Bulletin Articles
“When does life begin?”
Categories: birth, death, Study the WordMany people in this world have concluded that life begins at birth. Is this true? Let’s see what our Creator has to say about it. Remember, the purpose of this article is to only focus on what the word of God says. If you want to know what I personally think about the subject, my answer is simple – I believe what God says!
In Luke 1:39-31, John (prior to his birth) leaped in his mother’s womb. The text actually states that the “babe leaped”. Is it correct to call an unborn child a babe? Yes. Why? Because “John was John” before he was born and after he was born. This proves that life begins before birth, but we still need to specifically determine when life begins.
Another text to consider is found in Job 10. In verses 8-12, this man of God speaks about God making him like clay and that God poured him out like milk and curdled him like cheese. He also clothed Job with skin and flesh, knit together with bones and sinews. In this he credited God with giving him life and preserving his spirit. This is telling us that life begins at conception.
To expand on this even more, James pointed out that the body without the spirit is dead (2:26). Our body needs our spirit to live but our spirit does not need our body to live. Thus, our body goes back to ash upon death and the spirit goes back to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7). All of this points to the fact that the soul is present at conception because there is life. When we go back to Luke 1, the fact that John leaped in the womb revealed he was indeed alive and thus had a soul/spirit.
As difficult as it is when we lose a babe, we know they have not lost their identity. The unborn is not an “it” but a human that possessed a soul that will reign with the Lord forever. It may be true that a husband and wife can come together had have a child, but let us always remember that it is God that gives life. Let us value life and never think that it only starts at birth. Such thinking is simply wrong.
Chuck
