Šta znači da smo divno stvoreni (Psalam 139:14)?

Psalam 139:14 kaže: „Hvalim Te, što sam divno sazdan. Divna su dela Tvoja, i duša moja to zna dobro.” U kontekstu ovog stiha govori se o tome kako je čudesna priroda naših tela. Ljudsko telo je najsložniji organizam na svetu, i ta složenost i jedinstvenost strašno mnogo govore o tome kako razmišlja njen Tvorac. Svaki aspekt tela, sve do najmanje ćelije otkriva da smo divno stvoreni. Inženjeri znaju kako da kreiraju jake a lake bandere tako što stavljaju jak materijal po spoljnim ivicama prevoja a unutrašnjost pune lakšim, slabijim materijalom. Ovo se radi zato što je najveći pritisak na površini strukture kada se grade uobičajeni prevoji ili mesta pritiska. Presek ljudske kosti pokazuje da se na spoljnim ivicama nalazi snažan materijal a unutra je fabrika krvnih ćelija različitih vrsta. Kada proučite sofisticiani foto aparat, sa sposobnošću da propušta više ili manje svetlosti po potrebi i sposobnošću da se automatski fokusira na široko polje, to su imitacije operacija koje ljudsko oko izvodi. I pošto imamo dva oka imamo i dubinu percepcije koja nam daje sposobnost da procenimo koliko je daleko udaljen neki objekat. Ljudski mozak je takođe neverovatan organ, koji je divno stvoren. On ima sposovbnost da uči, rasuđuje i kontroliše mnogo automatskih funkcija tela kao što je srčani ritam, krvni pritisak i disanje, i da održi ravnotežu za hod, trčanje, stajanje i sedenje, dok se sve vreme koncentriše na nešto drugo. Kompjuteri mogu da nadmaše ljudski um u prostom računanju, ali su primitivni kada se radi o izvođenju najvećeg broja umnih funkcija prosuđivanja. Mozak ima neverovatne sposobnosti prilagođavanja. U jednom eksperimentu, kada su ljudi stavili naočare zbog kojih su svet gledali naglavačke, njihovi mozgovi su brzo tumačili informacije koje su dobijali kao da svet vide ispravno, ne naglavačke. Kada su ljudima na duže vreme vezivali oči, cetar za gledanje bi uskoro počinjao da bude angažovan od strane drugih moždanih funkcija. Kada se ljudi presele u kuću pored pruge, ubrzo mozak isfilteriše zvuk vozova i on postane nesvestan buke. Kada se radi o mikro delovima ljudskog tela, ono je takođe čudo koje je divno stvoreno. Na primer, informacije koje su potrebne za kopiranje celog ljudskog tela, sa svim detaljima, smeštene su u duploj spirali DNA lanca koji se nalazi u jezgru svake od milijardi ćelija ljudskog tela. A sistem informacija i kontrola koje predstavlja naš nervni sistem je neverovatno kompaktan u poređenju sa ljudskim nespretnim izumima žica i optičkih kablova. Svaka ćelija, koju smo nekad nazivali „jednostavna“ ćelija, mala je fabrika koju čovek još uvek ne razume. Kako mikroskopi postaju sve snažniji, otvaraju se neverovatni vidici za posmatranje ljudskog tela. Razmisli o jednoj oplođenoj ćeliji tek začetog ljudskog života. Iz te ćelije u utrobi razvijaju se različita tkiva, organi i sitemi koji deluju svi zajedno u pravo vreme u neverovatno koordinisanom procesu. Jedan od primera je rupa u septumu uzmeđu dva srčana zalistka kod novorođenog deteta. Ova rupa se zatvara tačno u pravo vreme tokom procesa rođenja da bi se omogućio dovod kiseonika u krvi iz pluća, što se ne dešava dok je beba u utrobi i prima kisonik preko pupčane vrpce. Zatim, imuni sistem tela je u stanju da se bori sa mnogim neprijateljima i da se obnovi, sve od najmanjih oporavaka (obnavlja čak i loše delove DNA), do najvećih (leči kosti i obnavlja od velikih povreda). Da, postoje bolesti koje konačno nadvaladaju telo kako starimo, ali nemamo predstavu o tome koliko samo puta nas je naš imuni sistem spasao od sigurne smrti. Neverovatne su finkcije ljudskog tela. Sposobnost da nosi velike, teške objekte i da pažljivo postupa sa delikatnim objektima a da ih ne slomi je zapanjujuća. Možemo da bacamo strele iz luka mnogo puta do udaljene mete pogađajući je, kuckamo brzo po kompjuterskoj tastaturi ne razmišljajući previše o tipkama, možemo da puzimo, hodamo, trčimo, okrećemo se, penjemo, plivamo, prevćemo se i obavljamo „obične“ zadatke kao što je odvrtanje sijalice, pranje zuba, vezivanje cipela – sve to bez razmišljanja. Ovo su zaista „male stvari“, ali čovek tek treba da dizajnira i isprogramira robota koji bi mogao da obavlja tako ranovrsne zadatke i pokrete. Funkcije digestivnog trakta i organa za to vezanih, dugovečnost srca, formiranje i funkcija nerava i krvnih sudova, čišćenje krvi preko bubrega i složenost srednjeg uva, osećaj za ukus i miris, i mnogo toga još što jedva i razumemo – sve to je čudo i čovek to nije u stanju sam da napravi. Istina je da smo divno stvoreni. Koliko samo smo zahvalni što poznajemo Tvorca – kroz Njegovog Sina, Isusa Hrista, i da se čudimo ne samo njegovom znanju već i Njegovoj ljubavi (Psalam 139:17-24).

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What does it mean that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)?

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. Engineers understand how to design strong yet light beams by putting the strong material toward the outside edges of a cross-section and filling the inside with lighter, weaker material. This is done because the greatest amounts of stress occur on the surfaces of a structure when handling common bending or stresses. A cross section of a human bone reveals that the strong material is on the outside and the inside is used as a factory for blood cells of various kinds. When you examine a sophisticated camera with its ability to let in more or less light as needed and its ability to focus automatically over a vast range of field, you find repeated imitations of the operation of the human eye. And yet, having two eyeballs, we also have depth perception which gives us the ability to judge how far away an object is. The human brain is also an amazing organ, fearfully and wonderfully made. It has the ability to learn, reason, and control so many automatic functions of the body such as heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing, and to maintain balance to walk, run, stand, and sit, all while concentrating on something else. Computers can outdo the human brain in raw calculating power but are primitive when it comes to performing most reasoning tasks. The brain also has an amazing ability to adapt. In an experiment, when people put on glasses that made the world seem upside down, their brains quickly reinterpreted the information they were being given to perceive the world as “right-side-up.” When others were blindfolded for long periods of time, the “vision center” of the brain soon began to be used for other functions. When people move to a house near a railroad, soon the sound of the trains is filtered out by their brains, and they lose conscious thought of the noise. When it comes to miniaturization, the human body is also a marvel fearfully and wonderfully made. For instance, information needed for the replication of an entire human body, with every detail covered, is stored in the double-helix DNA strand found in the nucleus of each of the billions of cells in the human body. And the system of information and control represented by our nervous system is amazingly compact in comparison to man’s clumsy inventions of wires and optical cables. Each cell, once called a “simple” cell, is a tiny factory not yet fully understood by man. As microscopes become more and more powerful, the incredible vistas of the human cell begin to come into focus. Consider the single fertilized cell of a newly conceived human life. From that one cell within the womb develop all the different kinds of tissues, organs, and systems, all working together at just the right time in an amazingly coordinated process. An example is the hole in the septum between the two ventricles in the heart of the newborn infant. This hole closes up at exactly the right time during the birth process to allow for the oxygenation of the blood from the lungs, which does not occur while the baby is in the womb and is receiving oxygen through the umbilical cord. Further, the body’s immune system is able to fight off so many enemies and restore itself from the smallest repair (even repairing bad portions of DNA) to the largest (mending bones and recovering from major accidents). Yes, there are diseases that will eventually overcome the body as we age, but we have no idea how many times through a lifetime that our immune systems have saved us from certain death. The functions of the human body are also incredible. The ability to handle large, heavy objects and to also carefully manipulate a delicate object without breaking it is also amazing. We can shoot a bow with the arrow repeatedly hitting a distant target, peck away quickly at a computer keyboard without thinking about the keys, crawl, walk, run, twirl around, climb, swim, do somersaults and flips, and perform “simple” tasks such as unscrewing a light bulb, brushing our teeth, and lacing up our shoes—again without thinking. Indeed, these are “simple” things, but man has yet to design and program a robot that is able to perform such a vast range of tasks and motions. The function of the digestive tract and the related organs, the longevity of the heart, the formation and function of nerves and of blood vessels, the cleansing of the blood through the kidneys, the complexity of the inner and middle ear, the sense of taste and smell, and so many other things we barely understand—each one is a marvel and beyond man’s ability to duplicate. Truly, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. How grateful we are to know the Creator—through His Son, Jesus Christ—and to marvel not only at His knowledge but also at His love (Psalm 139:17-24).