Thursday, April 15, 2010
You Matter to God!
Our world is no accident; it is a glorious display of ingenuity and purpose. Life, itself, is a precious gift that was painstakingly planned. We live on a planet that was especially designed for “abundant life,” in every sense of the phrase. (John 10:10) Scientist have long warned that we should take care of the earth because so many systems must be healthy and in place in order for life to prosper. As author Robert Sawyer pointed out, “If the strength of gravity differed from its known strength by as much as one part in 1 x 1040, stars like our sun could not exist, and therefore neither could a life-supporting planet like earth.” Other enormous factors such as the temperature of our sun, our exact positioning in the galaxy, and the distance between the earth and the moon all testify that somebody bigger than you and I wanted life to exist on this planet. Ironically, our very concern for the health of the earth is proof that we must instinctively recognize that the earth is not an accident just morphing along into something profound and meaningful. Instead, like us, this planet was “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
The knowledge that you and I matter, and that we were placed on a planet that is ideally suited to us can be of great comfort. Astrophysicist Paul Davies, who does not publicly proclaim any particular religious position, notes that “we can’t avoid some anthropic component in our science, which is interesting, because after three hundred years we finally realize that we do matter.” I would go further and contend that mankind is God’s crowning creation. He set us up for success. That is why our earth and its cultures flourish to the degree that human beings are willing to work under God’s directives. Conversely, when we live in opposition to God’s laws there are miserable consequences.
One poet expressed just how much you and I matter to God like this: “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” (Psalms 139:13-18 NLT)
The very fact that mankind ponders such wonders is evidence that God gave him a place of great honor in His creation. Man, unlike the rest of the animal kingdom, was given a living soul. Neuroscientist, Mario Beauregard, said, “As conscious beings, we do not simply undergo experiences; we create them. A worm, bothered by light shining on its photosensitive spots, immediately seeks darkness. A human, faced with a similar unwelcome experience, may ask, “But must I flee? What if I don’t? Can I learn from this?”
Perhaps life has been difficult for you lately, causing you to wonder about things like, “Why am I here, and where am I going?” If you were just a mass of random molecules you would not have the ability to ponder those things. Do you suppose it is a coincidence that so many pondering people, for so many years found their answer in a relationship with Jesus Christ? After all, He made us (John 1:3) – that is why we matter to Him.
The knowledge that you and I matter, and that we were placed on a planet that is ideally suited to us can be of great comfort. Astrophysicist Paul Davies, who does not publicly proclaim any particular religious position, notes that “we can’t avoid some anthropic component in our science, which is interesting, because after three hundred years we finally realize that we do matter.” I would go further and contend that mankind is God’s crowning creation. He set us up for success. That is why our earth and its cultures flourish to the degree that human beings are willing to work under God’s directives. Conversely, when we live in opposition to God’s laws there are miserable consequences.
One poet expressed just how much you and I matter to God like this: “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” (Psalms 139:13-18 NLT)
The very fact that mankind ponders such wonders is evidence that God gave him a place of great honor in His creation. Man, unlike the rest of the animal kingdom, was given a living soul. Neuroscientist, Mario Beauregard, said, “As conscious beings, we do not simply undergo experiences; we create them. A worm, bothered by light shining on its photosensitive spots, immediately seeks darkness. A human, faced with a similar unwelcome experience, may ask, “But must I flee? What if I don’t? Can I learn from this?”
Perhaps life has been difficult for you lately, causing you to wonder about things like, “Why am I here, and where am I going?” If you were just a mass of random molecules you would not have the ability to ponder those things. Do you suppose it is a coincidence that so many pondering people, for so many years found their answer in a relationship with Jesus Christ? After all, He made us (John 1:3) – that is why we matter to Him.
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