“‘Keep my decrees. “‘Do not mate different kinds of animals. “‘Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. “‘Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.(Leviticus 19:19,NIV)
God, in His creation of the heavens and the earth, gave every living being its unique nature and form. Yet fallen humanity, through the advancement of science and medicine, has sought to overstep the Creator’s absolute sovereignty. Driven by the desire to increase production, improve seeds, develop treatments, and pursue organ transplantation or cultivation, people have begun manipulating genes and attempting to seize authority over life itself. As a result, in seeking small gains, humans have undermined the uniqueness and order of life, reducing human life to mere physical material to be exploited in ways that are deeply corrupt and destructive.
Bioethics is the field that examines, from an ethical and moral standpoint, the relationship between life and science, asking questions such as, “To what extent should life be treated as material?” and “Where should the boundary between life and death be drawn?” In Korea, the Bioethics and Safety Act was established in 2004 to secure bioethics and safety, to prevent violations of human dignity and value, and to ensure that biotechnology is used for the prevention and treatment of human diseases. The law prohibits, among other things, implanting, maintaining, or giving birth to somatic cell-cloned embryos for the purpose of human cloning.
Today, genetic research and technology are advancing rapidly and being applied across many fields. The genome refers to the entirety of an organism’s genetic material. The Human Genome Project sought to read and map the sequence of nucleotides that compose the genome. Through this, scientists hope to understand and predict all biological processes in the human body, leading to the extension of life and the prevention of disease.
Another development is the so-called “gene-editing scissors,” which use enzymes that bind only to specific genes to cut DNA at desired sites. Unlike genetically modified organisms (GMOs), this method allows for more precise interventions. It is being applied not only to produce livestock resistant to disease and crops with higher economic value, but also in attempts to treat cancer and genetic disorders in humans. However, this raises serious ethical and religious concerns, as it suggests that humans may edit human genes at will, thereby violating the natural order and intruding into “the realm of God.”
In India, in 2018, a “designer baby” was born to provide bone marrow for a seven-year-old brother suffering from severe anemia. By 18 months of age, the younger sibling’s bone marrow had been transplanted to the older child. In Greece, in 2019, a child was born with the genetic material of three people, in what was described as an attempt to overcome hereditary disease. The child was conceived through in vitro fertilization using the mother’s egg, the father’s sperm, and a second egg donated by another woman.
In the United States, Democratic members of the House of Representatives demanded the reversal of restrictions banning the use of fetal tissue in the development of COVID-19 treatments. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the use of fetal tissue and organs had already been strongly promoted under former President Barack Obama for the development of treatments for AIDS among homosexuals.
Former Deputy Attorney General John Yoo, speaking at a forum on “Why the Use of Fetal Tissue Should Not Be Reinstated,” warned: “If we begin using fetal tissue under the name of medical research, the next step could be intentionally conducting abortions for research purposes. This could even lead to cloning fetuses in order to harvest fetal tissue during abortion procedures, ultimately bringing about catastrophic consequences.”
》Prayer Point
1. The life that God created is complete and beautiful in itself. Yet sin rebels against God, the sovereign Lord of life, and causes humanity to despise the sanctity of life. Let us repent of the pride that, through the advancement of science and medicine, seeks to trespass into God’s domain, destroying the very essence of life and treating it as something to be exploited to satisfy broken cisterns of greed.
》Scripture Prayer
Psalm 19:1-6 (NIV)
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.
Romans 8:19-22 (NIV)
19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. Every created being, in its unique form and design, proclaims the glory of the Creator, displays the work of His hands, and reflects the fullness of His life. Let us praise God’s power, for from the beginning He created all things by His Word, and by that same Word He continues to govern them. Let us pray with repentance, confessing that to desire beyond what God has given, and to treat life as mere material to corrupt or manipulate, is disobedience and sin.
2. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. No matter how advanced science may become or how much human knowledge increases, crimes that disregard bioethics cannot bring life to the soul. Let us pray that witnesses who fear the Lord would be raised up within the fields of science and medicine, so that by God’s wisdom and skill they may become channels that preserve and restore life.
3. Because of human sin, creation has been subjected to futility, enslaved to decay through genetic modification, editing, and manipulation. Let us pray that creation may achieve the glorious freedom of the children of God. May the sons of God, saved by the power of the gospel, arise in obedience to their calling as heirs, interceding and proclaiming the gospel for the restoration of souls among the nations and for the renewal of all creation.
》 Urgent prayer requests around the world need your prayer!
