Design and Chance
—Aye It Makes a Body Think
Are you a product of design or chance? At your conception, you were one single tiny cell. Now your body consists of around ten million million cells. These human cells individually and collectively show an origin of design as opposed to chance.
1 Design in the Human Cell
Each cell in your body is extremely small —even far more tiny than the full stop at the end of this sentence. Yet within each tiny cell there is incredible complexity and purpose.
Think of your local village. How long would it take you to describe every detail of every person, animal, house, shop, road and path, cable and pipe? Now imagine you are able to shrink your village, without losing any detail, until it is so small you cannot see it except under a powerful microscope. Although it is now so tiny, it has retained all its complexity and motion. Just imagine that.
Well that gives you some idea of the complexity and wonder of a single human cell. As the poet David said to God, "I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well" (Psalm 139:14).
At the centre of each cell in your body there is an encoded model of your entire body. For example the cells that form your fingers contain not only the code for your fingers, but for the design of your entire body.
The encoded model of your body is composed of four chemicals that are arranged in very complex sequences along a double-stranded structure about a metre long. This is spiral-packed into 46 bundles to fit into a small part of the already minute cell.
The cell has a communications system by which to read and distribute the information that the encoded model provides. The cell has mechanisms for using the encoded information to manipulate twenty different special chemicals. It combines them in various ordered sequences to produce dozens of very complex chemical chains, each of which has some specific purpose essential to the development, functioning, and renewal of your body.
Also contained in the cell is a marvelous system that collects, stores, and processes available nutrients for fuel. It distributes fuel to parts of the cell that require energy.
2 The Designer of the Cosmos
Some folk think that the cells of your body (and indeed the entire Cosmos) are the product originally of chance. Others believe that they were originally designed by an infinite mind. Which do you believe?
The Bible tells us that the owner of that infinite mind became for a little while a human being with a human body and in every way like us —except that he was born of a virgin and never did any wrong.
"'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' which translates as ‘God with us’." Matthew 1:23
"He did no sin nor was any deceit found in his mouth" (1Peter 2:22, Isaiah 53:9). He never used a single cell of his body for an evil purpose.
"He made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men... and became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross" (Philippians 2:7-8 NKJV).
Although he existed in human form, and allowed his body to be killed as a sacrifice for humanity, he was the Creator of all things including the human form and the cells that govern it.
John 1:1-5,14
¶“1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Everything was made [created] through him, and nothing was made without him —of all that has ever been made. 4In him was life, and the life was humanity’s light. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not understand [or overcome] it” (John 1:1-5).
¶“14And the Word became flesh [a human being] and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory —the glory that belongs to the unique Son of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
3 The Design for the Future
Although he was killed, he arose from the dead and his body was transported into heaven and glorified (Acts 2:31-33, Acts 1:9-11, 1Timothy 3:16).
More wonderful still, as marvelous as the human body is, in every cell, Jesus will one day "transform our lowly body that it may conform to his glorious body, using the power he has to subdue all things to himself" (Philippians 3:21).
Furthermore Jesus has designed a city in heaven where God dwells. He has made a place for us, our glorified bodies and our forgiven souls to dwell for ever. By God’s grace, you can be included in this Master Plan. It's not a matter of chance, but of faith and obedience and the promise of Jesus (John 14:1-3).
Conclusion
Such is the purpose of God. You see not chance but design in the microscopic human cell. You see it in the unique human being Jesus Christ the Son of God. You see it in the glorious ultimate plan of God, revealed in the Bible. You can only say with the Scotsman, “Aye, it makes a body think!”
❖ This lesson was taken from original lesson material published by me circa 1980 in The Communicator.