God is Pro-Life
God is pro-life: The Bible answers Euthanasia
All true Christians declare that life is the most precious gift that human beings have been given. Just the chance to be alive on this earth and play a part in God’s eternal plan is a great blessing indeed. The Bible clearly teaches that all human life is of infinite value, regardless of its duration or quality, because all human beings are made in the image of God. Yet, despite this, there are times when life may seem so difficult or unbearable that some people will attempt to deal with these problems without God’s guidance and leading. Seeing a loved one suffer, where a doctor has pronounced there is no hope for them to live, is one of those issues.
The God of the Bible is a God of life, not death. All forms of euthanasia, also known as assisted suicide or medical assistance in dying (MAID), must be considered the same as acts of murder in the Bible. Saving someone from pain is not a reason to kill them, nor is it lawful to kill oneself to save oneself from pain.
Read Philippians 4:11-13; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Romans 8:31-37. God has already made a way for us to overcome sickness, suffering and pain by His death on the cross. He has promised deliverance and healing to all that come to Him in faith. When someone is a party to taking another’s life, it is a direct act of not only murder, but idolatry as well, for they assume the role of God.
Everyone hates cancer and what it can do to us. It is all-too-often a partner to the work of our “final enemy”, death. Read 1 Corinthians 15:26. God did not create death in the beginning, and it will not follow us to the new heavens and the new earth. It is not in God’s design for us or creation. It is our intractable enemy.
Read Revelation 21:1-4. But in the resurrection death gets swallowed up in life. Death came into existence through the devil’s temptation to disobey the Creator. Read Hebrews 2:14-18. But the same devil has been stripped of his power to condemn us by Christ’s death and resurrection. God gets the last word.
Read 1 Corinthians 15:54-57. Christ bore the curse of the Law for us. Read Colossians 2:11-15. The sting of death has been removed as far as east is from the west. Read Philippians 1:23. Our souls will go home to be with Christ at the right time. Read 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16. Then at His coming again to earth, our bodies will be raised and glorified.
Romans 8:18-25. Sin brought death into humankind. We are slaves to the corruption of death, but only for now. The day of freedom is coming as God intended it. Read Deuteronomy 32:39. Until then, God decides when and how death and life will hold us. Read Job 1:21. For this reason, Job could bear up under supremely damaging circumstances with his faith intact.
Who does life and death belong to? Who owns your body? Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Our bodies—their life, their death—belong to Christ. He bought them at a terrible price. They are not ours to dispose of as we will. They are His, and they exist for His will, and for His glory.
Read Exodus 20:13. Christ has put “you shall not murder” in an entirely new light. We do not live, and we do not die, on our own terms, but His.
What are His terms? Read 1 Timothy 5:23; Luke 10:37. It is our humanity that seeks to lessen pain, for others and for ourselves. God has allowed us this privilege. Read Romans 8:18. But the right to end our lives, He has not put in our hands. He’s kept it for Himself.
Suffering most certainly my increase as death approaches. Even those who claim to be fearless in the face of death tremble at the process of dying. I have been at bedsides and witnessed terrible suffering at the hour of death. Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Paul knew suffering better than all of us, and that end-of-life suffering is never meaningless. In the end, His end, our final sufferings may seem meaningless to us, but are preparing us for the lightness of glory to come.
Rev Dr. Jim Keller | Pastoral Advisor – Lutheran Women’s Missionary League - Canada
