Unplanned

If you have not yet seen the movie, “Unplanned” by all means go see it. The “R” label is for bloody and disturbing scenes. And they are bloody disturbing. That may be an obscenity in England, and surely, abortion is an obscenity.

Go see it.

But, we cannot leave it there. At one point, Abby Johnson, the former director of an abortion clinic cried, “How can God forgive me?” She had “presided” over about 22,000 abortions.

I wanted to stand in the theater and shout, “Because of Easter!” The Old Testament carefully and and in elaborate detail outlines the procedure for sacrifice and worship. It is difficult and demanding. We are talking about approaching the perfectly holy God. A slip-shod, careless approach is neither fitting nor efficacious. And as Aaron’s two oldest sons discovered, it can be fatal. (Leviticus 10) And if I recognize my abject failure to be holy and pure, I will cry out with Abby, “How can God forgive ME?”

He sent His perfect Son, the Holy Son, to be the sacrifice described and prescribed in the Old Testament to pay for my failures. We celebrate that every year at Easter. And how can we be sure that it was enough? Are my sins forgiven and, as the old song goes, “buried in the depths of the deepest sea?”

Romans 4:25 eliminates that doubt. Hallelujah! Speaking of Christ Jesus,
He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. (Another translation says, “on account of our justification.”)

“Delivered” means that He was brought as the lamb in the sacrifice, and died. And when God evaluated the offering, He declared it “satisfactory.” In fact it was perfect. And to demonstrate that for Abby, and me, and all the world to see that He was pleased and accepted the sacrifice, He raised Jesus from the dead. Another Easter hymn goes, “Death cannot hold its prey, Jesus my Saviour!” Shout it out!

We are forgiven, freed from guilt. And the book of James instructs us in our behavior. James 2:18b
“I will show you my faith by my works.”

True faith results in works and as we sare assured that we are forgiven by Jesus’ resurrection. People see our faith by our works. James 2:24
You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
We cannot see “faith,” but the results are visible in our works, actions. We see God's work in justification by the Resurrection. And my "works" include the fact that I oppose abortion.

[Note: Three states have approved, and eight others have pending, bills to prohibit abortion after a heart beat is detected. It is a baby. Our Planned Parenthood friends, according to Abby, used to have a room labeled P. O. C. The official name was Products of Conception, but the workers called it “Parts of Children.” Medically it is imperative that the abortionist ensure that everything is “out” for any part left behind can fester and infect the mother. They have to verify that the whole baby is in the petri dish. Yes, “obscene” is not appropriate. We need something more intense. Stop it! End of note.]

I had not planned to write on abortion or movies this Easter season. The final credits of the movie had UNPLANNED in all caps. The UN was crossed out with a horizontal line through the letters and a vertical line between the U and the N. A cross changed everything. It was God’s plan from the foundation of the world.

Hallelujah, what a Savior. He planned it all.