Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
I would like us to take a journey back over time this morning. We’ve heard so often through our lives about God’s hand in our lives, but how much have we actually considered that point?
When an artist finishes his creation, he leaves his mark or “signature” somewhere, be it hidden or plainly seen. When an athlete is successful in something he is attempting, he has his own namesake move or action (Michael had the tongue, Tiger the fist pump). A writer’s signature is typically his style or expressiveness. There are those musicians who have their own sound (Elvis, Ozzy, Snoop Dog, Petra, Carmen). You see, every creator adds his own flare to what he puts his hands to. How does this transfer over to God and us?
Genesis 1:26-27 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Psalm 17:6 calls God’s children the apple of his eye
Psalm 33:9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
Jeremiah 1:3 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Colossians 1:15-20 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Romans 1:18-22 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
Psalm 139:1-18 1 O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. 5 You hem me in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.
He will hold you in his hands all the days of your life. He knows the very number of hairs on your head.
How do we know or understand or believe that all of this is true or not?
Look a little deeper inside of us…
It is believed there are between 10 and 60,000 proteins in our bodies, then number is unsure, and we are not certain what all of them do. But, in the midst of this natural occurrence in our bodies, there is one that stands out. It defies logic. I promise, if you go to someone and tell them about this, and I believe you will, and they are skeptical about God, they will rip holes in this. It’s a little protein molecule called laminin. It is a cell adhesion, protein molecule. Cells organize into certain molecular structures, and laminin tells the cells what their job. It is considered the rebar or the glue of the human body.
I know. You are sitting there saying, “OK, so what? What does this mean to me and this sermon?”
Take a look at this scientific drawing of the laminin molecule…
Pretty amazing, isn’t it? Those three shorter legs are perfect for connecting to other laminin molecules, and the longer leg for holding fast to organs and other parts within us. Three. A cord of three-strand is not quickly broken. But that’s just a drawing… Take a look at an actual microscopic image…
He has built himself in you. You are not only created in His image. His signature is what holds you together. The trademark of his plan of salvation was encoded into our bodies even before Jesus left Heaven to come and give his life. Why can God say you have always known him? Because he has downloaded himself inside you in ways that we won’t ever even realize or know. When God said nothing could ever separate us from his love, do you think he smiled to himself because he knew how he created you? You are fearfully and wonderfully made. The symbol of his plan for you is what holds your body together; it is the foundation of your natural body that makes it all stay together. Why? Because he wants your spiritual life to overcome. And he is waiting for you right now to energize all of those little, hidden, God-specific secrets within you to begin accomplishing his work in this world.