Messing with Life

Sunday morning, the pastor of the church we were attending made an interesting statement that has stuck with me. He has been speaking about the Creation and was focusing on Genesis 1:26, where God decides to create man in His image. The pastor then went on to say that the manipulation of life by man is wrong, since God alone is the Creator. I don't disagree with this.

He went on to show in Genesis 3 that God ordains capital punishment for those who murder, because killing a man is a sin against God, in whose image man was created. I hadn't thought about it exactly that way, but again, I don't disagree. He then stated that abortion was a sin because, again, men (or women) are taking life that God has ordained, and ending it. Finally, the kicker. He said that in vitro fertilization was wrong, because man is altering the natural birth process outside of the means God provided for reproduction, and because unwanted fetuses are disposed of, or perhaps used for the purposes of stem-cell research. I hadn't really thought about that. The next logical step I (not the pastor) made in my mind was then to birth control/sterilization. If it is a sin to manipulate the process by which God intended life to be created, would it not then be a sin to pick and choose when or if we will have children?

Now, this hit close to home. LJ and I made the decision after our fourth child, Abigail (Abbey or Abs, as I like to call her), that we were finished having children. The world would say that this was a smart decision (after of course, we are condemned and ridiculed for having four children in the first place). But what does God think about it? LJ and I will both tell you we have had a lot of second thoughts about that decision since the surgery, and while I think we made a decision that is backed by sound financial and mental health arguments, I'm not sure that I can say that it wasn't prideful, arrogant and sinful of us as well.

What do you think?