THE BEGINNING OF HUMAN LIFE

Shelby G. Floyd

After the angel announced to Mary that she would conceive a child of the Holy Spirit, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was six months with child (Luke 1:36). When Mary arrived and greeted Elizabeth, twice it is said that “the baby leaped in her womb” (Luke 1:41, 44).

“Baby” Defined

The word “Baby” translates the Greek word “brephos” and is defined in two ways:

(1) First, it is used only in the two references cited as, “an unborn child, embryo, fetus: Lk. 1:41, 44.”—Thayer, p. 105.

(2) Secondly, it refers to “a new-born child, an infant, a babe: Lk. 2:12, 16; 18:15; Acts 7:19; 1 Pet. 2:2.”—Thayer, p. 105.

Biblically, “Baby” Identifies an Unborn Child and a New-Born Child!

Thus, in the Biblical text the same term is used to describe a fetus—unborn child and a new-born child. Therefore, life begins at conception and continues through all the stages of human growth and development until the day we die. The human life begins at conception and ends at the cemetery (Heb. 9:27).

Politically and socially, we recognize a person after the baby is born, receives a name, a social security number, a photo and an address. But Biblically, God recognizes and knows everything about us from the time we are formed in the womb until we are in the bosom of the earth. Thus, we are at different stages of growth and development from conception to the grave.

God Knows Us in the “Unformed Substance!”

David declared that God was aware of his individual person in the earliest stages of his “unformed substance” or “undeveloped embryo,”

My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. (Psalms 139:15-16.)

Herod and Hitler’s destruction of the innocent children pales when we recognize that millions of embryos and unborn babies are aborted each year. Let us speak up for those who have no voice.

Shelby G. Floyd, Minister, Heartland Church of Christ, 1693 West Main Street, Greenwood, Indiana 46142