OPEN: Bob Hope was one of the great comedian of the last century. As he was getting along in years, he once commented that he’d been reading and was astonished to discover:
“Today my heart beat over 103,000 times,
my blood traveled 168 million miles,
I breathed 23,400 times,
I inhaled 438 cubic feet of air, ate 3 pounds of food, and drank 2.9 pounds of liquid,
I perspired 1.43 pints… gave off 85.3 degrees of heat… generated 450 tons of energy,
I spoke 4,800 words, I moved 750 major muscles,
and I exercised 7 million brain cells.
(pause…) It’s no wonder I’m tired all the time.”
APPLY: (pause…) Augustine once said, "People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars -- and they pass by themselves without wondering."
I. Augustine was right.
Most of don’t realize how intricate and wondrous our bodies really are. I did some reading recently, and I was amazed at the uniqueness and intricateness of our bodies.
ILLUS: For example: In a square inch of skin, you would find:
20 blood vessels;
65 muscles;
78 nerves;
78 sensors for heat, 13 for cold, 160 for pressure;
650 sweat glands;
1300 nerve endings;
and 19,500,000 cells.
The skin serves several purposes including providing a protective shield against bacteria and viruses and the absorbing of bumps and bruising that might otherwise damage your bones and internal organs.… and in that inch of skin, your sweat glands in your body do double duty, helping to eliminate wastes and cool your body.
Then, there’s your brain which weighs about three pounds, but stores 100 trillion bits of information over the course of 70 years. That storage capacity is roughly equal to 500,000 sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica (which, if stacked, would stretch out over 442 miles). Your brain does all this and uses less power than a 100-watt bulb.
Your brain is serviced by about 45 miles of nerves that send impulses through your body as rapidly as 325 miles per hour. Your nervous system is so sensitive you are able to feel on your fingertips (or face) a pressure that depresses your skin a bare .00004 (400,000’s) inch - roughly the weight of a bee’s wing falling on your cheek.
Then, there’s your ears: A piano has 88 keys, but each of your ears has a keyboard with 1500 keys. They are so finely tuned that you can hear the blood running through your vessels.
Your eyes are capable of seeing a small candle flame from 30 miles away on a clear, dark night. And can distinguish among more than 300,000 different color variations
Your nose can smell one drop of perfume diffused through a 3 room apartment.
David wrote: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalms 139:14
Now… I’m sure David didn’t realize all of the facts I’ve just related about our bodies when he penned this psalm. Maybe he was out watching the sheep and happened to glance down at his hands and notice how intriguing they were. I’m not sure… but I do know that something about his body caused him, not only to remark on how fearfully and wondrously made it was, but also to say this: “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…” Psalms 139:15
David was so impressed with the wonder of God’s gift of life that he spoke of it as being “woven together” and here he was using the imagery of a craftsman who skillfully weaves a beautiful & colorful tapestry.
What David is basically saying is this: “I didn’t just happen… I am not an accident… I have value… I have worth
II. Now, David arrives at this conclusion… because he first focused on God
Look again at the first few verses of Psalm 139
“O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in— behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” (Psalm 139:1-6)
Now, remember…
David arrived at his conclusion (that he was a valuable individual) because he recognized that he was created by God. It was God that gave his life value. It was God who gave him worth.
And, without God his life had NO VALUE
ILLUS: (I pulled a $20 out my wallet)
I just got this $20 bill out of the ATM yesterday. If I would offer it to you today… who would take it?
(I tore it)… who would take it now?
(I crumpled it) who would take it now?
(I threw it to the ground and stomped on it) – who would take it now?
(Each time most people raised their hands)
I smiled and said: “Too bad, I’m not giving it to you… but why do you want it this torn, crumpled, dirty piece of paper? (ANSWER: because it still is valuable)
BUT why is it valuable?
Is the paper of this $20 worth twenty dollars?
Is the ink on this bill worth that much money?
Noooo…
Then why is this piece of paper worth $20?
BECAUSE, the government of the United States (which created it) says it’s worth $20. And that is the ONLY reason this bill has any kind of value.
Now, I’ve been told that if I had a powerful enough computer and a efficient enough printer, I could print off an almost identical $20 bill. So, if I were to get ahold of paper like that which the government uses, and ran off my own $20 bills and then tried to use them in some of the local businesses…what would happen?
They would arrest me and haul me off to jail!
Why? Because I tried to pass it off as if it had value… but it had none.
I could use the same kind of paper and ink as the US govt. But, my paper would have no value, because the government didn’t create it.
III. Now… here is where the application sets in.
If God didn’t create us (you…me) or if you believe God did not create us… then you would have a problem.
Because if God didn’t create us (or we didn’t believe He did) we have no reason to believe that we had any greater value than anything other living creature. Whether it were the smallest insect or the most disgusting rat in the sewer, we could not claim that we had any value greater than theirs.
ILLUS: In America, our society has progressively removed God from it’s laws and morals. God and His standards have been continuously challenged by humanistic standards and evolutionary teaching. As a result, it is now against the law to kill a baby Eagle or damage its egg… BUT the aborting a human child is federally endorsed and funded.
An unborn eagle has more value than an unborn child.
Why? Because if God hasn’t created us, we have no rational foundation to believe there is any difference.… that reasoning perfectly logical.
When that type of thinking takes hold, a society begins to be governed by a concept known as “utilitarianism.” Utilitarianism is the belief that people are as valuable as they were useful. If people cease to be useful… they would cease to be valuable.
ILLUS: Back when I was in High School I unwittingly played a mind game in class that was based on this concept. We were given a scenario of a post-nuclear war. The world had been destroyed by a nuclear holocaust and you are one of 10 people who have holed up in a bomb shelter and have survived the war.
Now, there was not going to be enough food for more than 5 of these people to be able to survive until they could raise crops to eat. So only five people are going to be allowed to be part of the chosen few that will be allowed to live… and you have to decide who will live and who will die. You are given their occupations: Doctor, policeman, a woman of child bearing age and her son, etc. etc.
The goal of this “game” was supposedly to get the student to reveal how valuable they thought each person would be in the struggle of survival that would follow. But the underlying concept of that exercise was this: a person’s value was based upon their usefulness.
If they weren’t useful, they weren’t valuable.
Now, God condemns that type of thinking… because to God - all mankind has value,
Why? (wait for a response). That’s right… because all of mankind has been made in His image.
Genesis 1:27 tells us “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
And Genesis 2:7 declares that “the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
For that reason, God values all people… especially people that the world would overlook.
In Exodus 22 God makes His attitude abundantly clear when He says:
"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless. Exodus 22:22-24
James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...
You see: to God all human life has value.
And that’s especially true of you and I who belong to Jesus Christ.
Our lives are a gift from God.
And only you have your kind of abilities
Only you have your kind of skills
Only you have the potential that God has built into you.
IV. Now, there are those who would say…
(Use blasé voice) “Yeah… I understand this idea that I’m fearfully and wonderfully made.. My body is a biological wonder and that God created me… but, you know… I don’t feel so valuable.
I don’t know if – in this gift exchange of life – I got such a great gift. I mean – look at me:
I’m too old
I’m too poor
I’m not smart enough
I’m not good looking enough
I’m not talented enough
I’m not… (well… you fill in the blank)
I don’t feel that I have abilities or skills that are going to make that great a difference.
I feel… shortchanged.”
I understand that kind of thinking. I mean… some of us are old, weak, intellectually challenged. But that thinking fails to take into account that our value doesn’t depend upon our strengths. Our value depends upon our creator. Our worth is increased in direct relation to how much we allow God use us.
God says that when He wants something done it’s going to be done “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the LORD Almighty. Zechariah 4:6
Throughout Scripture, when God wanted something done, He “chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things— and the things that are not— to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. I Corinthians 1:27-28
ILLUS: Have you ever bought a gift for a child on Christmas and watched as they unwrapped it? They open up the box… and there’s this great toy. It has all kinds of buttons and switches. It’s a wonder of electronic wizardry… and then the child turns it on… and nothing happens!
Why? Because you forgot to put in the batteries. In fact, you don’t have any batteries in the house. Now, your child sits there with this marvelous, wonderful toy with all kinds of potential and it can’t do anything, all because you lack the power to turn it on. It was so simple to put in the batteries… but you overlooked it because it was so obvious.
The power for us as Christians… (that which gives us value and real worth) is attained upon the simple act of putting His power inside our lives. We put that power inside of us by:
Spending time in prayer
Spending the time to seek out His will in Bible study
Deliberately deciding to put God at the center of our lives
AND… believing that WHEN God is ready, He will us to make a difference.
You see… God isn’t finished with you yet.
He has created us to do something very special.
He has designed us with a unique purpose in mind
BUT it is only when we lay hold of His power and wait patiently for His guidance that we realize our full potential.
ILLUS: You have got to remember that some of the greatest heroes of Scripture were flawed…
…until God finished His work in their lives.
Jacob was a liar.
Miriam was a bigot and a gossip.
Moses stuttered
King David had an affair.
The prophet Amos was an unskilled laborer
Elijah suffered from depression
Naomi was a widow.
Abraham was too old.
David was too young.
Timothy had ulcers.
Thomas was a doubter
Peter was afraid of death.
And Lazarus (pause for effect…) he WAS dead.
If God could do great things with men and women like these, what do you think He could do with you.
Especially since… when you became a Christian you became “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
God has given you a great gift in the life that you live, and He intends to give you even greater gifts in the potential that your life can have.
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES: CELEBRATING GOD’S GIFTS
The Gift of Life = Psalms 139:1-139:24
Christmas Card From God = Psalms 104:1-104:35
What Did You Get For Christmas? = Isaiah 9:6-9:7
The Gift Of New Life = Romans 5:6-6:14
