What Should We Do?
The Question of Sovereignty
"For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that the purpose of God according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls" (Romans 9:11).
It is common knowledge that IVF artificially creates life where the unwanted are killed and a substantial number of abandoned embryos – human life – are kept in cryonic storage. For Christians, this is a horror that should grip the heart. We are indeed living the nightmarish dystopian world predicted forty and fifty years ago by such men as Oliver O'Donovan, Francis Schaeffer and C. Everett Koop with this utter dehumanization of life.
What has emerged among pro-life and Reformed Christians regarding IVF is a cognitive dissonance: An inordinate desire to save life that has led to the corruption of marriage, the commodification of children, and has steered them across the life-line into indifference to the death they themselves are causing. A philosophical, pragmatic derivative is employed, coupled with a misguided desire that uses self-derived ideas to justify the attempt to save embryonic life. This has set them on a collision course with the sovereign Creator God.
What follows sketches out a very basic point: "To be human is to be a creature and to be a creature is to be finite. We are not God. We are not in control" (David Gibson, Living Life Backward).
A Question of Sovereignty
The Scriptures provide us with many sovereignty-rich statements, such as:
Whatever Yahweh pleases, He does, In heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all deeps" (Psalms 135:6).
Clearly, Yahweh God will do what He alone desires. He truly is autonomous. But does God in His freedom have the ability to do what He wants? This was the question God himself laid before Moses, "Is Yahweh’s power limited?" (Numbers 11:23). The answer should be self-evident:
For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind
And declares to man what are His thoughts,
He who makes dawn into gloom
And treads on the high places of the earth,
Yahweh God of hosts is His name (Amos 4:13).
Whatever Yahweh pleases, He accomplishes through His unmitigated, formational, creative power and sovereign self-governance; thus, He has the wherewithal to do His pleasure. His pleasure is manifest in and over human history, which unfolds exactly as He determined in eternity past:
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My counsel will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good (Isaiah 46: 9-10).
Since God established His counsel to accomplish His good, these are, in fact, unchangeable and will continue in their permanence:
For He spoke, and it was; He commanded, and it stood . . . The counsel of Yahweh stands forever (Psalms 33:9;11).
The story of earthly humanity was authored and written by God. He spoke, He commanded, and His counsel stands (cf. Ecclesiastes 3:14-15). This story book, if you will, was written before time. This book was fully complete before it was ever published and revealed in time to His creation. We now hold that complete story book – the Bible. Therefore, God dwells transcendently as well as imminently and nothing in time will change the Author's story. The eternality of the Bible is established.
This bring us to the Apostle Paul, who with unmatched eloquence writes:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! . . . For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:33; 36).
There are no limits to His riches, wisdom, and knowledge. His judgments and ways, the depth of which is unfathomable, are far beyond man’s ability to search. And nothing occurs in His creation that does not have Him at the very center: “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” The intent of all creational history is to bring Him “glory forever.” In the loftiest terms, Paul declares that God is indeed sovereign.
Therefore, a proper moral ethic does not set aside the sovereignty of God. A proper ethic begins and ends with God, who authored and wrote the book of human history. And Soli Deo Gloria is the singular purpose of His book.
Life On Ice
So, what should we do about human life kept in cryonic storage? This is an important question when faced with the horrors of modern technology. The question implies that there is indeed something we should do. What, then, does this require of us?
First, do the above Scriptural citations apply to the devices of depraved men, who would develop technology to create and destroy millions of embryonic lives – or do they not? Does the same question apply to millions of frozen embryos? We are compelled to answer “yes.” Therefore, the divine giver of life indeed foreknew what sin man was going to invent, for He declared the end from the beginning.
Next, is anything within His creation beyond the will and power of His pleasure? In other words, does man have the power and ability to act autonomously in any way – independent of God? We are also compelled to answer with a definitive “no.”
Yahweh God then, we have to admit, is sovereign over man's evil. Was not this lesson learned by Nebuchadnezzar when he came face to face with the God of gods?
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
But He does according to His will in the host of heaven
And among the inhabitants of earth;
And no one can strike against His hand
Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ (Daniel 4:34-35).
Keep Nebuchadnezzar's words in mind as you read Deuteronomy 32:39:
See now that I, I am He,
And there is no god besides Me;
It is I who put to death and give life.
I have wounded, and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
Such words cause indignation in the minds of many Christians. Yet the Apostle Paul is not one to back down: “What shall we say then? Is there any unrighteousness with God?” (Romans 9:14). Present-day Christians are behaving as if God has done something wrong and is not as loving as He should be. They see the tragedy of countless embryos brought into existence through IVF, only to see many of them put to death. From this comes the compulsion, under the banner of pro-life, to cry out, “We must do something; they have a right to live.”
In response to such man-centered reasoning, Paul directly points to the sovereignty of God: “For He says to Moses, ‘I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.’ So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who has mercy” (Romans 9:15–16). Paul certainly had Jesus’ words in mind: “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own?” (Matthew 20:15).
We saw both Daniel and Deuteronomy unequivocally declare the righteousness of His judgments. It is at this very point that modern Christians stumble. Pro-life Christians will not accept that Yahweh God alone determines who lives and who dies. “Behold, all souls are Mine” (Ezekiel 18:4). They fail to understand what Nebuchadnezzar clearly understood: “No one can strike against His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ . . . He does according to His will in the host of heaven.”
When faced with a new and unimaginable wickedness on such a voluminous scale – one that is demonstrably beyond any Christian’s ability to meaningfully mitigate – we must remember that God is not passive and that His thoughts, which uphold His divine eschatological plan, are far beyond us: “How great are Your works, O Yahweh! Your thoughts are very deep” (Psalm 92:5).
This sovereign understanding does not pit Scripture against Scripture in order to create a justification for action, nor does it ignore that God alone grants life or puts to death. He is Lord over His creation. This is exactly what the Psalmist states in absolute terms: "Whatever Yahweh pleases, He does, In heaven and on earth" (Psalms 135:6). Truly, His knowledge and understanding are beyond limits.
The Answer
So, life on ice: What should we do? Here, prudence looks first to the Word given to us by the author of life:
Trust in Yahweh with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
From previous verses cited, Yahweh has clearly declared who He is and what He will do. Here this proverb is telling us what we should do, which is trust. This trust is a giving over to, a complete full-orbed trust. Not half-hearted, rather with "all your heart." The proverb continues with what we should not be doing – trusting or leaning on our "own understanding."
Dr. Richard Phillips, referencing the book of Esther, said: "[God] is textually unseen and yet he is the dominant player. His providence is always the decisive factor" (Protected by Providence, PM sermon, October 11, 2026).
In other words, a Holy God's actions are not subject to our understanding. Nor are we to attempt to subject His actions to our understanding. This means we have no standing to demand that an infinite God explain His actions in terms that fit within our finite minds.
When faced with a Mount Everest of evil – such as embryonic destruction and millions of lives on ice – we are to “acknowledge Him,” who alone will, in His providence, provide a straight path forward. This means resting in the Divine’s understanding, which will guard the Christian against the temptation to rely on his own narrow comprehension and attempt to take matters into his own hands.
The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in Yahweh forever,
For in Yah—Yahweh Himself—we have an everlasting Rock (Isaiah 26:3-4).
Charles Spurgeon said, "There is nothing for which the children of God ought more earnestly to contend than the dominion of their Master over all creation – the kingship of God over all the works of his own hands – the throne of God, and his right to sit upon that throne. On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings . . . Men will allow God to be everywhere except on his throne" (Divine Sovereignty, sermon 77, May 4, 1856).
"Modern theology severely truncates the doctrine of God’s sovereignty because people assume it hinders love" (Reformed Systematic Theology, Joel Beeke). The Creator's sovereignty is not some cold, abstract force, nor is it incidental; it is a purposeful love administered in absolute truth. And yet, our anxious minds hinder and limit God's love to human understanding, which leads to presumption and a pragmatic desire to abridge His sovereignty. This truth should safeguard the Christian from the temptation to meddle in the evil deeds of others, for God's "providence is always the decisive factor" (Phillips).
Here are words we must ponder in times of great wickedness: "With whom did He take counsel and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge and made Him know the way of understanding?" (Isaiah 40:14).
There are no circumstances in which Yahweh God needs to strive with man in order to accomplish His righteous ends.
We should rest our minds in understanding and trust these sovereign truths, which are as solid as rock. These truths must be held close in one’s heart during times of unprecedented evil. Why? Because He alone can dispel anxiety and keep your mind in “perfect peace.” Therefore, we must lie prostrate in all humility and dependence before a holy God. Christians are to be overcome with Him – not by the evil actions of men.
What If?
The Apostle Paul, the master theologian with skilled rhetoric, lays before us not a passive resignation to the evils of man, but rather the consistent divine intention that flows from the greatness of Yahweh’s character.
What if God, wanting to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath having been prepared for destruction, and in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory? (Romans 9:22-23).
Paul begins Romans 9 with heartfelt grief over the sin of his nation. His kinsmen chose not life and prosperity, but death and calamity. Their sin was a willful decision to live contrary to Yahweh’s commands (cf. Deuteronomy 30:15). From within his grief over their wickedness, Paul states that the Word of God and the promises contained within it had not failed because of his kinsmen’s sins. In fact, just the opposite.
From verses 6 to 21 Paul writes in detail the marvel of God's sovereign actions as seen from His historical choices. This lead him to verses 22 and 23 and begins with three profound words "What if God." These words have a parallel to the first words found in Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God." Paul's intent is to grab the reader's attention.
The entirety of chapter 9 is about the sovereignty of God, who is front and center. This leads Paul to write these words in verse 23: “in order that He might make known the riches of His glory.” Nothing will thwart God’s glory – even man’s disobedience and the evil of his sin. What Paul is pointing out from his history lesson is this: God will, and does, use man’s sin to bring Himself glory.
Thus, we must now address this compelling question: Is Yahweh God using the evil of IVF technology to bring Himself glory? Christians must answer “yes.” Any other answer is to “allow God to be everywhere except on his throne” (Spurgeon).
Here is where subordination is not an option for Christians. We are obligated to uphold the institution of marriage and not corrupt it, i.e., as surrogates birthing children without sex. We are to defend the sanctity of life and not treat life as a product, i.e., that of buying and choosing the best embryos. We are never to be complicit in unlawful death, i.e., causing the death of embryonic life in a vain attempt to give life.
In the face of massive evil, Christians will rightly subordinate themselves to the sovereign God, with a heart's desire by faith to trust Him for the impossible, to save children.
End Game
Our God is truly and undeniably sovereign, and He will do as He pleases. For His pleasure, He endures man’s evil with divine patience, even toward those whom He has determined are destined for destruction. In light of this, we must believe that the masses of embryonic children who have died as a result of IVF – including the masses frozen who will in time die – are among these little lives that are His “vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.”
Today, we face an impossible evil that Christians cannot overcome through their own efforts. Yahweh God reigns according to His singular decree over this evil and the helpless children it produces. Even so, those whose lives are destroyed or frozen are not voiceless or silent. The triune God hears the cry of each and every one (cf. Genesis 4:10; Psalm 139).
The sovereign God does not need our good intentions. We must set aside our hubris and proclaim the words of Jonah, "Salvation belongs to Yahweh" (Jonah 2:9b). What God requires is Christians to profess His work and His glory: "as for me, I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving" (Jonah 2:9a).
This brings us back to these children who "were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that the purpose of God according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls" (Romans 9:11 emphasis added).
“So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who has mercy” (Romans 9:16). We are expected to lay “hold of righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith” (Romans 9:30). Faith means trust. This trust reminds us that we are not God, we are not in control, and we are not to trust in our own works. Rather, by faith, we are to trust in God’s purpose and choice, through which He will make known His mercy.
From this mass accumulation of sin, God will be glorified. He will do it. This is the God we love. This is our God from the beginning, doing what no man can, so “that He might make known the riches of His glory.” Soli Deo Gloria!
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18
