus the view
that human life is perpetuated from conception.
In the political arena of today s world, the
political left, the liberal side of politics, has adopted the right to choose,
or pro-abortion view, which view is completely contrary to the general views of
the liberal left which generally pursues big government and the elimination of ones personal right to choose.
The political right has adopted the right to life
and the anti-abortion position, which again is contrary to the general views of
the political right, which pursues the concept of less government and the right
of a person to make their own choices.
So, odd as it may seem, both sides have adopted
contradictory views with respect to abortion, verses their overall general
views concerning society and government and so forth.
But, getting back to our subject on the origin of
life.
There are a few questions that need to be
addressed.
First, is life all from one source and or from one
type, or second, does life come in various components and not from one same source.In other
words, is human life all from a material inseparable source, or is it from a
material and an immaterial source and therefore separable.
So here is where we go to the Bible.
The first stop is the terminology used in the
Bible.
There are several fundamental terms used for
creation in the Bible bara, asah, yatsar, banah.
There are a couple of terms used for life ruwach, naphach, nashamah, chayyah.
The meanings of these terms are as follows:
bara,
to create something out of nothing.
asah,
to create something based on a pattern.
yatsar,
to create something out of a material.
banah,
to create something by building it out of something that already exists.
ruwach,
the immaterial spirit (could refer to God or to man).
naphach,
to breathe (either inhale or exhale).
nashamah,
the spark of life.
chayyahnephesh , the living human soul.
As to the nature of life, the Bible clearly states
that the life of the material and the immaterial are two and separate and
distinct things, with two and separate and distinct origins.
Upon death, we are separated from the body absent from the body and face to face with the Lord, 2
Cor. 5:8.
This verse addresses the separation of two
components of life, one from the other.Just
as you live within your home in the city or country, but you are separate from
that structure, so too, the soul is a separate structure residing in the body
of flesh and bone.
Eccl. 12:7
7 then the dust will return to the
earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.NASB
And this verse indicates the origin of both life
components.The life in the physical
body comes for the earth, or from the dust or chemicals of the ground.We call this life, biological life.And to the dust it returns when the person
dies.
The life which is in the soul comes from God, is
immaterial, and to God it returns.
God is the origin of all life.In the creation chapters of Genesis, it is
clear that God created each category of life on different occasions.In Gen. 1:11, God created vegetation.In Gen. 1:20, God created the fish and
birds.In Gen. 1:24, God created the
cattle and snakes and such.All of these
things were created on different days.None of them arose out of each other, but came into existence as
original components of creation.
Gen. 1:11
11 Then God said, "Let the earth
sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after
their kind, with seed in them, on the earth"; and it was so.NASB
Gen. 1:20
20 Then God said, "Let the waters
teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the
open expanse of the heavens." NASB
Gen. 1:24
24 Then God said, "Let the earth
bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and
beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so. NASB
Then in Gen. 1:26, God created man.And that is really where our study begins.
Gen. 1:26
And God ['elohiym] said, ['amar]Let us make [`asah] man ['adam] in our image,
27 So God ['elohiym] created [bara'] man ['adam] in his own image, [tselem] in the image [tselem] of God ['elohiym] created [bara'] he him; male [zakar] and female [naqebah] created [bara'] he
them.
The key words for creation here are asah and bara.
The word for make is asah, which means to create
after a pattern. The pattern is that of Gods
image.Since God is spirit, then this
means to create man in the form of a spirit, or an immaterial life form.
The word for created is bara, which means to create
out of nothing.Therefore, God created
out of nothing, mans spirit, which we call human life.
This concept applies to both male and female, Adam
and Eve, with respect to their human lives.So God created Eve as well, after the same method as that of Adam, even
though Eve did not come along until later.
But the pattern for all of human life is
established here.There will be other
verses later in this study to support that.
Both asah and bara are connected in Gen.
1:26-27, in reference to the immaterial part of human life, and were created
after the pattern of Gods spirit.
Gen 2:7
And the LORD [Yahovah] God ['elohiym] formed [yatsar] man ['adam] of the dust [`aphar] of [min] the ground, ['adamah] and breathed [naphach] into his nostrils ['aph] the breath [nashamah] of life; [chay] and man ['adam] became a living [chay] soul. [nephesh]
Gen 2:22
And the rib, [tsela`] which the LORD [Yahovah] God ['elohiym] had taken [laqach] from man, ['adam] made [banah] he a woman, ['ishshah] and brought [bow'] her unto the man. ['adam]
In Genesis 2, we learn of the composition of mans
material part, the dust of the earth. This is the biological part of humanity.
The word for formed is yatsar, to make, fashion, or
create something out of a material. In
this case the dust or chemicals of the ground are used to fashion man. This is the basis for what we have come to
discover as the genetics, DNA, and such things as our physical makeup.
The word for Eve s creation is banah,
which means to be built.Have you ever
wondered why women are referred to as built?Well, Eve was built from a preexisting thing, Adam s rib.But since Adam s rib came from the dust, then
Eve also came from the dust, only through Adam.
Both physical bodies were fashioned out of the dust
of the earth.And thus from the dust
they came, therefore to the dust they will return upon their physical death.
But the verse has one more component which is
needed in order to make man alive, and that is the breath of life mentioned in Gen.
2:7.
God has created mans body
out of dust (biological), and then He breathed, naphach,
Gods exhale, into mans nostrils (which must exist before they can be breathed
into - mans inhale), the spark of life, nashamah, human
life, separately created, into mans soul, chaynephesh.
Thus the concept of Creationism means God creates
life, not the material universe around us. That God imputes life after the body
is formed, that life does not come into existence at conception as promoted by
Darwinism.And more importantly, that
the physical body and the immaterial soul are two separate and distinct
entities.
Isa 2:22
Cease [chadal] ye from man, ['adam] whose breath [nashamah] is in his nostrils: ['aph] for wherein is he to be accounted of [chashab]?
Soul life comes from God and not from man.Man does not perpetuate himself through
physical propagation.
Chashab, is a living soul.
Isa 57:16
For I will not contend [riyb]for
ever, [`owlam]
neither will I be always [netsach] wroth: [qatsaph] for the spirit [ruwach] should fail [`ataph] before [paniym] me, and the souls [nashamah] which I have made. [`asah]
Ruwach is the spirit of man and is the human
life immaterial part.God is the
continuing creator of human life after Adam and Eve,
and every person thereafter.
Isa 42:5
Thus saith['amar] God ['el] the LORD, [Yahovah] he that created [bara']
the heavens, [shamayim] and stretched them out; [natah] he that spread forth [raqa`] the earth, ['erets] and that which cometh out [tse'etsa'] of it; he that giveth[nathan] breath [nashamah] unto the people [`am] upon it, and spirit [ruwach] to them that walk [halak] therein:
God created the universe out of nothing and continues
to create human life at birth (after the formation of the physical body), in
all of history, after the same pattern of Adam and Eve s creation, by breathing
the spark of life, nashamah, into mans immaterial
spirit or soul.
Job 33:4
The Spirit [ruwach] of God ['el] hath made [`asah] me,
and the breath [nashamah] of the Almighty [Shadday] hath given me life. [chayah]
The spirit of God is the pattern, asah, of mans
spirit, into which the breath of life (spark of life) was breathed to make a
living soul, chayah.
Zec.
12:1
The burden [massa'] of the word [dabar] of the LORD [Yahovah] for Israel, [Yisra'el]saith[na'um] the LORD, [Yahovah] which stretcheth[natah] forth the heavens, [shamayim] and layeth the foundation [yacad] of the earth, ['erets] and formeth[yatsar] the spirit [ruwach] of man ['adam] within [qereb] him.
God perpetuates life not man.It is impossible for man to generate human life
or a soul.
Here are several verses that indicate that mans life begins at birth (born of woman), not at
conception.
Ecc.
3:2
A time [`eth] to be
born, [yalad] and
a time [`eth] to die; [muwth]
Mans life span is from birth to death not
conception to death.
Isa. 9:6
For unto us a child [yeled] is born,
Matt. 11:11
Verily [amen] I say
[lego] unto you, [humin]Among[en] them that are born [gennetos] of women [gune] there hath [egeiro] not [ou] risen [egeiro] a greater than [meizon] John [Ioannes] the Baptist: [Baptistes]
Luke 2:11
For [hoti] unto you [humin] is born [tikto] this day [semeron] in [en] the city [polis] of David [Dabid] a Saviour, [soter] which [hos] is [esti] Christ [Christos] the Lord. [kurios]
Job 14:1
Man ['adam] that is born [yalad] of a woman ['ishshah] is of few [qatser] days, [yowm] and full [sabea] of trouble. [rogez]
Job 15:14
What is man, ['enowsh] that he should be clean
[zakah]? and he which is born [yalad] of a woman, ['ishshah] that he should be righteous [tsadaq]?
Job 38:21
Knowest[yada`] thou it, because thou wast then born [yalad]? or because the number [micpar] of thy days [yowm] is great [rab]?
Job 3:11
Why died [muwth] I not from the womb [rechem]? why did I not give up the
ghost [gava`] when
I came out [yatsa']
of the belly [beten]?
Job 10:18
18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me
forth [yatsa'] out of
the womb [rechem]?
Oh that I had given up the ghost, [gava`] and no eye [`ayin] had seen [ra'ah] me!
19 I should have been as though I had
not been; I should have been carried [yabal] from the womb [beten] to the grave. [qeber]
Job 10:8
Thine
hands [yad] have made [`atsab] me and fashioned [`asah] me together [yachad] round about; [cabiyb] yet thou dost destroy [bala`] me.
9
Remember, [zakar] I beseech thee, that thou hast made [`asah] me as the clay; [chomer] and wilt thou bring [shuwb] me into dust [`aphar] again [shuwb]?
Job 10:11
Thou hast clothed [labash] me with skin [`owr] and flesh, [basar] and hast fenced [suwk] me with bones [`etsem] and sinews. [giyd]
12 Thou hast granted [`asah] me life [chay] and favour, [checed] and thy visitation [p@quddah] hath preserved [shamar] my spirit. [ruwach]
Psa
22:9
But thou art he that took [giyach] me out of the womb: [beten] thou didst make me hope [batach] when I was upon my
mother's ['em]
breasts. [shad]
10 I was cast [shalak] upon thee from the
womb: [rechem]
thou art my God ['el] from my mother's ['em] belly. [beten]
Two typical terms used for birth out from the womb
are, min and beten, or mibeten
which mean out from the womb not from within the womb, Job 3:11, Job 10:19, Psa.
22:9-10.Life begins at the moment of
birth, when God exhales the breath of life and the infant inhales the breath of
life into his nostrils.That is the
moment when human life springs into existence.
Probably the last concept regarding life is the
penalty for taking life in murder.
Num. 35:31
31 'Moreover, you shall not take
ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely
be put to death.NASB
When property is damaged, then the penalty for that
damage is some form of restitution in payment for the value of the loss.However in the loss of life through murder,
the penalty is capital punishment.
Ex 21:22
If men ['enowsh] strive, [natsah] and hurt [nagaph] a woman ['ishshah] with child, [hareh] so that her fruit [yeled] depart [yatsa'] from her, and yet no mischief follow: ['acown] he shall be surely [`anash] punished, [`anash] according as the woman's
['ishshah] husband
[ba`al] will lay [shiyth] upon him; and he shall
pay [nathan] as
the judges [paliyl]
determine.
In this passage, two men were fighting,
the pregnant woman was somehow caught in the fight such that she aborted her
pregnancy.The death of the fetus was
not murder in that the fetus was not a living person.It had not breathed the breath of life.The penalty was for the loss of the value of
the property (the pregnancy), the physical and emotional trauma which the woman
was put through, and such.
Now, all that being said, you do not have to agree
with abortion or disagree with it.In
some societies dogs are the pets or dogs are the next meal.Neither side is wrong.They just have different views of mans best friend or meal as it were.
Personally I do not agree with abortion, because pregnancy
is the mechanism of bringing new life into this world.And certainly, I disagree with many of the
new procedures for aborting the fetus, especially when it is so near birth.But that being said, there are times when
abortion is necessary or would be a better decision for the parents or
parent.Such as in rape, or a girl who
is simply too young to become a mom, or because of medical conditions, and so
forth.Usually circumstances dictate the
obvious course of choice.
And one more note here.Since pregnancy is a physical condition, and
because this world is a material world, and ruled by Satan, many difficulties
can arise from the conception of a child.
Genetics drive the formation of the fetus.Often times the fetus can have things go
wrong in pregnancy or even after the child is born. Many a person is born with
disabilities.Many more folks grow up
and get cancers late in life.These
things are all genetic or environmentally driven.
God is not the author of bad things, but this world
is currently the devils world.
And whether you decide to abort because you know of
a difficulty arising in the pregnancy, thus preventing a person from coming
into a living world and dealing with a problem, or whether you decide to go along
with the birth, and deal with the aftermath, is entirely up to you and your
conscience.
Just remember one important thing.Jesus Christ controls history.And there is not one single person who He
does not know. There is not one single person who He did not create.There is not one single person for whom he
did not have a plan individually designed for their life.
A person not born does not exist and therefore
nothing is missed.
God can impute life, into any person at His
discretion.You were born into life at
this time of history, because it was Gods pleasure, and for your best interest
to do so now, rather than at some other time in history.Gods
creation of life is not dependent on anything you do, or do not do.
Decisions based on sound doctrine are always good
decisions.Never make decisions based on
emotional uncertainty.
Now is the time to post a prayer.
End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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