If Adam's life began when the breath of life came into him from God, when does a baby's life begin?
Answer:
According to the Bible and biology, a human being comes into existence at conception. From this point onward, there is no question as to what this life will become should it continue to grow and develop.
It will not be a cat or a bird or a fish. It is clearly human.
Several scriptures confirm that God considered babies in the womb to be people with whom He was already working (see Jeremiah 1:5 and Job 31:15) and beings capable of reacting to things happening outside their mother's wombs (Luke 1:41, 44).
Coupled with the understanding that unborn babies are human beings, we note that God says He is "not willing that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:9). In 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 we also read that "in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order." Since the Bible speaks of unborn children as human beings, it seems apparent that they will be resurrected.
The belief that a human being doesnt become a human being until he or she breathes on his or her own outside the womb is sometimes derived from Genesis 2:7, which says, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."
Yet, while this is the way Adam (and apparently Eve) came into existence, it is not the way the rest of us have come to have life. We came into existence through conception and being carried in our mothers wombs—not being shaped first as full-grown adults and then having life breathed into us.
As the article explained, the Bible says that life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:14) and that within four or five weeks of conception babies already have their own blood system. In the womb via the mothers blood, a baby receives nutrients and oxygen—thus receiving "the breath of life" prior to being born. A baby in the womb has blood circulating through its body and is "breathing" by loose analogy like a fish breathes in the water.
As a fish gathers the oxygen from the water, so, too, the baby draws oxygen from its mothers blood.
The book Principles of Anatomy and Physiology (Tortora and Anagnostakos, fifth ed., pp. 750-751) states about this process: "They [chorionic villi, microscopic fingerlike projections that make up the placenta] continue growing until they are bathed in maternal blood sinuses called intervillous spaces. Thus, maternal and fetal blood vessels are brought into proximity.
"It should be noted however, that maternal and fetal blood do not normally mix. Oxygen and nutrients from the mothers blood diffuse into the capillaries of the villi. From the capillaries the nutrients circulate into the umbilical vein. Wastes leave the fetus through the umbilical arteries, pass into the capillaries of the villi, and diffuse into the maternal blood" (emphasis added).
The blood of the mother and the baby dont mix. The baby has its own blood and is equipped to receive the oxygen and nutrients and dispose of waste materials via its mother. Its heart is beating, circulating its own oxygenated and deoxygenated blood through its body. It is even conscious at times—looking around, kicking its feet, and sucking its thumb (quite unlike the initial creation process of Adam or Eve).
These are a few of the reasons we believe babies in the womb are "living souls," and thus, why it is murder to abort them and why we believe they will be resurrected.
Regarding the future of fetuses that are naturally aborted during the first few days of life and possibly prior to developing their own blood system, we simply have to leave these matters in Gods hands to determine. Even so, we can be comforted knowing that God is love and that He is looking out for all of humanitys best interests (1 John 4:8).
I conclude that the innocent victims of abortion will live again in the judgment to come based on an implication from scripture. First, we see in Jeremiah 1:4-5 that God is able to know character in the womb. We also see from Genesis 25:23-28 and Malachi 1 that God's choice of those whom He calls can also sometimes occur in the womb before someone has drawn their first breath. This is a clear implication that God considers them alive. Additionally, both the law and prophets strongly condemn both abortion and even negligent homicide of unborn children. Amos 1:13-15 pronounces judgment on Ammon for their abortions to limit the population of Israel in Gilead. Also, Exodus 21:22-25 provides the full protection of Israelite lex talionis for the unborn in the case of negligent homocide, a far lower standard than the premeditated murder of the unborn as abortion is. This law and prophecy would seem to suggest as well that God views the killing of the unborn as murder, meaning He recognizes the unborn as living human beings subject to the full protection of His law. Finally, by implication from Isaiah 65:20, unborn children could be seen as children living (in the womb) for but a few days, who will live again in the Great White Throne Judgment to come. Therefore, by implication (if not direct statement), given the fact that the unborn are given the full legal protection as human beings and are called by God, and that those children whose lives on this earth were short will live again in the Great White Throne Judgment, it is a reasonable inference to conclude that the innocent victims of abortion will also live again in that time as well.
Yes, this is an excellent Vertical Thought article, regarding the resurrection to life for innocent aborted children and even stillborn children from this age of man.
I really like Nathan Albright's comments above, too.
Even the chronology of Jacob's family, if you look at it closely, shows that one of the wives in the family went into Egypt pregnant yet the then-unborn child was considered one of those who went down into Egypt.
Likewise John the Baptist had the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb (the Greek normally would suggest "from" (the time after) the womb, but Gabriel spoke in a Semitic language to the high priest and that would imply "beginning with" the time in the womb).
He also recognized the voice of Jesus' mother and with spiritual significance. So he had the spirit of man forming in him, and also the Spirit of God joined with the spirit of man.
Jesus Christ naturally was begotten of the Father in a special way in Mary's womb and without question He was what He was from the moment of conception, a real flesh and blood human being.
The implication is that every human being who has ever been aborted is a human being and worthy of resurrection in the day of judgment.
Why should an aborted child, in this life, never have the right to the human life it deserved to have, simply because of the murderous sins of its parents?
It could very likely be the case that those same aborted innocent children will be handed to their parents in the 2nd Resurrection. Those parents then, will be expected to raise those children lovingly and responsibly with a commitment to teaching them God's way of life, so they can ultimately be transformed as sons and daughters of God, too.
The Earth just might become the largest day care centre one could imagine. :)