Parousia Second Coming of Jesus Christ: Pacifism and the Sacredness of Human Life
There are enormous ethical challenges in our world today, one of which is the sanctity and dignity of human life. Human beings reflect the image of God, created by the God of the universe, carrying special dignity as sons and daughters of God.
As followers of Jesus Christ, how can someone train to become skillful in taking human life? How can we rationalize human behavior that engages in activities that injure and kill men and women who are loved by God and are precious in His sight. Christians are called to be followers of Christ and His way of peace. How can someone follow Jesus and obey the commandment,
“Thou shalt not kill.”
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” Matthew 5: 44
while actively training to destroy and eliminate their enemies?
How can someone with a lethal weapon in their hands emulate Jesus’ example and do good to those that hate them?
“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.” Luke 6: 27,35
This lifestyle is not the lifestyle found in the armed services. Jesus is the peacemaker. All committed Christians, including Seventh Day Adventists are called to emulate Jesus as the peacemaker. This means walking the way of peace and forgiveness, not the way of war, retaliation and violence. When we follow the footsteps of Jesus, we need to be willing to suffer, even to die for Christ’s sake, rather than to be instruments of a war machine, inflicting suffering and bring pain and death on other human beings.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzdrN4ZnrM5bzpCUfnCeWkqjVq0JHKoAT
“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”, 2 Timothy 3:12
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Hebrews 12: 14
Christians should have no part in wars.
“I saw that it is our duty in every case to obey the laws of our land, unless they conflict with the higher law which God spoke with an audible voice from Sinai, and afterward engraved on stone with His own finger. “I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people.” He who has God’s law written in the heart will obey Rebellion God rather than men, and will sooner disobey all men than deviate in the least from the commandment of God. God’s people, taught by the inspiration of truth, and led by a good conscience to live by every word of God, will take His law, written in their hearts, as the only authority which they can acknowledge or consent to obey. The wisdom and authority of the divine law are supreme.
I was shown that God’s people, who are His peculiar treasure, cannot engage in this perplexing war (the American Civil War), for it is opposed to every principle of their faith. In the army they cannot obey the truth and at the same time obey the requirements of their officers. There would be a continual violation of conscience. Worldly men are governed by worldly principles. They can appreciate no other. Worldly policy and public opinion comprise the principle of action that governs them and leads them to practice the form of rightdoing. But God’s people cannot be governed by these motives. The words and commands of God, written in the soul, are spirit and life, and there is power in them to bring into subjection and enforce obedience. The ten precepts of Jehovah are the foundation of all righteous and good laws. Those who love God’s commandments will conform to every good law of the land. But if the requirements of the rulers are such as conflict with the laws of God, the only question to be settled is: Shall we obey God, or man?” Testimonies for the Church vol. 1, 361, 362
Then God said, “Let Us make man (mankind) in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28
Next: Military Service and the Conflict with the Law of God