Psalm 139:14 declares, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” The context of this verse is the incredible nature of our physical bodies. The human body is the most complex and unique organism in the world, and that complexity and uniqueness speaks volumes about the mind of its Creator. Every aspect of the body, down to the tiniest microscopic cell, reveals that it is fearfully and wonderfully made.
Here are some things that might blow your mind about our bodies:
- Your body is made up of approximately 100 trillion cells. Each one of those cells has a nucleus and each nucleus has your DNA. If you were to stretch out all the DNA in your body, it would stretch out to about 744 million miles away. You could go to the sun and back four times. In those miles, you could also go back and forth from the moon 1500 times.
- Your skin is the ultimate touchscreen. every square inch of your skin includes four yards of nerve fibers, 600 pain sensors, 1300 nerve cells, 9000 nerve endings, 36 heat sensors, 75 pressure sensors, 100 sweat glands, 3 million cells and three yards of blood vessels.
- Our eyes can distinguish up to 1 million colors and take in more information than the largest existing telescope.
- You could have two thirds of your liver removed from trauma or surgery and it would grow back to its original size in four years. No, try four weeks. Four weeks.
- Your lungs have a surface area the size of a tennis court.
- Your stomach has a disposable lining. Did you know that your stomach renews its lining every four days?
- You have a genetic barcode that was stamped on your fingertips when you were six weeks old that has never existed before and will never exist again.
We should not take our existence for granted. We should not take one another's existence for granted. The human body is not just a human body. It is an extraordinary work of art by the God of all creation. You are a unique work of art.
So what does it mean to that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made"?
Because all humanity is fearfully and wonderfully made, the Creator and Lord know the hairs on our heads and has such detailed and precise knowledge of our lives down to the very nanosecond of when we will be born, live, and die. Because all humanity is fearfully and wonderfully made by the Lord, He owns all humanity as well as the rest of the world He created, governs, and sustains. Because all humanity is fearfully and wonderfully made, all life is sacred (Genesis 9:6) deserving of the highest level of dignity and respect. Because all humanity is fearfully and wonderfully made, humanity is the pinnacle of creation created to resemble God and to fill the earth with fellow image-bearers of God.
However we might be tempted to see ourselves, God sees us in a very different kind of way. Truly, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. How grateful we can be to know our Creator—through His Son, Jesus Christ—and to marvel not only at His knowledge but also at His love (Psalm 139:17-24). May we appreciate more the life that we have and never forget the purpose of our very existence: to reflect and represent the very God who made us.
“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!” - Psalm 139:17-18