The Six Million Dollar Man ?
Psalm 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? and the son of man that thou visitest him ?
Have you ever questioned your worth ? I’m sure that all of us have felt at times that we are worthless. We probably all wonder ocassionally if who we are, or what we do is of any real value ? This evening I want us to look at the subject of "The Six Million Dollar Man" or "The Value of Life"
How many remember the "Six Million Dollar Man" series from the 70’s. It was of course the story of a injured astronaut whose only hope for living was to have new bionic human technology implanted into his broken body at the cost of 6 million dollars. Amazingly, some years ago in response to the biogenic six million dollar man proposed by Hollywood , Harold, J. Morowitz, a leading chemist received a birthday card from his daughter. It read, "According to biochemists the materials of your body are worth only 98 cents!" Intrigued by that statement sent from his daughter, Morowitz took out his chemical supply catalog and began looking up the prices of all the chemicals that composed the human body. Well, it turned out that the human body of an average size is actually worth more than SIX MILLION DOLLARS, chemically speaking. Here’s the breakdown Morowitz found:
(1) Hemoglobin - $ 285 a gram;
(2) Insulin - $ 47.50 a gram;
(3) Trypsin - $ 36 a gram;
(4) Bilrubin, the bile pigment, $ 12 a gram;
(5) Human DNA, $ 76 a gram;
(6) Collagen, $ 15 a gram;
(7) Human albumin, $ 3.00 a gram. Even more, less common constituents like
(8) Acetate Kinase, $ 8,860 a gram;
(9) Alkaline Phosphatase, $ 225 a gram;
(10)Amino acids such as Bradykinin cost upwards of $ 12 a gram. Now the real shocker came, when he got to the
(11) follicle-stimulating hormone at $ 8 million a gram and then
(12) Prolactin the hormone that stimulates milk production for mothers, this costs
$ 17.5 million a gram.
Well taking all these costs into account from a common chemical supply catalog and calculating the percentages of each chemical in the composition of the human body, Morowitz arrived at the cost of $ 245.54, as the average value, per gram, of any human being. Then, taking the average weight of himself at 168 pounds or 79,364 grams, but subtracting for the fact that man’s body is 68 % water, his dry weight would then be 24,436 grams. Finally, multiplying that by $ 254.54, Dr. Morowitz found his body alone was worth $ 6,000,015.44! Imagine that! How about that ladies ? And you thought your husbands were worthless. Now if you could only find a way to extract all those chemicals out of his body !
However, one must not stop there, for the SIX MILLION DOLLAR figure of the average human being’s body is inaccurate. That figure applies only, to the human atoms priced at their sophisticated, informational state. The supply companies, to offer these chemicals in their existing state within the human body, brings an even greater picture as the value of man’s basic body. If the supply companies had to synthesize these elements from raw materials, the desired chemicals would increase in value per person to SIX BILLION dollars. But then, once having these chemicals in the needed forms, is still not enough. You see, now someone would have to assemble these synthetic molecules into cellular structures, and then make them into larger cell components. Again, Dr. Morowitz then estimated the cost per human body, would jump much higher to $ 600 BILLION! Would we then have man? The answer is still no.
Still, another crucial step would be necessary. The cell components now produced at over say $ 600 BILLION dollars, must now be turned into human cells. How much more will this cost, chemically speaking? The answer Dr, Morowitz reported is a figure of $ 6000 trillion dollars!
But what would we have now? We would just have a blob of combined simple cells. Obviously more is necessary, for cells must become tissues, tissues must become organs, and organs must be set up to function as the human being is found today. How much is man worth? Well, Dr. Morowitz at this point, in dollars and cents said: "Our ability to calculate this now disappears!"
(from The World, The Word & You Broadcast)
Yet this evening we are of even greater value because God remembers us ! David asks the question……"What is man that thou art mindful of him ?" Think about it this evening. Your are in God’s thoughts. He thinks of you…..he remembers you ! He knows your name…..and the number of the hairs on your head…..which is in the case of some of us doesn’t take much calculating !!!
This evening we should look at ourselves as being of great value. We should also look at others in the same manner. In fact, we should view all of human life as being sacred.
Let me share four things with you about the value of life.
I. We see the value of life in the creation. Gen. 2:7
a. Look at the formation.
"the LORD God formed man...."
Joke: It is said that God created the donkey and told him: you will work tireless from sun up to sun down, carrying heavy bags on your back, you’ll eat grass, you will not have intelligence and you will live 50 years. You will be a DONKEY! The donkey answered: I’ll be a donkey, but living 50 years is too much, give me only 20 years. And God gave him 20 years.God created the dog and told him: You will look after the man’s house, you will be his best friend, you will eat whatever they give you and you will live 25 years. You will be a DOG! The dog answered: God, living 25 years is too much, give only 10. God gave him 10 years.
God created the monkey and told him: You will jump from branch to branch, you will do silly things, you will be amusing and you will live 20 years.The monkey answered: God, living 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years. And God agreed. Finally, God created man, and told him: You will be Man, the only rational being on this earth, you will use your intelligence to control other animals, you will dominate the world and you will live for 20 years. The man answered: God, I’ll be man, but living 20 years is not enough, why don’t you give me the 30 years that the donkey refused, the 20 years that the dog did not want and the 10 years that the monkey refused. That was what God did, and since then, Men live 20 years like a man, then he enters adulthood and spends 30 years like a donkey, working and carrying the load on his back, then when his children leave home, spends 15 years like a dog, looking after the house and eating whatever is given to him, then he gets into retirement, and spends 10 years like a monkey, jumping from house to house or from children to children, doing silly things to amuse the grandchildren.
Life did not come into being because of some catastrophic explosion or because of the merging of some elements. We are not here by accident ! We are here as the result of a deliberate act of God. The LORD God formed man ! The word "formed" means "squeezed". It is a word used to describe the actions of a potter in forming a object from clay.
Psalms 40:2 (KJV) 2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
b. Look at the formula.
"....of the dust of the ground."
Gen 3:18 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Ecc 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust and all turn to dust again.
I’m reminded of the story of the scientists who told God that they had advanced so much that they too could create life. God challenged them to create life and they accepted. God leaned over and picked up some dust. As the scientists bent over to pick up some dust God said…huh-uh…get your own dust!
c. Look at the figure. Gen. 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: ..........
God used himself as a model when making man.
d. Look at the flow. 2:7
God ...."breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Take a deep breath !
II. We see the value of life in the commandment.
a. the command against murder.
Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
b. the command against malice.
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Life is of such value that not only are we not to take life, but we are not to be malicious in our treatment of others
We are to value life because God is the giver of life, and because he had commanded us to keep life sacred. We are not to murder ! Jesus takes the respect of life to a higher level so that we are not to kill by our actions or our words !
III. We see the value of life in the conception.
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jer 20:17 Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.
a. discerned by God.
Before our conception, we existed in the mind of God.
b. determined by God.
When we were in the womb of our mothers, God formed us. He determined what we would be, and how we would look. The word "form" is the same verse used in the original creation of Adam.
c. dedicated by God.
Jeremiah is told that he was sanctified in the womb before he was ever born. He was dedicated by God. Separated for a purpose. God has a purpose for every child.
d. directed by God.
The direction of Jeremiah’s life was chosen in the womb. He would have an impact upon the world. In the last 31 years, approx 43 million children have been slaughtered in the womb through what is called abortion. Those were children that God knew….that he determined…..that he dedicated……that he would have directed, yet they never got to make their impact upon this world.
IV. We see the value of life in the cross.
We are not only of great worth, and value because of the creation, and because of God’s command to respect life, and not only because of the way in which we were conceived, but if you need further proof of your worth, look back at the cross.
a. See his shame.
The son of God stripped of his clothing that we might be clothed in the righteousness of God.
b. See his suffering.
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquites: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:10 Yet is pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his see, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
c. See his separation.
Matt 27:46 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?
d. See his sacrifice.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
God created each of us this evening. He loved us so much that he sent his son Jesus Christ to pay the price that we might be redeemed. Would you come this evening repenting of your sins, and trusting Christ ?
