“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
– Jeremiah 1:5
Now, this is obviously a specific word from God to Jeremiah; that’s what verse four says, “Now, the Word of the Lord came to me saying.” But listen to the relationship that God describes in His word with a person, Jeremiah, before he was even formed in the womb.
Like in the United States, it’s been a very significant couple of weeks for children in the womb and we know all over the Bible that God describes His work in creating life in the womb, how He fearfully and wonderfully forms and makes us. So Jeremiah 1:5 is certainly teaching, that God is forming a child; is doing this wonderful, beautiful work in the womb, but that God’s work began even before that.
Jeremiah 1:5 Teaches Us How God Forms Us Before Creation
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I consecrated you. And we know this from other places in the Bible, how God talks about from before creation, predestining people to be conformed to the image of His Son.
Now, we won’t get into all the complexities and mysteries that surround predestination here, but the picture of foreknowledge and predestination is all over the Bible, and it’s illustrated here in Jeremiah 1:5. And I just want to encourage you as you listen to this, particularly all who have trusted in Jesus. By God’s grace, you are His son or daughter, to know that there is clearly a sense … yes, you’re not Jeremiah the Prophet … but there is clearly a sense in which before.
Jeremiah 1:5 Reminds Us that God Formed Us in Our Mother’s Womb
You were formed in the womb. God knew you before you were born. That He purposed to save you, to set you apart in a consecrating kind of way, and to know that, right now, in the wombs of mothers all over the United States and all over the world, He is forming children in the womb. He knows them, and He has purposes for them.
So, yes, God help us to work on behalf. So God, we pray, help us to do justice for children. You are forming in the womb, help us to work on their behalf before they’re even born in light of your work, on their behalf before they’re even born. God, I praise you, thank you, and join with your people who are praising and thanking you for decision over the last couple of weeks in the Supreme Court in the United States that provides for further protection of children in the womb, knowing that is now in the hands of state legislatures and people who vote.
Praying for Further Protection of Children
God, we pray for further protection of children in the womb who you are forming. And God, we pray that you’d help us to love and honor the women whose wombs you are doing this wonderful work and help us to honor, care for them, especially those who are struggling with pregnancy, who don’t know how they could care for this child, who would think about abortion as a possibility. God, we pray that you’d help us to love them well, to honor them, to come alongside and serve them in every way we can, and to serve their children in every way we can.
And, God, to work, to do justice for them, even in light of the circumstances that might lead them to desire or decide to have an abortion. God, please help us as your people to work for all people made in your image to love honor, serve, care for all people made in your image, including those who you’re forming in the womb and the moms and their partners, and the moms whose wombs you’re doing that forming work in and dads alongside them.
Help Us to Do Justice
God, please help us to faithfully do justice and love mercy on behalf of every single person made in your image all to your glory as the one who does this miraculous work in the womb in Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
And I would just add if you have any questions or want to dive deeper into this issue biblically and practically, I would encourage you, I just preached this last Sunday on what the Bible says about abortion and how we should respond as followers of Jesus to decision in the Supreme Court in the United States over the last couple of weeks.
And for those of you who live in other countries, hopefully in a way that would encourage you. So you can go to Radical.net and just find a deeper dive into the Word on this issue in a way that I hope will encourage and help you and help us to glorify God as we care for every single person made in His image formed by God Himself.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
