ALL ABOUT BABIES
This message is about babies, and the information you will read will be exactly
as it is written in scripture. There will be no opinions, rumors or promises. It will be
the Word of God as written in scripture. I say this so you understand it is not me
writing a message, but the exact Word of God from the bible.
To get to the message about babies, we need to know some background
information you may have missed in the Old Testament concerning the understanding
of God's people (Israel) about salvation and eternal life.That is where we shall start
our message about babies.
Many Christians are smug about their knowledge and acceptance of salvation
brought to us Gentiles (non Jews) by Jesus Christ. While the Old Testament Israelites
practiced sacrifices for forgiveness and redemption, this practice was only the
forerunner of the sacrifice Christ made for us. They followed the Law given to Moses
and the expanded civil and criminal laws after the Ten Commandments. All Christians
should know the Israelites knew about redemption from sin and eternal life. They knew
about salvation and heaven and hell.
How can that be, you ask? This is a bit ahead of the message, but turn to 2 Sam.
12:22,23. David has just lost his baby son from Bathsheba, and he has turned from
grieving to acceptance. He says, "While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I
said, 'Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?'
But now he is dead why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him,
but he shall not return to me." David knew he would be reunited with his son in heaven
and eternal life. Did you think the great saints of the Old Testament would be denied
eternal life because they were not redeemed by Christ? Think about scripture in the
New Testament where deceased saints appeared and talked to Jesus (Matt. 17:3).
Peter, James and John were with him and saw the deceased saints. They were Moses
and Elijah. We smug Christians should look at the fact that we are newcomers, and
could learn much from the Old Testament saints. Jesus often quoted Old Testament
scripture.
We see that David, the priests and prophets knew much more about after life and
our future in eternity. Christ tried to teach us, but I fear many of us haven't solved the
"mystery" of the parables. You've been introduced to the first baby of our message, and
it is a sad story. Why did God cause the baby's death? It was punishment for the sin
David committed in laying with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and a valiant soldier.
Not only was this adultery, but David coveted the woman so much he plotted the
certain death of her husband. See 2 Sam., Chapter 11.
Now we go to, of all things, a parable in the Old Testament. You see, Christ isn't the
only person representing God to deliver a clever message and teaching. I fear this
parable will go over the heads of some Christians as many of the others appear to
have. I admonish you to pay strict attention to the exact words of scripture and accept
the clear directions given by God. This parable was given by God, Himself, to the
prophet, Nathan. A prophet's life, in this material world, is not very comfortable. There
is no big financial support, and sinning Christians do not readily accept blame or the
direction of God's representatives.
It takes guts to do what Nathan did. It's an amazing story, and we're still on the subject
of babies. In 2 Sam. 1:1-12, Nathan tells the story of two men. One is rich and has
exceedingly many flocks and herds. The other man is poor and has but one ewe lamb
he has purchased and nurtured, and it grew up with him and his children. The lamb ate
and drank with the family and was like a daughter to him. A traveler came to the rich man,
and the rich man refused to take from his own flock to prepare food for the traveler.
Instead he took the poor man's lamb and killed it to provide food for the traveler.
David had sinned, taking Bathsheba while her husband was serving in the army. But
God's anger was particularly directed to David's plot to kill Uriah. I already hear the
Christian apologists excusing Uriah's death because David didn't personally kill the
man. He was slain in battle by the enemy. God is not fooled. Uriah was placed in
the front of battle where it was unlikely he could survive. It was a terrible sin. You won't
get away with your hidden sins, either. You are taught your responsibilities by Christ
in the New Testament. Are you a person like David who realizes and admits his sin, or
are you someone who fashions a "reasonable" excuse for your failure to be a real
Christian?
David understood the terrible sin of the rich man, and called for immediate
punishment. When Nathan told him David was the rich man, David realized what he
had done and confessed the sin. The Lord put away the sin (thank God for His
mercy) from David, but the king never had any peace for the remainder of his
years. He faced continuing adversity and problems in his household. David paid
the price for his sin, but so did the baby. The baby we consider innocent, although like
all babies, was born with the seed of sin within it. No baby has ever been born
innocent except Jesus Christ.
By now you should have refreshed your memory about three things: all babies
are born with the seed of sin within them--not one is innocent even though they
may not have sinned yet; the pre-Christ worshippers of God knew about heaven
and hell, and recognized eternity with God, and there is no excuse for any sin.
You should understand your responsibilities, but do you?
It may be difficult to understand that an unborn baby is not innocent, but a human
bearing the seed of sin. Romans 5:12 tells us, "Therefore, just as through one man
sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men,
because all sinned---" Every human enters the world at conception with the seed
of sin within him/her. Only Jesus Christ entered the world blameless and without the
seed of sin. His Father was the Spirit of God, and without blame or sin.
You may claim the baby has committed no sin and is guiltless. You are wrong,
because every human from the instant of conception has been judged by God to
be guilty. His mercy and grace enable us to be redeemed--sins forgiven--through
the sacrificed blood of Christ. Without the acceptance of Christ as Savior, we retain
our sins. We may be saved at any age, but until we understand enough to be
accountable, we fall into God's saving grace for children. Children join Him upon death.
This all may seem harsh to you, and show a side of God you'd rather not see.
It is part of the very Word of God, which cannot be separated or questioned. As
a Christian, it is your responsibility to not only accept His Word, but abide by its
direction and rules. You cannot alter or change it. We have a saying when something
is not absolute, "it's not set in stone." Just recall that God's Word was set in stone,
and delivered to Moses.
This message has been based purely on scripture, and I'm certain some of you
will question it even though it is scriptural. While you may assume I'm in favor
of abortion, you are wrong. I give you this personal conclusion based on the
message written here. I am against abortion as a method of birth control, but
believe preventing abortion when the life of the mother is threatened is akin
to promoting attempted murder.
While I am a Christian, I recognize the threat some other "faiths" represent to
other people. I also recognize that every attempt to rule the world through religious
dogma have failed, including Christianity. Some Christians condemn other faiths
and cultures for their treatment and practices concerning women. Yet, I see those
very critics attempting to legalize similar or the same controls. This is a nation of
freedom. Even God gave each of us the choice to make right and wrong decisions.
Why would you think you could improve on God's wisdom?
Rev. Walbear
(Coming soon: mixed marriages, the fallout from abortion, and more)
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