STUDY THEME: MANAGING GOD'S ASSETS. 1-16-00        "LIFE TO TREASURE." PS,. 139:13-16; JOHN 3:15-16, 10:10;    1 TIM. 4: 7-8; JEREMIAH 7: 1-7.

The Bible can be called the Book of Life. One of it's key themes is life. Its purpose is to tell how God gave each person the gift of physical life and how He wants to give to each one abundant and eternal life in Christ. We thus are to be stewards of the precious gift of life that God has entrusted to us. This applies to physical life. We are to value it for ourselves and for others. It also applies to abundant and eternal life. We are to receive this life and to share it with others. The Book of Life begins wit a man and a woman in a garden. It ends with Revelations. Life will give you what you ask of her if only you ask long enough and plainly enough.

In Jan. every year Southern Baptists set aside the third Sunday to celebrate the sanctity of life. The Sunday in January was chosen because on January 22, 1973 In Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court struck down most states abortion laws; and life tragically was devalued at all its stages. Sanctity of Life Sunday focuses on the value God places on human life.

From the beginning, individual freedom has been important in our democracy. The First Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees religious freedom. The Declaration of Independence proclaims as self-evident that the Creator gives to all people the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That truth was self-evident because the 13 colonies did not disagree with Great Britain over whether the Christian worldview was true. They disagreed over whether the king of England should control the lives and the freedom of people on the other side of the Atlantic 0cean. In America's earliest years, life and freedom were treasured because most people believe God gives life and freedom; and they knew God values both.

Today the definitions of life and freedom have been cut loose from the Christian worldview that formerly defined them. As a result both have been devalued. Life no longer is treasured as a priceless gift from God. Instead it is seen as the result of purposeless evolutionary forces, with no ultimate value. Freedom no longer is recognized as part of the dignity of being created in God's image with rights and duties. Instead freedom is the right to live any way people choose as long as doing so fulfills them and as long as no one is hurt. The problem is that unless we use our freedom to serve and to find fulfillment in service, someone always gets hurt. We need to go back to the Scriptures, and to rediscover what God reveals about the value of human life--every human life.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO PSALM 139.

In this Psalm David testified that God was intimately involved in shaping him within his mother's womb. He recognized that God knows everything about him. David understands that nothing inside him can be hidden from God. Life is a long lesson in humility.

Psalm 139: 1-6 stresses that God knows all about us. Vs. 7-12 show that His presence is everywhere. Vs. 13-18 explain how God knows us so intimately. God created us from the beginning within the womb. The reins referred to the innermost center of emotions , and moral sensitivity, that is, to "one's inmost being." This is the center of one's being that God searches, examines, and tests. Hence the NIV translates the whole phrase, "For you created my inmost being." Covered me" can be translated "knit me together." or "You wove me." Taken together, the two phrases of Vs. 13 indicates that God forms individuals as spiritual and physical beings.

We are to value life because it comes from God. David declared that God was involved in shaping his life even while he was in the womb. Creating human life is not simply a biological process. the unborn child is not merely a fetus or an extension of the mother's body that can be removed at will.

God is involved in each person's formation from conception thru the span of life. He guides the process of physical development even before birth. Today researchers know much about genetics and how babies are formed in the womb. Great advances have been made in prenatal care. David did not have the advantage of our medical knowledge, but he knew that God created him. God designed the genetic system that produces every human body.

We also have spiritual natures. The Hebrews' view of people was not that we have souls but that we are souls.--integrated wholes that are not to be divided. This view never would refer to a body that has a soul. Body and spirit formed a whole person.

Because God was involved in his creation, David could praise Him. David magnified God because he was "wonderfully made." Not all people have healthy bodies. Sometimes people feel they have less worth if they are physically limited. We need to understand that God is involved in every person's life in spite of physical limitations.

God's creating life with its amazing design should cause us to value all human life. Everything we discover about the body's delicate balance gives evidence of the Creator's hand. Every life is precious to God and should be valuable to us. If He loves us enough to create and to sustain us, we should cherish life and praise Him for it.

In Vs. 16 David also stated that even before our births God knows our futures. His loving interest in us is so far-reaching that He watches over our lives from birth to death. God has a plan for our lives. David had noted that God had searched and known him. He wondered at God's laying His hand on hi. the thought of God's involvement and care was "too wonderful" for him. God's hand guides David, moving him toward fulfilling God's purpose. God's hand encouraged and supported David when he was discouraged and despairing. God's hand enabled David to accomplish great works for Him.

God values life at its conception and throughout its duration. Devaluing life at conception can lead to a general devaluing of human life at all its stages. Abortion on demand is wrong. It takes innocent lives and devalues life. Christians need to realize the creator's handiwork in every human life. We should hold dear our lives and others' lives, and we should act responsibly as members of society in defending life. One way we can do so is to oppose abortion on demand.

Please listen as God speaks of His love for mankind.

We are to value life not merely because it is physical but also because it is spiritual. Many people do not understand their spiritual nature. Sin separates us from God and hinders our relating to Him. This problem touches all people no matter how perfect or how imperfect their physical bodies are. Sin's results are more damaging than any limitations, injuries or diseases.

As physical life enters the world by a physical birth, spiritual, eternal life comes thru a spiritual birth. This spiritual birth is God's act that occurs when we place our faith in Christ. Jesus told Nicodemus that His being lifted up was to make possible eternal life for people who believe Jesus' atoning death makes possible all people's opportunity to place faith in Him and to receive true life.

With the sentence of death on us because of our sins, how can Jesus remove that awful penalty and give us new life? He told Nicodemus He would be "lifted up". He would be crucified--lifted up to die.

How does Christ's death enable us to receive new life? First, by dying Jesus took the penalty of sin on Himself. He died in our place. When we receive Jesus as Savior, we accept His atoning death for us. Second, Jesus overcame death. After Jesus was in the tome three days, God's strong hand raised Him. He is alive! Because He lives we can live also.

We usually define eternal life in terms of its everlasting quantity, and it surely is everlasting. Jesus, however, promised that eternal life does not wait until we die; it begins when we believe. Herschel H. Hobbs wrote that "it is the quality of life one receives the moment one believe in Jesus and which extends into eternity.

PLEASE TURN TO 1 TIMOTHY 4.

Paul told young Timothy that every Christian has responsibility for his or her own physical and spiritual life. Spiritually, they are to practice godly living. Physically, they are to take care of their bodies. The physical disciplines are important, but they are not to take the place of the spiritual disciplines, which are more important.

This is the first of the inspired letters Paul wrote to his beloved son in the faith. Timothy had been commanded in 1 Tim. 1:3 to stay on in Ephesus and complete what Paul had begun there. In addition to being committed in God's Word in Vs. 6 believers must avoid all false teaching. Paul described such error as "profane and old wives tales. In Vs. 1 Paul had mentioned ways others had wondered from the teachings of the faith. These foolish people had ignored sound doctrine and were following "deceiving spirits" rather than the Holy Spirit. Those who fall prey to such false teachings will abandon the Christian faith.

One way we can measure spiritual health is to examine our conversations. Does what we talk about with our Christian friends promote godliness, or do we easily drift into inappropriate conversations? We can train ourselves spiritually thru prayer, Bible study, worship, and other means to pursue godliness.

PLEASE TURN TO JEREMIAH 7.

Jeremiah in his temple sermon warned against presuming that the temple was safe and that people could worship there while living sinful lives. He called on them to change their ways, to practice justice, to refrain from exploiting the helpless, to avoid shedding innocent blood, and to turn from idolatry. If they amended their lives in these ways, God would enable them to live in the promised land and worship in the temple.

Once we come to value life, we realize that we have stewardship over our live and responsibilities concerning all life. God calls Christians to protect other's lives. Failure to do so is sin. God's dealing with the people of Judah is an example of this principle. Thru Jeremiah, God rebuked the people because they placed less value on others' lives than on their religious trappings.

In Vs. 3-4 the temple had become an object of faith for the people of Judah. When challenged about their spiritual commitment, they would cry, "This is the temple of the Lord." Instead of trusting God, they trusted the place of worship. Because of this, they revered the temple and took advantage of people. They forgot that God not only loves but also disciplines His people. In Vs. 3 He called the people to spiritual revival, which would be verified by the way they treated others--especially disadvantaged people. Jeremiah did not offer his opinion; he delivered a true message from God.

In Vs. 5 the only way the people of Judah could avoid God's judgment was to change their lifestyles. The Hebrew term rendered "ways" has the idea of moral character and actions. The Hebrew verb behind "actions" means to divert oneself," "to occupy oneself." The people needed to return to true worship of God. They needed to change their habits and their manner of living. the people of Judah and Judah as a nation had to change. Spiritual renewal affects individuals and their culture.

In Vs. 6 Jeremiah listed groups of people Judah's wickedness had oppressed: "the aliens", "the fatherless," and "the widows." Non-Israelite immigrants were aliens in Judah. Orphans and widows had no protectors. Today a nation is judged by how it cares for its own people, and by how it offers justice to people who have migrated from other places seeking a better life. James wrote in James 1:27 that pure and faultless religion is seen in the way Christians look after orphans and widows."

The actions and attitudes Jeremiah condemned are as much sins in the church as they are in Judah. We are not to mistreat or to take advantage of others-- especially of vulnerable people. We are to help and to protect others. God expects us to treat all people justly and to be advocates for people who cannot provide for themselves.

In Vs. 7 the people presumed on God. They took for granted that they would continue to live in the promised land. Yet remaining in the promised land was not automatic. The people had to meet God's conditions. They had to change their ways. Are we as a church adequately ministering to the needy people of our community?

SUMMARY:

1. Life is precious because the Creator gives it.

2. We are to value all of life.

3. God wants us to have physical life and eternal life.

4. Eternal life is available only thru Christ.

5. We are to be good stewards of the physical and the spiritual life God has given us.

6. As stewards of all of life, we are to care for others' lives.

NEXT SUNDAY LET'S LOOK AT OUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS AND WHAT USE WE ARE MAKING OF THEM. A.V. DAUGHERTY 1-16-2000.