Life is in The Blood
The Right to Life movement addresses the issues associated with abortion such as “choice”, “its my body”, “tissue”, “its not a person”, etc – all the man-made excuses to play god. Therefore, I think it is necessary to address what Scripture states regarding life in the blood, and its application as God intended it to be. This paper is not written to make a statement to those who do not believe in the rights of the unborn, but to make Christians aware of what God says about the blood and the life therein.
When the Bible states that life is in the blood it takes on two separate yet related aspects of life - one is physical, the other is spiritual. One maintains our physical being by keeping the organs of our bodies functioning while the other controls our very being.
God gave Israel specific instructions in their relationship to blood in Leviticus 17:11. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” Then again in verse 14 He tells the children of Israel the rationale for verse 11. “…for it is the life of all flesh. The blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats blood will be cut off.”’ God is stating that those who defy His commandment will be cut off from Him forever.
So, we need to ask the question, why does God state that the life is in the blood, and why is blood the central issue in all sacrifices? You may note that the first blood sacrifice was just outside the Garden of Eden – Genesis 3:21. “Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them.” Its here that some scholars believe the first blood sacrifice of an animal was made. And it was here that God taught Adam the significance of blood sacrifice for the atonement of sin, which was carried on until the destruction of the Temple in AD 70.
Thus, when addressing the physical attributes of the blood we can safely state that the heart pumps blood throughout the body promoting cell growth and maintaining bodily functions. However, in the Old Testament the Hebrew words translated as heart are sometimes used interchangeably meaning either the physical heart or the spirit. The Hebrews were instructed not to eat the blood as it carried life through the body – it represented the life of the animal. And, it is this latter reason which is attributable to man, as we shall see.
Thus, it is on the foundation of God’s definition of blood, which constitutes the rite for atonement of sin. By the sacrifice of animals, and offering their blood, the rite provided the temporary substitution for man’s sin. So with this understood it becomes necessary to look at the additional element of life in man that sets him apart from animals, that being the spirit.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 states, “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” So the question is, how does our spirit, which comes from God, relate to our physical being? And furthermore, how does the manifestation of the spirit take place? Believe it or not the answer to the first question is provided by science.
A number of years ago in my research on this subject, I read the following statement made by Dr.Wilder Penfield who is a leading neurosurgeon. “The body and the brain are both physical entities, but the spirit is independent of both. The brain is a computer programmed by something independent of itself – the mind. This non-physical entity we call the mind belongs to the spirit living temporarily in the body, and as such has control over the actions of the body. Thus, the brain is directed by the thinking mind and the spirit.”
Yes, the thinking mind is controlled by the spirit, which comes from God. As I stated earlier, in the Old Testament this spirit/mind entity is called the heart. Genesis 8:21 is an example of the spirit/mind entity. “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.” In this case God is speaking of the evil of man that led to the great Flood of Noah’s time. The people thought evil and acted out evil. On the other hand, Exodus 28:30 provides an example of the physical heart. “And shall put in the breastplate of judgement the Urim and Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord.” It can be readily seen that God’s instruction is very specific how the breastplate is to be worn – over the physical heart.
The second question, how does the manifestation of the spirit take place is answered by answering the question, when does life actually begin? After conception, the first thing created is the blood. The second thing created is the physical heart. Thayer’s Greek/English Lexicon states, “The first germs of life are in the blood.” Looking at some real life experiences; have any of you ever cracked open a fertile chicken egg immediately after it is laid? Besides the yellow yoke you see a tiny red spot – that’s the blood. From here the chicken begins to grow. This sequence is somewhat related to an unborn child wherein the heartbeat of the unborn begins in less than three weeks after conception. The heartbeat indicates that a rudimentary circulation system has developed and blood is available to be pumped to the living cells. Therefore, the answer to the question is that God places the spirit of the unborn in the blood at conception.
Ok, but what creates the blood? The blood of an unborn child comes from the seed of the father. The mother’s blood is never mixed with that of the baby otherwise pregnancy could never occur. Both the mother and the baby have different blood types. The mother provides nourishment to the baby – it is not an integral part of the mother’s body. If it were then their blood types would be identical.
As an example, look at the birth of Jesus – the seed of the father was provided by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18. “After His mother Mary was bethrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.” This perfect seed was from God as well as a perfect spirit. It was in this manner that Jesus was born of woman without sin. The genetic codes that produce the blood came from the Father.
Again, I want to address the question, when is the spirit, which comes from God, manifested in life? I previously stated it is at conception, which is the stage in which blood is first formed. We see this in a number of places in Scripture. Luke 1:41 states, “And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” If the spirit, which comes from God, was not already manifested in the unborn John the Baptist, and also in the unborn baby Jesus, then how was the knowledge of who Mary was carrying known to the unborn John? It was through the spirit, which comes from God.
A second passage relating to this same issue is found in Romans 9:13. “As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”’ Before the two were born God said the older shall serve the younger. There are two issues here that concern the spirit. First, God knew the spirit of Esau that he would become the father of the Edomites. The Edomites were the Pharisees who killed Jesus. And secondly, it was from Jacob and the lineage of Judah from which Mary and Jesus would come.
I want to digress for a moment and look at the two Hebrew words in the Old Testament translated as heart. Also from this position we will see the application of the spirit as it relates to God. The Hebrew word lay-bawb translated as heart applies to the physical organ that pumps the blood. The other Hebrew word also translated as heart is labe which defines the feelings, the will, the intellect, the mind – it is the center of our spirit being. So when Scripture states that life is in the blood, how is this associated with our spirit, and how can our spirit be associated with the Holy Spirit, and for that matter, an evil spirit?
In relation to the above statement regarding the Holy Spirit, I wish to put forth a theory of my own as to how one can have two spirits. Although this position has never been postulated as far as I know, I do not think it can be proven one way or the other. We know that when God created man He put a spirit in him. He also made him with the ability to contain two spirits within the blood, one of his own and one of another. The primary spirit is that of man – the one God provides at conception. It is the one that controls the physical body and is the thinking spirit/mind combination. The second spirit relates to the will and is associated with our choosing either good or evil. If we choose God then we invite the Holy Spirit to come into our heart and dwell with our spirit. On the other hand, if we choose evil then we are open to whatever spirit our will is susceptible. This second spirit can be one of self, one that states “I am god”, or the spirit of a demon, etc. In either case all these latter spirits are from Satan.
To see this in action you only have to look at the situation of Cain and Able in Genesis 4:10-11. “And He said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened it’s mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.”’ God is saying that the blood contains the spirit. That spirit belongs to God and Cain spilled the blood, which is an abomination to God. It is the same with abortion. The spirits of the aborted children cry out from the ground to God. They were denied the right to live a productive life as God intended.
The best example of the connection our spirit has with God is found in God’s favor with David. 1 Samuel 13:14. “The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people.” David was not after any physical attributes of God, he was after God’s spirit – the very center of God’s being – absolute truth from which all things come. David knew it was spirit to spirit that connects us with God.
So, it can be safely said that a man and a woman initiate the physical, but it is God that provides the rest including the spirit. But to whom does the child belong? It definitely belongs to God! Psalms 100:3 states, “Know that the Lord He is God; it is He who has made us and not we ourselves.” Yes, that’s correct, man and woman have the ability to initiate the process, but from conception onward to death we belong to God. It is based on these precepts that the Jews state that a child is nine months old at birth, and is dedicated to God at conception.
Therefore, I ask you, who has the correct answer regarding life? Surely it is not the secular community, definitely not the feminist movement, and especially not the Supreme Court. Only God’s wisdom prevails as the truth!
Now that we have established the meaning of the Scripture passage that life is in the blood we need to shift gears for a moment and look at a specific experience in the lives of some women. We all know someone who has had a miscarriage in her efforts to bring a child into the world. And we can be assured that each one who loves life has gone through some rough and traumatic moments. But, to those who fall into this category there is some degree of comfort. Life begins at conception and the spirit therein comes from God and at death the spirit returns to God. Although the physical body dies the spirit lives forever. Remember what I stated earlier – the spirit resides temporarily in the body. Thus, we can say that all those who have died prematurely are indeed with the Lord!
This brings up another question. Does God create the spirit of each individual at the time of conception or did that spirit already exist waiting to be Billy, Betty, Jane or Johnny? Ephesians 1:3-4 provides the answer. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” The premature are surely without blame! Additionally, all those whom have died prematurely have been named as their names are in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
And finally, Satan’s efforts from the Garden of Eden to today have been directed to disrupting the Plan of God – No one can! However, in his efforts to destroy God’s little ones he has only assured that the premature deaths of the unborn are indeed with their Creator. They are no longer strangers and foreigners, in a harsh land, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God!
Maranatha!
Carleton Dowdle 1-23-04
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