Is a baby human?

Instead of wasting our time with philosophy, or instead of relying upon various scientific methods for speculating probabilities concerning the answer to the above question, let us go to God’s inspired word for His revelation on the matter.

Babies, Beginnings, and the Bible--A Scriptural Case For Preborn Human Existence

I Kerry am a human person. Now this may seem like a ridiculously obvious statement to make, but the reason why I declare my humanity this morning is because doing so demonstrates that somehow I think I know this about myself. It is the subject-me reasoning to come to recognize the object-me, and then calling it "human." As a Christian, I understand the importance of going at this from another direction--from God's revelation as the starting point, particularly as recorded in the scriptures, then to my reasoning about what I am. What I mean is that God's revelation of what I am is what I ultimately base my conclusions upon.

As Christians, we need to know that when we leave God's revelation concerning humanity out of the picture, we get in trouble. Skeptics may even debate and go round and round about Renee' Descartes classic analysis, where he concludes: I think therefore I am. Or Augustine's astute observation made over a thousand years earlier: In doubting that I can prove that I really am, I show that I really must be. But that still doesn't answer the question of what I must be.

A physicists might say that we are a big clump of organized energy. A Biologists, might agree, adding that there are bigger clumps making up the whole--all functioning as life. An evolutionist might add that we are advanced apes--just a bit smoother, smarter, and more suicidal than our ancestors. All those assertions are based on either observation, theory, or a combination of both.

Starting with God's revelation on the other hand, I bypass theory, leave in observation--all backed by faith. When thinking about my self-ness, revelation from the God Who transcends our universe changes my reasoning from being circular (from me to me, or even from a material being contemplating the material) to relying on the transcendent God to identify my humanness and personhood for me. The tangible source that I have of God's revelation to me, is the information that He has given through His scriptures. What this means practically is that in the scriptures, I find that I was created, and God is my creator. In Genesis we read,

"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them," Genesis 1:27,

and in the next verse God tells them to be fruitful and multiply. This is God's revelation to me that I am the created; and what I am, and why I am, is all according to God's purpose. This God-made connection is seen in;

God "... has made from one blood every nation of men ..." Acts 17:26

and that we are actually;

"the offspring of God" Acts 17:29

and that,

"in Him we live and move and exist" Acts 17:28

This is why Malachi asked,

"Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?" Malachi 2:10

The Scriptures teach that God

"Himself gives to all, life and breath ..." Acts 17:25

Isaiah knew this fact, saying,

"O Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You are our potter, and all of us are the work of Your hand" Isaiah 64:8

So, God tells us He exists, and that He is the maker of all humans. Therefor, we as Christians, believe Him. The Psalmist even tells us,

"Your hands made me and formed me ..." Psalms 119:73

God made me and formed me. That is the revelation that comes from God--not the latest Godless theory of why we exist, or the kindergarten merry-go-round in academics of whether we exist in the first place. And then, Zecahriah adds illumination concerning the mystical-spiritual aspect of my being, saying,

"The Lord ... forms the spirit of man within him ..." Zechariah 12:1

I did not always know I had a spirit. I have never seen, or felt my spirit. God is the one that lets me know I have a spirit and He is the one who formed it, and it has a place, which is "within me." God even says my soul belongs to Him,

"Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the Father as well as the soul of the son is Mine" Ezekiel 18:4

And then following the God-made connection of His revelation, there is the revelation of the God-human connection. Jesus Christ came because the first humans fell into sin, and then passed on their sinful nature to the rest of us. God tells us in the scriptures that He knew this was going to happen. So, the sinless Jesus came at the proper time to recreate me positionally into perfection before God; a perfection I was not born with, because I was born with the imperfection of fallen humanity. This is a revelation found all throughout the New Testament. It was prophesied in Jeremiah 23:6, and found fulfilled for us in 2 Corinthians 5:21. The only way I can get into, and partake of, the perfection of God is that I must be born-again into it spiritually, through the death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ by grace through faith; and then in eternity future, I will be actualized into His express image as a resurrected super spiritual being; a type of super human, that according to 1 John 3:2 has me "like" Jesus for eternity--not actually Jesus for eternity--but like Jesus for eternity--wow.

So, scripturally I am a human according to revelation of the fullness of what that actually means, with all the curses, blessings, rights, privileges, and purpose of God concerning His design of me. I did not discover this on my own by theory blended with observation. God reveals it and then I reason it properly.

Now I know for sure what I am right now; but what about before I was born? Was I the human that I am now when I was in my human mother's womb? Is that what God thought I was? Was I the human that I am now, at the precise micro-second of conception--when the sperm cell from my father combined with the egg in my mother--making something new, which is neither my mother nor my father, but a mixture-being of both DNA materials--forming its own distinct, yet complete, DNA material? Was that tiny thing then, the same thing that I am now? Or, let me ask it another way: Is that tiny thing a human according to God's revelation of the fullness of what being a person actually means, with curses, blessings, rights, privileges, and God's purpose concerning the design of its being? Rather than theorize, and reason from experimental observation, we are going to look to God's revelation to answer those questions. Please prepare your heart to learn, along with me, in the preaching of God’s word, in this sermon titled:

"Babies, Beginnings, and the Bible--A Scriptural Case for Preborn Human Existence." [prayer]

The renowned theologian of systematic theology; John Frame, asserted boldly,

"There is nothing in Scripture that even remotely suggests that the pre-born child is anything less than a human person from the moment of conception." 1 Paul Fowler, Abortion: Toward an Evangelical Consensus (Portland, OR, Multnomah Press, 1987), p. 147

If John Frame is right, then God's revelation to us is that human persons are, just that; human persons at the moment of fertilized conception. Let’s take a look at what the scriptures reveal and see for ourselves what God has to say. When we go to the Bible and read about the

1) pre-born;

and we read about

2) born children,

we notice something interesting. In the Old Testament the same Hebrew word is used for both distinctions. That word is yeled. It means "children." The word is used of walking children, where Jacob said,

"... 'My lord knows that the children (yeled) are tender ... So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace ... of the children (yeled) ..." Genesis 33:13-14

But we also see in Exodus 21:22, that yeled refers to a child in the womb, and the plural form of yeled is used in Genesis 25:22 of Rebekah's twin children in her womb. So immediately from the language alone, we see that the pre-born are called "children." In Job 3:3, Job uses the word, geber to describe his fertilized conception in the womb:

"Let the day perish on which I was to be born and the night which said, 'A boy (geber) is conceived.'" Job 3:3

But geber is also used for "man," and Job does that too, saying,

"O that a man (geber) might plead with God as a man (geber) with his neighbor!" Job 16:21

What we find is that in the Old Testament, no separate word is used exclusively of a pre-born baby that will permit it to be distinguished from an older person.

In the New Testament, there is a Greek word used for both pre-born, and born, children. It is the word, brephos. In Acts 7:19, brephos refers to the born children killed by Pharaoh, but in Luke 1:41 & 44, this same word is used of John the Baptist while he was pre-born. John the baptist was also called a "son" huios, in the Gk., while in the womb. As a child, and as a son, before birth, John miraculously recognized Jesus in another womb according to Luke 1:44. So, the usage of the Hebrew and Greek in the Bible, alone, shows a continuity from conception to childhood on into adulthood.

Scriptures also reveal to us that God deals with the pre-born as individual persons--recognizing who they are as people as He is developing them. In Psalm 139:13-16 we read,

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made" Psalm 139:13-16

So we see from God's revelation that He creates our inmost being. Our inmost being has soul and spirit in one aspect, but in the physical aspect, the innermost being is our genetic computer. This is actuated in the womb, at the point of fertilization, when something remarkable takes place. This is when an egg, which is not the mother, but has half of her chromosomes (actually 23 chromosomes) unites with a sperm, which is not the father, but has half of his chromosomes (also 23) and when they combine, the point of conception creates a separate person, sometimes called a zygote, who's inmost being is made up of that new person's own complete set of 46 chromosomes. This new person is a distinct individual human with a chromosome set that is not anyone elses, and this person remains so, on through older age.

The other thing we see from this Psalm passage, is that God knits person's in the womb, and this is called "together." The womb is where we are knit together. What this togetherness means is that there is completeness in our being. We are human--actualized, knit, and complete. We, in the womb, become that elite class of creation called "people;" created to some degree in God's image--altogether human. In Job 10:8-12 we read of how Job confesses this fact back to God;

"Your hands formed me and made me altogether. ... You have clothed me with skin and flesh, and have knit me together with bones and sinews." Job 10:8-12

And then Job says later of himself and another person,

"Did not He who made me in the womb make him? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?" Job 31:15

Who was made in the womb? Job. Job adds matter of factly that God made the other guy the same way. This is God's classic way of making people. In Genesis 25:22-24, it is recorded concerning Rebekah;

"the children struggled together within her. ... And the Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb; ... When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb." Genesis 25:22-24

This shows that God was referring to, and relating to, two pre-born children in a personal way as people with a plan and purpose before birth. While they were in the womb, God called them "two nations." Also notice that they, as persons, were already struggling together in the womb--something that they continued after birth. God also reveals to us that people are called to His service and purpose from their place in the womb. God says to Jeremiah;

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5

Jeremiah was set apart as a prophet before He was born. Paul the apostle makes a similar reference to God's womb-call in Galatians 1:15-16. The same thing happened to Samson. The angel of the Lord said to his mother,

"You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son ... and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines'" Judges 13:3-5

Isaiah the prophet is a great example of this and so he announced it, saying;

"Before I was born the Lord called me; ..."

[there's the calling before birth, and Isaiah continues]

"... And now the Lord says--he who formed me in the womb to be his servant ..."

[Isaiah identifies what he was formed into the womb to be--a servant, and next he is going to give us the reason why. He says,]

"... to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself," Isaiah 49:1-5

This is the kind of calling of predestination that Paul talks about in Romans, where he explains;

"before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls--she was told, 'The older will serve the younger.'" Romans 9:11-12

Clearly, God's purpose and calling concerning people is seen as existing even before they are born. All of the scriptures we have looked at so far, reveal that humans, which are people, which are persons, are made by God as human-people-persons in the womb.

But, a good question to ask right here, is one concerning God manifesting in the flesh as Jesus Christ: At what point was the humanity aspect of the personhood of Jesus Christ actuated? Christ, as the third person of the trinity, preexisted in eternality as a spiritual being--the eternal Son. Jesus as human flesh, was conceived, bringing about the hypostatic union (100% God and 100% human) as the only begotten Son. Christ's personal human beginning is seen in the gospel of Luke. It began when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit; living in the womb, Luke 1:31 and 35. This fertilized conception is the pregnancy of verse 31, which is Christ. This conception describes the Holy Spirit's work; verse 35, of preparing the human body. This conception describes Elizabeth's words; "blessed is the child in your womb," verse 42, and this conception describes why Christ is called the "Lord" during His existence inside the womb, verse 43. Now, this is important because it tells us something that gives us a fuller picture of what the writer of Hebrews meant when he wrote that Christ,

"had to be made like his brothers in all things" Hebrews 2:17

Jesus Christ's physical existence began at conception in the womb. He was "made" like his brothers, which is every body born again in Him spiritually.

"Conception" literally means the process which actuates the initial presence in the womb of that which is conceived. That is what the Holy Spirit did. What is conceived in the womb, is the fertilized single cell person. That small person that the Holy Spirit brought about in Mary's womb was the humbled Jesus Christ; true God and true man, in His human nature like man in all things except for sin. This is what the writer of Hebrews meant when he went on to explain a vital revelation quoted from the Septuagint. Listen to this priceless gem:

"when Christ came into the world, He said: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire but a body you prepared for me'" Hebrews 10:5

Christ coming into world, came in the body prepared by the Holy Spirit. Luke says that this happened at conception. So if indeed Jesus, who was true God and true man, was present in His mother's womb from the first moment of His conception, then it follows that other people must also be alive and existing as human beings from the first moment of their conception. How is that? Because, unless they are the same as Jesus in this particular respect of their human nature, He would not be, as the scripture claims, like them in every other essential human respect, except for sin. What the revelation of Christ's conception tells us is that a human person must necessarily be fully present from the moment of conception.

Okay so that is when we begin as persons; but what about the soul or the spirit? When does the soul or spirit actually become part of a person? Does that also happen at conception? Is it at birth?; or is it somewhere in between? Is the soul or spirit inherited from parents?; or is it given by God independent of the parents? The reason these questions are important is because, if the soul does not enter the body until sometime after conception, then some would argue that a pre-born child may not be fully human during a certain time of development. And yes, some do argue this, and so, armed with that philosophical theory, killing some pre-born babies has been rationalized.

In the development of this theory, people have sought out scriptures for support. Here are the typical scriptures used to assert that a soul or spirit comes into a person at a later stage of development: One is the original creation of Adam:

"the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7

The problem here is that this scripture seems to indicate that Adam became a living soul at the same time that God breathed actual life into him--not air into him, but life. So this scripture does not prove the theory. Another one used, is Ecclesiastes 12:7:

"Then shall the dust [of which God made man's body] return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God who gave it." Ecclesiastes 12:7

Again, this is problematic because it does not say that the spirit came later after conception. In fact it does not give any information concerning when a spirit enters a human. So this scripture does not prove the theory.

Another one used is Zecahriah 12:1:

"Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. ..." Zecahriah 12:1

There is no time given here either for when a spirit is put in a human--only that God forms the spirit. So, no proof here. Other verses used are Isaiah 42:5, Isaiah 57:16 and Hebrews 12:9. All these have the same problem. They give no indication that God puts something called "a spirit" in someone later than the moment of fertilized conception. Let me give you my theological opinion on this: firsts of all, to use these scriptures to prove the theory that our soul or spirit comes at some undefined later stage in life is to be frivolous, and careless, with God's word, and secondly, to go further and make this one's case for murdering little babies in the womb, is heinously absurd, and it is a sin of hating one’s neighbor who is a baby, and it is a sin of hatred against God.

The real point that scripture reveals to us here, is that God is the spirit, soul, and body Maker. Paul speaks of our makeup being preserved in completeness in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. He says,

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Notice that Paul speaks of "you" in terms of entirety and completeness in respect to your makeup of your spirit, soul, and body. Our individual aspects together are also our individual unity. Hebrews 4:12 makes similar reference to our composite nature, explaining that the word of God pierces:

"12 ... as far as the division of soul and spirit, [and] joints and marrow [thats body], ..." Hebrews 4:12

And since God is the soul and spirit and body giver, and the womb is where God knits us together, it would be reckless theorizing--abandoning all precautions to avoid a horrible murder--to try and place another time beyond fertilized conception in which the soul and spirit would be placed in the body. But even with such speculations put aside, there are some who have tried to reason that baby killing is okay for physical formation reasons. Other than the fact that such thinking devalues the humanness of the pre-born in the first place, the Scriptures indicate that God has a purpose, plan, and function for people who are developing in all manner of their physical uniqueness. For example, God asks the question in Exodus, adding His own revelatory answer:

"11 The LORD said to him, ‘Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?’" Exodus 4:11

Isaiah the prophet gives this warning:

"Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a piece of clay among the pieces of clay on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making'? Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'?" Isaiah 45:9-11

Strong words. God does not want us to question His sovereignty and purpose, even in the work of making people. And then Christ gave us a really eye-opening revelation in John 9:1-4, where He taught that the man born blind from birth was born that way for a specific reason. Do you remember that specific reason? The specific reason was to glorify God.

This leads me now to make the assertion that the Bible gives us the revelation that pre-born people are valued by God as highly as they are after birth. God reveals this in Exodus 21:22-25,

"22 If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. 23 "But if there is any injury (the word "further" in the NASB is not in the original), then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." Exodus 21:22-2

Meredith G. Kline, Professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary says of this passage:

"This law found in Exodus 21:22-25 turns out to be perhaps the most decisive positive evidence in scripture that the fetus is to be regarded as a living person ... Consistently in the relevant data of Scripture a continuum of identity is evident between the fetus and the person subsequently born and Exodus 21:22-25 makes it clear that this prenatal human being is to be regarded as a separate and distinct human life." Meredith G. Kline, "Lex Talionis and the Human Fetus," The Simon Greenleaf Law Review, Vol. 5 (1985-1986), pp. 75, 83, 88-89

The key phrase in this Exodus passage is, "... she gives birth prematurely." It is a combination of that Hebrew noun I mentioned earlier (yeled) and the verb (yatsa). It literally means "the child comes forth." Some novel and faulty interpretive Bible versions of about 30 years ago, rendered this passage in such a way that it appeared to indicate that it was dealing with a miscarriage. This was a foolish translation error, and has been corrected by any serious translation and revision in recent years. Some good examples of the usage of yatsa that will help us see the precise meaning are;

"This man will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth [yatsa] from your own body ..." Genesis 15:4

Genesis 25:25-26 "Now the first [child] came forth [yatsa] ... and they named him Esau. And afterward his brother came forth [yatsa] with his hand holding on to Esau's heel, ..."

1 Kings 8:19 "... but your son who shall be born [yatsa] to you, he shall build the house for My name."

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born [yatsa plus rechem, meaning born from the womb] I consecrated you; ..."

2 Kings 20:18 "And some of your sons who shall issue [yatsa] from you, whom you shall beget ..."

This yatsa, coming forth, is referring to a live birth. A second point on the wrong interpretation of Exodus 21, in some past modern language bibles is that there is no indication anywhere in the verse that a fine is assessed for a miscarriage and a more severe penalty is assessed for harming the mother. All of this becomes apparent when the passage is translated literally, which is properly;

"22 "When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her child is born ..." Exodus 21:22

If a woman gives birth and the child that was in her comes out okay, a fine is required since violence made it happen, but if the child is hurt by the struggle, the penalty is worse. It is the classic; eye for eye, tooth for tooth, of the Mosaic Law. This would apply to the mother's injuries as well, showing God's value for all humans, (lex talionis).

Gleason Archer, Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, concludes:

"There is no ambiguity here, whatever. What is required is that if there should be an injury either to the mother or to her children, the injury shall be avenged by a like injury to the assailant. If it involves the life (nepes) of the premature baby, then the assailant shall pay for it with his life. There is no second-class status attached to the fetus under this rule; he is avenged just as if he were a normally delivered child or an older person: life for life. Or if the injury is less, but not serious enough to involve inflicting a like injury on the offender, then he may offer compensation in monetary damages ... " Gleason Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982), p. 248

The conclusion is that based upon God's revelation from scripture, in conjunction with, and governing sound reasoning; before a person is born, at the precise micro-second of fertilized conception, that person is a human according to revelation of the fullness of what that actually means, with all the curses, blessings, rights, privileges, and purpose of God concerning His design of that person's being.

I have brought you this message on babies, beginnings, and the Bible, a scriptural case for preborn human existence, because it carries timeless truths for a timely subject. Looking back to the last century, to 1996, history records for us that Bill Clinton was president of the United States. It was then that a bill was before the congress to outlaw a baby murder procedure, called "partial birth abortion." President Clinton said in a letter to the senate judiciary committee; and I quote Clinton;

"I have studied and prayed about this issue," Bill Clinton

After doing this, Clinton believed that it was indeed okay to do partial birth baby murders, so he vetoed the bill that would have the slayings outlawed. Actually, Clinton vetoed the bill twice during his time as President. The archived Associated Press article that I got my information from, went on to describe the baby killing procedure in cold terms:

"In the procedure, a fetus is partially extracted feet first and its skull is collapsed by suctioning out the brain to make it easier for the fetus to pass through the birth canal." AP

Clinton claimed that he prayed about this, but what revelation did he have? Did he reason first, and then seek revelation to back his reasons?; or did he seek God's revelation to govern his reasoning? He said, "I have studied and prayed about this issue." What did he study? I am not thinking it was the scriptures we went through this morning. And who did he pray to? The God that gave us the revelations of humanity in the womb, certainly did not authorize Clinton's insidiously hellish decision.

The conservative figure to date (Sermon preached in 2005) is 4500 people are killed a day in the abortuary industry. One half more in number each day are killed than in the tragedy of 9/11. As you go about the rest of this day, and throughout the coming days, please be considering this timely study on the revelation from God's word concerning babies, beginnings, and the Bible--a scriptural case for preborn human existence.