A culture steeped in postmodernity demands autonomy to individuals in decisions

regarding all matters. This autonomy does not exclude what many claim as a basic human right

to an autonomous decision of life or death. Pro-choice advocates demand the right for a mother’s

choice of life or death of the child in her womb. Those who are proponents of euthanasia or

physician-assisted suicide demand the right to exercise freedom in one’s own decision regarding

when and how he will die. This paper will reveal that to lay claims to autonomy over life or

death is, in essence, a sinful attempt to place oneself in the position of God Himself. As many

take matters into their own hands by means of abortion or euthanasia, they are rebelling against

God’s sovereign authority of creation and assaulting what He has made in His image and

declared to be good.

Life and death are realities of what it means to be human, and life and death are derived

from none other than God Himself. Because life is a gift from God, it is precious and should be

stewarded with utmost care. Though all life comes from God, human life is uniquely different

from other forms of life because humans are blessed as being created in the image of God. This

truth of humanity is rooted in the creation account in Genesis 1:27, “​So God created man in his

own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (ESV). The

Hebrew word for “image” (​tselem​) can describe a representation of something or someone else.1

Though there is a great deal of debate about what it means for man to be made in the image of

God, there is absolute certainty in asserting that the Triune God took one specific day of creation

to create one specific creature that would represent Himself on the earth. That reality denotes

extreme significance regarding what it means to be human. The Bible holds this unique

1
Grudem, Wayne. ​Bible Doctrine: Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith​. Edited by
Jeff Purswell. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999, 189.
designation as being created in the image of the Creator only for one species, a male and female

human, and withholds this designation from animals, angels, and other forms of life God has

created.2 This designation promotes the extreme value of the human as God’s creature because

the human possesses a unique relationship with God as His image-bearer, and a unique

relationship with the creation because he is uniquely set apart from creation as God’s

representative in the creation. In the act of taking a human life, one participates in the act of

killing one of God’s most unique, significant, and valuable creatures, creatures which were

created to represent God on earth.

Again, life and death are realities of what it means to be human. One must understand,

though, that life is a reality because it was given by God, and death is the reality of punishment

from God due to man’s sinful rebellion. In these realities, life and death are both decided by God.

As Job proclaimed regarding life and death, ​“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked

shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord”

(1:21, ESV). ​The decision of life or death is not a fundamental human right - it is only a right

belonging to a sovereign God. Human intervention that gives way to death, therefore, is rebellion

against the sovereign authority of God. So then, abortion is an affront that flies directly in the

face of God’s sovereign authority.3 Regarding the authority of God, one must recognize that on

one hand, the providence of God can never be thwarted by the schemes of man; but on the other,

as a human chooses to kill through abortion or euthanasia, he is rebelling against God’s

sovereign providence of sustaining the life God has given and that only God has the right to take

Feinberg, John S. and Paul D. Feinberg. ​Ethics For a Brave New World.​ 2nd ed.
2

Wheaton: Crossway, 2010, 88.

3
Platt, David. ​Counter Culture.​ Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2015, 61.
away. Though God has allowed humans to wrongfully act out of their freedom, He has not given

humans the freedom to willfully end life for convenience's sake without punishment. In His

providence, God does not always prevent their sins,4 but His allowance does not equate to a right

to pursue it. Because humans do not possess the autonomous right to decide between life or

death through abortion of euthanasia, a decision to terminate life is a transgression of the

commandment of God, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13, ESV).

In understanding the significance and value of human life, one is able to conclude that

taking a human life by means of abortion or euthanasia is immoral because it is an assault on

God’s grand creation of human life.5 In doing so, one participates in murdering a creature

uniquely created by God to shine as a picture to all of creation revealing His great glory. As

many do transgress the commandment and murder what was created in the image of God, they

disregard the sovereign authority of God to give, preserve, and take away life in His timing.

Therefore, the practices of abortion and euthanasia devalue and denouce the sanctity of human

lives that should be protected because they were given by God and were created in His image.

4
Erickson, Millard. Christian Theology. 3rd Ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013,
373.
5
Platt, David. ​Counter Culture.​ Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2015, 62.