By Barbara Lane Geistfeld, D.V.M.
The theme for our Lutherans For Life Sanctity of Life Sunday for 2025 is “Life Shines in Darkness” and is based on John 1:4-5: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” His life is the light of the world! And since we have been baptized into Him, and His life is in us, we, too, can be a source of light to the world as our own life shines in the darkness. Our voices can proclaim the wonderful news that human beings are special to God. Did you know that human beings are the masterpiece of God’s creation?
We have all read the creation story in Genesis 1. In verses 3-4 we read, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.” With each new creation, we read again, “… And God saw that it was good.”
But something wondrous happens in verse 26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness … So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them … And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”
Do you think the writer of Genesis, traditionally believed to be Moses, just accidentally slipped the word “very” into the text? Certainly not if you believe that God authored the Holy Scriptures through the Holy Spirit. We are told that our creation was very good.
Did you know that God is still creating new human life in His image today? Yes, we are all descended from Adam and Eve. Yes, we were all born from a biological mother and father. But human life is much more special than that. You and I were created individually, on purpose, for a purpose by the one true and Almighty God! In Psalm 139:13 we read: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb …” And the verse that astounds me is verse 16: “… in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
God planned our conception long before our parents ever did! Perhaps even from the beginning of creation. How special is that? Sin has made an impact on human conception: babies are conceived that the parents do not want, and parents who desperately want children do not conceive. Yet, I do not believe for one moment that there is ever an unplanned pregnancy. God personally knows every child even before conception. He has a plan to create, redeem, and call that child into a relationship with Him.
We now have ultrasound machines and endoscopic cameras that take magical photos of the baby inside a mother’s womb, but they reveal what King David already knew thousands of years ago by the leading of God’s Holy Spirit. There is a little human, made in the image of God, growing in that dark place. There is a life shining in that darkness.
God’s Word in Genesis plainly tells us that we were specifically created by God to be His children, but sin destroyed that relationship. This relationship has been restored by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. John 1:12 tells us, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” It is cemented in our Baptism when we became members of the Body of Christ. Brothers and sisters of Jesus. Sons and daughters of the Almighty God!!! This should give every one of us goosebumps!!
God desires that this relationship with Him will deepen throughout our life, and He wants us to desire the same thing. We are called to be lights, to be witnesses, and to bring comfort to those who are suffering what we ourselves have suffered. We are called to do good deeds from our hearts. Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” This is the foundation of everything we as Lutheran Christians believe and are. As we read in Psalms, our human life is a gift. We read in Ephesians that our eternal life is a second gift. Life is a gift—period!
All of us, no matter our age, have had life experiences varying from traumatic to wonderful. I believe you and I can truthfully say that we have broken all ten of the commandments as Jesus interpreted them. So, what kind of light can we ever hope to be? What kind of life can we shine in the darkness? The one God gave us in Jesus, that’s what. You and I are filled with the Light of Jesus, reflecting His grace and mercy. You and I know better than anyone else what He has done for us in our lives. He has saved us, forgiven us, and cleansed us.
This is what our Lord asks of us: be the life shining in the darkness that praises God with our lips, shows His love for others by our actions, and shares words of forgiveness to others as He first shared His words of forgiveness with us. Share the promise of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life that we have received to those who need this same hope and promise. And as you go about shining your life in the darkness, always remember the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Thus says the Lord … Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”