Session 10: Did Our Immune System Develop by Chance?

Welcome to Apologetics and the Gospel. My name is Pastor Jonathan White, and I am the Lead Pastor at CrossPointe Family Church in Hurricane, WV as well as a practicing Emergency Medicine Physician.

Question for Today: Did Our Immune System Develop by Chance?

Today’s question is meant to be both informative and faith-building. Most people do not have a very good understanding of how the immune system works. I have always had a passion for understanding the immune system and have always been amazed by the intricacies.

What Body Parts Make Up the Immune System?

The immune system actually includes many organs and parts of your body such as the spleen, lymph nodes, the thymus, the walls of the intestines, the tonsils, the bone marrow and more.

And no, despite what evolutionists want to tell you, the appendix is not just a remnant from evolution. It is actually a functioning part of the immune system and houses many immune cells as well!

Your skin and mucous membranes of your GI and respiratory tracts are also pivotal first-line defenses for your immune system.

Now that we have a big picture view of the immune system, I want to delve into some of the reasons that make evolution of the immune system by chance unlikely.

The Interconnectedness of the Immune System

First and foremost, evolution of the immune system would be next to impossible.

Without trying to be overwhelming in the amount of information to you today, there are multiple types of immune cells.

Let’s start with discussing the…

Three Kinds of Lymphocytes:

1. B cells that can develop into plasma cells to produce antibodies

2. T cells that are divided into two types that aid in learned immunity

3. Natural Killer cells that directly kill infected cells and cancer cells in your body

One amazing interconnected feature is that when a B cell recognizes something that isn’t supposed to be there called an antigen - a specialized T cell called a T-helper cell comes and binds as well. Once this occurs, this B cell differentiates into a plasma cell and starts putting out tons of antibodies which can bind that same antigen again and help the body destroy it.

This amazing interaction provides us with long-term immunity to certain viruses and bacteria. So the next time that same virus or bacteria is introduced into our body, we can fight it off quickly!

But there is even more going on than these two cells interacting with the bad antigen. There are even small proteins called cytokines that work within immune systems to serve as chemical messengers per se. They help the cells all work together in tandem and lead the immune cells to places where they need to go.

Time would fail us to go into the other details that take place in this great exchange but I hope you are seeing just how amazingly designed all of this is.

Moving forward there are also...

5 Different types of Leukocytes:

Neutrophils - which directly destroy and engulf microbes and particles

Eosinophils - which attack parasites and cancers

Basophils - which aid in healing by increasing blood flow to certain areas

Monocytes - which directly destroy and engulf microbes and particles

Lymphocytes which we have already mentioned

I have gone into all of this detail because it shows just how amazingly intricate our body’s immune system is. Sadly, most immunology textbooks and resources explain that each of these cells evolved into what they are today. Yet, does this make sense? I would argue that this system is so intricate that evolution of this system is theoretically impossible. Without the cytokine messengers we mentioned, none of this would happen. Without one of these cell types, we would be open to a certain pathogen that would inevitably kill us or would lead to astronomically high cancer rates.

I pray that thus far you have kept tracking with me. I understand that this can be head-spinning if you have never heard of most of this information. But I pray that you are seeing the big picture - that our immune system is too complex to occur by chance. And I also pray that you can track with me for only a few more moments because there is one other intricacy that I want us to see that is simply amazing.

The Barcode System

For simplification, I have entitled this section the barcode system. I am sure you have all seen barcodes on things that you buy at the grocery store. These are the things that are scanned and tell the computer what the item is and how much it costs.

Each person has something called an HLA which stands for human leukocyte antigen. This HLA is specific to every cell in a person’s body. It is in essence, your personal barcode.

That is already pretty interesting enough but listen to this...

Many of your immune cells have what could be called barcode scanners. These barcode scanners function as a test for cells to be sure they are actually your cells. If a barcode is read and it is not correct, the immune system responds by killing that cell. This is one of the reasons why organ transplantation has to be so specific and still requires immunosuppressants after surgery.

But this is not the most amazing part of this.

When a cell is infected with a virus, the virus overtakes the cells machinery and starts to replicate or duplicate itself. The cell becomes a factory to make viruses. This is why colds hit us so hard and fast. Our own body is acting as a factory to make the cold.

But during this process something else happens in the cell. The cellular HLA barcode that we mentioned before gets changed because of the new virus proteins being manufactured in the cell.

So now when a barcode-reading immune cell approaches an infected cell, it kills it.

How amazing is our God to give us such a wonderful immune fighting machine like this!

It is only by God’s grace that the barcode is changed and that our immune system can fight against the infected cells.

Let’s finish this discussion by looking at the Bible. The Bible tells us just how amazing God’s wisdom is.

Isaiah 55:8 says:

Isaiah 55:8 ESV

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

We have only scratched the surface of how amazing the immune system is today. But I think it is obvious that our Lord’s ways and thoughts are higher than man’s! God has thought of everything. And even though Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, He provided us with an immune system to fight against the effects of sin in our bodies. His grace and mercy are astounding.

However, before we close, we must understand one important infection that is far greater than anything we have mentioned today - one that is much worse than bacteria or even cancer.

The infection that I am referring to is the infection of sin. And there is only one cure for that sin - and that is Jesus Christ. Jesus took our sin and punishment on the cross in our place. He was crucified but rose again three days later and now offers a cure for sin that we refer to as salvation. All you need to do is repent - or turn from your sins - and believe in faith that Jesus is the Son of God and is who He claims to be.

I pray that your physical health is well today and that your immune system is working wonderfully. But even moreso - I pray that your spiritual health is well and that you have received the free gift of salvation offered by Christ.

(Slide Closing 1)

This presentation has been put together to strengthen the faith of believers and to challenge the unbelief of others. I pray that you have found this presentation helpful.

Also, please note that this 10-15 minute presentation cannot exhaustively address most issues. My prayer is that it stimulates you to personally research further, and I am assured that you will find the Word of God proven time and time again.

(Slide Closing 2 with outro music)

Feel free to email any ideas you would like to see addressed by emailing me at crosspointewv@gmail.com. There are slides prepared for each of these presentations which can be accessed at our church website at crosspointefamily.church and select ATG. God bless and have a blessed week.

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