romeochurch.com

Alive

Alive Psalm 139:13-14 "People travel to wonder at the heights of a mountain, At the huge waves of the sea …At the vast compass of the ocean, At the circular motion of the stars; And they pass by themselves without wondering." Today, we will take Saint Augustine’s advice and instead of looking outward into God’s marvelous creation, instead of being so caught up with God’s great creation, the images we would take digital pictures of, we will turn our attention onto ourselves and we will look inward at how God fearfully and wonderfully made us. Image - Eye: Do you know what this is? It is a picture of the human eye. Scientists say the human eye is the most complex computerized mechanism that we can fathom. In the retina, there are 120 million rods and cones; it undergoes billions of computations every second sending signals to the brain to discern what things look like. Consider how the eye is developed in the womb. 1M optic nerve endings move out of the brain and 1M nerve endings move out of the flesh of the eyeball and they must find each other. Number 104 nerve ending from the brain must find number 104 from the eyeball, and all 2M must connect with their exact partner before you can see. Take a look at this video about the incredible complexity of the human eye. video As we consider our two eyes, we can agree on this – we were wonderfully made. The psalmist penned these words: “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 works are wonderful, I know that full well.”(Psalm 139:13-14) Let’s talk for a moment about knitting you together. As the eye develops in the womb, it has one solid piece of skin covering the eye. At six months, a mysterious blade appears and cuts the eye lids exactly in half. The scientific material actually says that it is a mysterious blade that makes the cut. This is the mystery and divinity of God. Truly, God is forming us and we are fearfully and wonderfully made. How are you fearfully and wonderfully made? You contain 75 trillion cells. That is 75 times 1000 billion. The number is too incredible to appreciate. Consider it in terms of seconds. Does anyone know how long ago 1 million seconds ago was? 1 million seconds ago was 12 days ago. What about 1 billion seconds ago? 1 billion seconds was 32 years ago. What about 1 trillion seconds ago? That was 31,710 years ago. So, when we say that we are made up of 75 trillion cells, that is a huge number. By the time I say 1 sentence (or 4 seconds) 50,000 of those cells die. Your body replaces 50,000 cells every 5 seconds. All day long, cells are dying and cells are reproducing. Image – Milky Way stars: Maybe you recall that we discussed that there are 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. The number of stars in our galaxy pales in comparison to the number of cells in 1 human body. 1 person has 375 times the number of stars in the galaxy. Out of those cells, 25 trillion are red blood cells. These are the workers carrying oxygen from our lungs to our extremities. Red blood cells live only 120 days. Another 25 billion of the cells are white blood cells creating our immune system. These cells live only 12 hours, so our body is making 50 billion white blood cells every day of our lives. Our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made. [Globe] When it comes to our arteries, capillaries and blood vessels 1 person has 75,000 miles of this inside their body. Is that a lot? 75,000 miles would be enough to stretch around the earth 3 times. We have 7 miles of hair that grows every year. We have 650 skeletal muscles that comprise 1/3 of our body weight. It is estimated that if all of our muscles worked together, it would generate enough power to lift 11 tons or four SUVs. God knit you together; God knit all 75,000 miles of blood vessels; he counts the number of hairs on our head, and God gives us our strength for we are fearfully and wonderfully made in his image. [Image of 5 month fetus] Here is a 5 month old in the womb. It is fascinating what God had to do for this baby to be. 1 cell from dad and 1 cell from mom met. Inside each of these cells are 23 chromosomes, and these 2 sets of 23 chromosomes each decided to match up and merge together; and they formed a new DNA strand that never existed before. Inside these 2 cells is everything that is necessary to make you. In every cell of the 75 trillion cells they say there is a 6 foot long DNA strand of information. So, that is 75 trillion times 6 feet. If you were to stretch that DNA information out, it would go to the moon and back 20,000 times; this is your genetic code. Scientists say that we have genetic cod that would fill 7,000 books. The complexity with which God makes us far exceeds the capacity of the human brain; only God could knit together someone this complex. What about the human brain? 100M messages every second are sent to your brain, but that information would overload any brain, so it computes about 200-300 messages every second. Even when we sleep, the brain activity keeps firing. Take a look at this video about our brain. [video of brain] God knit that brain of yours together; it can do unfathomable things pointing us to the conclusion that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Branding: When it comes to someone making a masterpiece, they usually will brand it. There is this important marketing idea of branding; Brands were originally developed as labels of ownership. You may know various brands like these [images – Nike, M & M and Superman] Did you know that God is into branding too? It appears that God has developed an image of ownership. Maybe you recall we showed you an image of the whirlpool galaxy [image] which is 31 million light years away. They estimate there are 300-500 billion stars; in fact a new star is being born every second. What is so awesome about the Whirlpool Galaxy is what stands in the center of the nucleus about 31 million light years away from us. The image you are about to see was discovered by astronomers in the galaxy 31 million light years away. In this great and infinite universe, God branded it His…take a look at this. [image X structure] Do you see what I see? It appears that God has branded the universe as His, He demonstrates ownership over the universe and galaxies. And, while the universe is truly amazing just as Saint Augustine said, "People travel to wonder at the heights of a mountain…At the circular motion of the stars; And they pass by themselves without wondering." So, let’s not pass by ourselves. What does God have to say about us? As you know, our body is made up of 75 trillion cells, but what holds all of that together? There is a cell adhesion molecule that holds our bodies together. Would you like to see it? As you look at this cell, remember that it is the very thing that holds your entire body, all 75 trillion cells together. [Image – Laminin] That is unbelievable that the thing that holds our bodies together is in the perfect shape of the cross just like the one of our Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Immediately, I thought of the words of Paul who wrote this in Colossians 1:16-17 “For by [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…all things were created by [Jesus] and for [Jesus]. He is before all things, and in [Jesus] all things hold together.” It is the cross of Jesus that holds our body together. Truly, God has made us and we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Our heavenly father knit us together in our mother’s womb with the cell adhesion molecule that brands us with the cross; our God has claimed ownership over our bodies. God did not create us because he was lonely or because he needed fellowship with other persons – God did not need us for any reason. There was perfect love and fellowship among the Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Even in the midst of that great truth that our God needs no human being, he did not create us due to any deficiency or any need, but instead he created us because he is omnificent; I would like to teach you a new word today, the word is omnificent. Omnificent means unlimited in creative power; yes, our God is unlimited in creative power. So, God created us because he is unlimited in creative power, but why? Why did this awesome creator create me? God speaks of his sons and daughters from the ends of the earth as those “whom I created for my glory.” Isaiah 43:6-7 “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth - everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." Almighty God who is omnificent that is the One who is unlimited in creative power uniquely knits each human together thereby they are fearfully and wonderfully made so that we his creations can give the Creator glory and honor. What do we do with this God size truth that we are fearfully and wonderfully made? First, realize that you are a one of a kind creation by Almighty God. The great Creator knitted you together and formed you; you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Today, we need to begin to realize that we are priceless, unique creations of God. God made you a special person to fulfill his purpose through you. God created you with a special body to accomplish his goals through you. You cannot inhabit a new body during this earthly life. Avoid an attitude of bitterness about your body, but embrace it with thankfulness. No matter how different you may have been made, we are all made the way God decided. Second, pursue your God-given destiny. Live like you are dying. See, we are all in a terminal condition. Stop taking life for granted and begin leaning into your destiny. Make these few brief days count. God made you for a purpose. Last, we should immediately praise the omnificent God. Your life is significant. God did not need to create us, but he did the most important reason of all…to give God glory. What is our primary purpose in life? It is to give glory and honor to God. One way to praise him is to be stunned with your intricacy and uniqueness; another way to praise him is through song. In these final moments be stunned with his unlimited creative power and sing praises to your heavenly father who fearfully and wonderfully made us.

Next >

[ Back ]

Marriage

At Romeo, we don't think great marriages happen by mistake. So we work hard to help encourage you.

Children's Ministry Kid's Ministry

For children birth through 6th grade, your kids will beg you to come to church on Sunday.

Students

Students are vital to many aspects of Romeo's ministry. We invite middle and high school students to join a small group, get connected, and experience life change.

Romeo Bible Institute