Life
There is an old, caring farmer who lives far away from the city. He has a big farm with many different vegetables and animals, such as chickens, ducks, pigs, and cows. One day, some people go to visit him, and he is very happy about that. He cleans up the house, makes some beautiful decorations, and prepares many delicious foods for them.
When these people arrived, he was very happy and let them sit in front of a beautiful, big table that was well prepared with many delicious foods on it, and he let them enjoy it.
They were so hungry that they ate quickly, but then they showed rudeness and greed. Someone’s left hand took two chicken drumsticks and put them into his mouth, while at the same time, his right hand tried to grab as many pork ribs and steaks as he could. Someone else just took a bite of the food and then threw it away.
Someone cursed the food while eating it. Someone ate food he didn’t like, then threw it and stepped on it on the ground. After they were full, they started to play with the food. They threw the food at each other. One of them stepped on it and slipped accidentally. He became very angry, kept trampling it, and cursed the food.
You may say, “Wow, wow, wow, it’s very terrible! How could they be like this? Why didn’t they express thankfulness and gratitude?” If you were the farmer, what would your feeling be? How would you feel? Angry? Yes, but the farmer was not just angry. To these people, the food on the table was just “food,” but for the old, caring farmer, it was not only “food.” All of it was life and his loved ones, which needed to be respected, thanked, and shown gratitude—even though they were “food.”
Every morning, chickens “Mary,” “Rose,” “Sam,” and others called him to wake up for a new day and gave him eggs for breakfast. Cow “Paul” was very helpful for farming and transportation. Sheep “Losi” and pig “Piggy” were his lovely friends, and they had just given birth to cute babies a few months ago. He loved them and knew all their names. For him, all of them were not just food, although they were animals.
But why did he give them to these people? Because he loved these people so much…
Our Heavenly Father is like this caring farmer. He loves humans so much that He gives us every grace and good thing. One of these graces is the “sexual relationship”; it’s like good, tasty food, but it is “another kind” of food, figuratively. Truly, a sexual relationship is the same as delicious food in that it lets us feel enjoyment and happiness, but it’s much more than that. I just want to ask a question: Have you ever asked your parents when you were a child, “How did I come?”
In fact, you were born from your father (a man) and mother (a woman) through a sexual relationship. This is called fertilization in biology—the combination of sperm and egg. Do you know anyone else who did not come from this fertilization? I know only three: Adam, Eve, and Jesus. So all of us came from this “fertilization” process, including you, me, and everyone.
So what does it mean? Now, do you know why God forbids sexual immorality? Because God loves all of us, including those who are not yet born or have not yet come (do not exist). Just like you did not exist before, but now you really exist, the same as all people. Can you imagine that in this world, many children are crying to God?
They are crying, “God, why did my parents give birth to me and bring me into this world, but they don’t care for and love me?” “God, why am I not the same as other children who have a warm, loving family?” “God, why don’t I have enough food, and why am I always hungry?” “God, why do my parents abuse me?” “God, why am I not happy? Why can’t I be happy like other children?” “God… God…” I don’t want to mention any more of the miserable experiences of these children.
When Abel was killed, Genesis 4:10 says that God said, “And YHWH said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.’” God heard the crying voice from Abel even though he was killed and did not exist right then. Just as with Abel, Jehovah God cares about our lives and our generations’ lives, even though they do not yet exist (but will exist and be born). God is love, and He knows what is good and what is evil—even things that are hidden and that we can’t see.
When we read the Bible, Numbers 11:4-6 says, “Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, ‘Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’”
And Numbers 11:31-34 says, “Then a wind from YHWH God sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground. And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of YHWH God was kindled against the people, and YHWH God struck down the people with a very great plague. Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving.”
Because of their craving and greed, they gathered at least ten homers (about 2,200 liters, equal to 1,100 two-liter drinks). Did they need to eat that much? No, it was way more than they needed, and what would happen to the quail they couldn’t eat? You can imagine—they threw it away as rubbish. Jehovah God was angry with them not because they requested meat, but because they did not respect life and had a strong craving and greedy attitude.
God loves all of us. He wants all of us to have a warm and loving family, caring parents, and a happy life. He concerns Himself with and cares about our feelings seriously. What is really good for us and brings us happiness—He takes that very seriously. Life is holy and sacrosanct, which means we need to respect life, and life is inviolable, especially human life.
So every country has laws to protect their people’s lives. No one wants to be hurt but wants to be respected. Life being holy means you are respected and protected, just the same as everyone else. We are created with unique DNA and unique fingerprints; this shows us that God cares about everyone as a unique and individual person. He takes you, me, and all of us seriously.
You are holy because you are life; life is holy because it comes from the Holy God, and everyone expects their life to be respected. God loves all of us, so He sets a law in Deuteronomy 5:18 that says, “You shall not commit adultery.”
And Acts 15:28-29 says, “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from ‘sexual immorality.’ If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” Blood and sexual immorality are directly related to “life,” so God commands us to respect life, which means we should forbid “sexual immorality.”
He wants us to take sexual relationships seriously; this represents life and represents you and me personally (not only Black people but also people of all colors). Some people say, “I am over 18 years old; I am an adult now. I can do these things casually.” Or they say lightly after a sexual relationship with someone, “I am an adult; it doesn’t matter. I don’t care.”
If someone has this attitude, does that represent that he or she does not respect life? Does that represent that they are not respecting his or her son’s life, or daughter’s (life), or parents’ (life), or grandparents’ (life), or friends’ (life), or even his or her own (life)? Because all of us could exist through the “sexual relationship.”
Adults are physically mature enough to have sexual relationships. Does that mean he or she can have a flippant attitude? Just like a scientist has the knowledge and skills to make nuclear energy and an atomic bomb—does being an adult mean he can play with nuclear things with a flippant attitude? You would say absolutely and definitely “NOT!”
During World War II, on August 6 and 9, 1945, atomic bombs were used for the first time in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There were 129,000 to 246,000 people who died in these atomic bombings. After that, the world’s people have been particularly afraid and scared of the atomic bomb because it killed so many people. So there is a commemorative event for the atomic bomb every year in Japan to remind the world of the scourge of the atomic bomb, hoping it won’t happen again.
People can see the atomic bomb disaster, but compared with “sexual immorality,” which one has killed more people? Can people also see that? The answer is like the comparison of an ant (atomic bomb) and an elephant (sexual immorality). So, about sexual relationships, do you agree that we should take a much, much more serious attitude? Yes, absolutely. Amen.
If someone says he is an adult, then he should have a mature mind and know that it couldn’t be played with. For an adult who has a mature mind, more knowledge, and ability, he needs to take a more serious and responsible attitude about sexual relationships, right? Yes, they should know that it belongs to love and responsibility to our children (lives); they are lives and need to be respected. They will cry to God and also cry to you.
Truly, the “sexual relationship” is grace from God, but He takes it very seriously. He commands us to take it seriously too. If we have this attitude, it represents that we respect life; we are respecting ourselves, our children, our parents, our friends, and especially our God (He is the fountain of life). Psalm 36:9 says, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.”
On the issue of abortion, if someone says, “I have the right to an abortion because the body is my body, and it is up to me to decide,” if someone thinks like this and does this, does that represent that she agrees her mother can treat her the same way? Matthew 7:2 says that Jesus said, “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” God will treat (measure) you as you treat (measure) others in the same way when He judges. Do you want God to respect and take you seriously? Yes. Amen.
Let’s pray.
Jehovah God, our Heavenly Father, you give every good thing and gracious gift to us. You love all of us, even the uncountable people who are not yet born; they are also loved and cared for by you. You see them just as if they already exist, and yes, surely they will exist. You respect us and love us. May we imitate you, our Heavenly Father, to love and respect all people.
Truly, we agree that a sexual relationship is like tasty food; it makes us really love it. But please, Heavenly Father, help us to respect it and take a serious attitude toward it, and guide us to abstain from sexual immorality and immoral thoughts. Please, Father, we are afraid that we will fall into temptation. So please lead us not into temptation, but also deliver us from evil. And please allow us to learn from Jesus.
When we encounter temptations or when evil appears in our minds from Satan, we would say, “Get behind me and get away, Satan!” and then close the evil window of our minds. Please forgive us by Jesus’s ransom. Amen. May we all give the glory, the praise, and the gratitude to the fountain of life, the Heavenly Father Jehovah God, and also to your beloved son Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer is also in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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