FEARFULLY & WONDERFULLY MADE
Ps. 139:13-14,16
I. WANTING TO CHANGE OURSELVES & WHY
1. Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and didn't like what you saw? Hello! I have. It's common, especially among young people, to be self-conscious about our looks.
2. We begin to compare ourselves with other people, to notice other people’s expectations or preferences. People in Hollywood get surgery on their lips or noses or other parts, because they want to look like somebody else.
3. Who are you trying to impress? Do you not know that God created you to be different from the next person for a reason? If you succeeded in changing yourself to look (or act) like someone else, then you’re no longer unique! What have you accomplished? Absolutely nothing, except for deep regret, poor self-image, depression, etc.
II. YOU ARE GOD’S MASTERPIECE
A. GOD DOESN’T MAKE MISTAKES
God doesn’t make mistakes; He made you and I the way we are for a particular reason. God sees things we don’t see!
1. The Bible says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” in Psalm 139:13-14,16.
2. JOKE. Some scientists are attempting human cloning; we think we’re as smart as God, but that’s an impossibility!
a. There’s a joke about a scientist who told God he was as smart as God, & that now he could make life in a test-tube. God listened very patiently and kindly to the man.
b. God said, "Very well, let’s have a life-making contest!" The scientist replied, "Okay, great!" God said, "We'll do this just like I did it back in the old days with Adam."
c. The scientist said, "Sure, no problem," and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt. God looked at him and said, "No, You have to get your own dirt!"
[The joke is, almost all that scientists are doing is manipulating the already complex creation which God has made. Nothing they’re doing is truly original.]
B. AMAZING THINGS ABOUT HUMANS
1. SNEEZE. A sneeze can exceed the speed of 100 mph.
2. SPIT. The average human produces 25,000 quarts of spit in a lifetime, enough to fill two swimming pools.
3. FEET. The feet account for one quarter of all the human bodies bones–that's 52 bones in the feet alone. A pair of feet has 250,000 sweat glands.
4. NOSE. Your nose is not as sensitive as a dog's, but it can remember 50,000 different scents.
5. SYMBIOSIS. Every square inch of the human body has an average of 32 million bacteria on it.
6. BRAIN. In man is a 3 pound brain which has a 100 billion neurons intricately linked to each other. The total number of connections in the brain approaches 10 to the 15th power, or 1,000 million million.
7. EYE. An eye is composed of more than 2 million working parts. An eye cannot be transplanted. More than 1 million nerve fibers connect each eye to the brain. Your retina is thinner than paper, yet its tiny surface (only 1 inch square) contains 137 million light-sensitive cells. These retina cells perform up to 10 billion calculations per second in determining the nature of the image transmitted to the eye by light photons. No supercomputer on earth is capable of matching these virtually instantaneous calculations.
8. DNA. Francis Collins, the scientist who led the team that cracked the human genome, says, "When you have for the first time in front of you this 3.1 billion letter instruction book that conveys all kinds of information…you can't survey that…without a sense of awe….and…a vague sense that this is giving me a glimpse of God's mind.”
9. You are God's masterpiece. Did you know that humans are the only creations that God breathed into the “breath of life?” He gave us living souls, and pronounced us “good!” Genesis 1:31. So when God looks at us, He doesn’t just focus on our shortcomings, but He sees our potential to do great things for Him.
C. “I AM SPECIAL”
1. I am special. In all the world there is no one like me. Since the beginning of time, there has never been another person like me. Nobody has my smile, my eyes, my nose, my hair, my hands or my voice.
2. I am special. No one can be found who has my handwriting, has my taste for food, clothing, music, or art. No one sees things just like I do. In all of time, there’s never been anyone who cries like me, and what makes me laugh or cry, will never produce identical laughter and tears from anybody else. I am the only one who has my set of abilities; no one else has my combination of talents, ideas, abilities and feelings.
3. I am special. I am rare, and in all rarity there is great value. I need not attempt to imitate others. I will accept, even celebrate my differences. I am special. And I am beginning to realize, it is no accident I am special. God made me special for a purpose. He must have a job for me to do that no one else can do as well as I. Out of all the billions of applicants, only one is qualified; only one has the right combination of what it takes. That one is me, because I am special! [Author Unknown]
III. GOD HAS A UNIQUE PLAN FOR YOU
A. GOD KNOWS ALL YOU’RE GOING TO FACE
1. Psalm 139:16 says that God knew the challenges that you will face in life and that He has a unique plan for your life. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
2. We serve a good God who loves you dearly and wants to use you regardless of your past experiences. He alone can turn your messes into miracles, your trials into testimonies.
3. Remember, there’s no perfect human beings on this earth, not one; we all have our imperfections & weaknesses, and God already knew them before we were born, and He loves us in spite of them! John 3:16 says, “For God loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
B. A GOD OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
1. We are judged every day by our looks, the color of our skin, our educational level, the mistakes and decisions we have made and so forth, but see what our Heavenly Father is like; He’s color-blind!
2. So rejoice today that you’ve been fearfully & wonderfully created by a great and mighty God who loves you so dearly. Is there any greater love than this? None at all!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. There was a man who lived in a tiny apartment and died in extreme poverty. This man never had any successes to speak of, nor any noted victories. He lived and died as just another face in the crowd.
2. After the funeral, some family members went to his little run-down apartment to clear out his belongings. They found a painting hanging on the wall, so they decided to sell it at a garage sale.
3. The woman who bought it from the garage sale took it to a local art gallery for an appraisal and was shocked to discover that the painting was extremely valuable.
4. The piece of art that hung for so many years in a little run-down apartment was painted by a famous artist who lived in the early 1800s. At auction it sold for several million dollars!
5. Just think how that poor man’s life might have changed if he had known the value of what he possessed. He was a multimillionaire and didn’t even know it!
6. Many people are living today with the priceless treasure of salvation within their grasp, but they don’t do anything with it.
7. You are a masterpiece, created by the most famous Artist of all, but if you don’t understand your value, you’ll go on thinking, “I’m just average; I’m not that talented; I’ve made so many mistakes.”
8. Instead, every morning when you get out of bed, remind yourself, “I’m important. I’m handpicked by God, and I’m God’s special treasure, created in the image of Almighty God!”
B. PRAYER
