The human body

The Book of Genesis tells us that “…the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground…” (NRSV, 2:7).  I wonder if you have ever thought how true that is?

Science tells us that the Earth was formed from rocky material that came from dust in space – from stardust. (1)(2)  We human beings, too, are formed from stardust.  For example, the carbon atoms in the cells of our body were made from hydrogen in the stars which were puffed out into space.  The iron atoms in our blood were forged in the cores of enormous stars which exploded. (3)

It’s easy to take our human bodies for granted.  But when you stop and think about them, they are absolute marvels of creation.  The human brain, for example, contains one hundred billion nerve cells.  Each cell can make contact with thousands or even tens of thousands of other nerve cells.  Our brains form a million new connections for every second of our lives. (4)  Then there’s the largest organ in the human body – our skin.  It’s waterproof, it contains nerve endings to warn us of dangers such as heat and if it gets cut it’s got its own built-in repair mechanisms.