June 24, 2025
Three years since the overturning of Roe v. Wade
When God said, “Let there be light,” He glorified the moments of creation with His own light. Light reveals what is hidden. Light announces good and condemns evil. Whenever God does something good, something He loves, He lights it up.
After God made the first man and the woman, He proclaimed, “It is very good.” There may be nothing He loves more than to create human life. In fact, God loved the lives He created in the garden so much that He walked and talked with them. He cared enough about them that He warned them of danger and mourned the fall.
God loves life and He wants life to continue. Satan hates life and wants death to reign over creation. What better way to spite a loving God than to destroy what God loves most—humankind.
On January 22, 1973, Satan accomplished a major victory in the United States when abortion was legalized nationwide. “Jane Roe,” whose real name was Norma McCorvey, was exploited in a sordid case of legal gymnastics by proponents who had long been working their way toward legalization of abortion. Misusing the right to privacy laws and sensationalizing Miss McCorvey’s situation, proponents of abortion pushed the lawsuit against the state of Texas all the way to the Supreme Court. To the eternal shame of the judges who voted against the sanctity of life of the unborn baby, and of Justice Harry A. Blackman who wrote the majority opinion, the Texas statutes which had criminalized abortion were overturned.
“What better way to spite a loving God than to destroy what God loves most—humankind.”
In 1969, a history teacher at a small high school in a little town in Missouri organized a debate on abortion. I happened to be a junior in that class and participated in the debate, vehemently opposing abortion. What I hadn’t reckoned on was that the most aggressive opponent in the debate would be my teacher. Suffice it to say, it was a stacked deck. A man whom I had respected as a good history teacher (I love history), who also happened to be my bus driver, and with whom I had enjoyed many conversations, simply rocked my world.
My mom was a teacher in the school system, and I had a healthy respect, even a love, for my teachers. But that day my eyes were opened, and not only did I see that teachers were just people who had a right to their own opinion, but I also saw the power that teachers wield. If I had not been brought up in a strong Christian family who had planted truth into my heart, my trust in that teacher could have easily sent my life down a different path.
Sadly and ironically, the pro-choice path has taken some of its adherents so far from civility that in recent years, some pro-lifers have gone to jail for standing up for their opinions. I feel a kinship with those who protest abortion. I had been married a few months by this time in 1973, and during the next few years I did what I could to draw attention to the plight of the unborn in our country and to peacefully protest the openings of abortion clinics in the towns where I lived, even as city leaders threatened criminal prosecution if we stood on the sidewalks with signs. I supported the work of groups who reached out to women who needed help dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. Thankfully, our individual efforts to stop the wholehearted procession into darkness pale in comparison to the powerful work of God and his infinite wisdom.
“If I had not been brought up in a strong Christian family who had planted truth into my heart, my trust in that teacher could have easily sent my life down a different path.”
Once again, God’s creation holds up clear answers to Satan’s deception. The quest to know more about the physical world will always reveal the heart of God to open-minded scientists who possess intelligence and character. God holds his secrets until the right time. For example, ultrasound technology now gives doctors the ability to turn on the womb’s lights, such that free ultrasounds provided by one Christian pro-life organization have motivated over 200,000 decisions to let unborn babies live to see the light of day. The same organization has also seen some 65,000 adults caught up in crisis pregnancies place their faith in the Light of the World.
But God has been lighting up the womb long before ultrasound technology, even if it’s only recently that we discovered it. What a wonderful thing that during our lifetime God has given the world a glimpse of the moment of conception! He lights up the very moment a new life is created. In that hidden dark place within a mother’s body, He repeats the sacred work of creation over and over since the beginning of time. The sperm pushes into the egg and there it is again! Fireworks! Celebration. God lights up the darkness with a literal spark of life.
God is life. Life began when God said so. The New Testament writer Paul explained this to the Romans as he reflected on what God had told Abraham:
“As it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” (Romans 4:17, ESV)
“. . . the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.”
Paul reminded his readers that God had created human beings and He can still “call life into existence.” Paul apparently makes no distinction here between physical life and spiritual life. Both are called into existence by God, and both are amazing miracles that only God can perform.
Physical life occurs in secret, before anyone else in the world has any idea of it. It begins with a flash of life that’s just between God and the new human being He has called into existence. That human being instantly has every characteristic that God wants him to have. That human being already has a purpose in life for which he has been created and toward which God will lead him.
That human being is already loved and is precious to God. God loves that person, and God sees that person as “very good,” worthy of His favor, His care, and of a relationship with his Creator and Savior that extends even beyond this life. So, here’s my advice: Whether your times look more like 1969 or 1973 or 2022 (when Roe v. Wade was finally overturned)—whether your politicians see abortion as a winning or losing issue—it’s always a right time to let God’s Word light up the darkness around you as you celebrate and defend human life.
