Seeing God in the Little Things

For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.  --Romans 1:20

For the life of every creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. --Leviticus 17:11

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. --Hebrews 9:22

I cut my hand this week.  I was slicing fruit to put in my wife's lunch, when the knife slipped and lacerated my palm.  The wound was about one inch long and about a half inch deep.  I watched it for a second before it started bleeding, and when the blood started dripping onto the kitchen floor, I got a paper towel and started applying pressure.

You know, blood is an amazing thing.  The ten or so pints in the average human body carry nourishment, electrolytes, hormones, vitamins, heat and oxygen to the body tissues.  It carries waste matter away from the tissues, and deposits that matter into the liver; it carries carbon dioxide away from the tissues, and deposits it into the lungs.  When the blood gets depleted, either through a wound or just when blood cells die, more blood cells are made in our bone marrow.

When a wound occurs, like my small cut to my hand last week, the blood exits the body, carrying with it any germs or pathogens that may have been introduced into the body.  The blood literally washes out the wound. Then, when pressure is applied and the flow of blood is contained, it pools and accumulates within the wound, acting as a binding agent to begin gluing the tissue (skin, in my case) back together again.  The white blood cells rush antibodies to the wound, to carry off any leftover germs or dead cells.  Scientists have discovered that wherever the wound or infection occurs within the body, white blood cells are automatically directed to that place, so that healing may begin.  Finally, platelets accumulate within the wound.  These tiny cells within the blood stream are smaller than the red blood cells and white blood cells, but they are sticky. They bind together to form clots.  On the skin surface, we see blood clotting, forming a scab that seals the wound and prevents more infection from entering in through the skin.

Psalm 139:14 says, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; you works are wonderful, I know that full well."  We are complex creatures, and our Creator took time to think out every detail.  There are those who teach that the our galaxy was begun in a colossal explosion, called The Big Bang. They believe that life began as one-celled organisms, and that some of those organisms evolved into plant life, and other organisms evolved into animal life.  They further teach that over time, mutations occurred within the life that was born from the Big Bang, and those mutations survived when the prior living organisms died out, because of something called Survival of the Fittest.  Fish evolved into amphibians, and those creatures developed lungs.  Amphibians evolved into birds, and they shed their scales for feathers, and changed from cold-blooded animals to warm blooded animals.  Mammals evolved separately, they say, eventually changing from four-footed creatures to persons who stood upright, could develop tools and language and higher thought.

Observation reveals an alternate truth, one that is often ignored by evolutionists: in our current world, when we see physical mutations, we call them deformities.  Mental mutations we call retardation.  When these physically mutated individuals mate, they more often than not produce offspring that are "normal", more like the population at large than their parents.  Further, we see that these mutations, these deformities, are not improvements to the human form; they are handicaps, disabilities, so named because instead of these mutants developing super-human abilities, they are in need of assistance from their fellow men.

Clearly, we are all in need of help from our fellow men.  Further, we are all in need of a healing touch from our Creator.  We are all wounded, in one way or another.  We are in need of a covering, a healing, and a blessing.  Each of these needs is met in the Blood of Christ.

Covering
1 Peter 4:8 tells us that love covers a multitude of sins.  Jesus said in John 15:13, "Greater love has no man than this: that he lay down his life for a friend."  After He said this, Jesus proved his friendship, his love, by offering his life as a sacrifice for us.

Most of us are not called to the medical field, because looking at a gaping, open wound makes our skin crawl.  It might make us gag.  We can look at a scab or a scar with less revulsion--we may say, "Eww!" when we see a scab, but it does not sicken us as much as an open wound does.  Just like many of us turn our heads when we see an open wound, God turns His head from us because of our sin.  His divine nature cannot look upon sin.  But if we plead the blood of Christ, His blood covers our sin.  So when God looks at us, He sees the Blood.

Healing
Isaiah 53:5 says, "But He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment upon Him instead brought us peace, and by His wounds we are healed."  Many physical wounds are so severe that there can be no recovery.  These mortal wounds, as they are called, inevitably result in death.

Taking a broader view, we all carry with us a wound called mortality.  Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet, "We are born to die."  That mortality, that wound, is something Jesus came to heal.  He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.  The sacrificial blood that He shed, when applied to our lives, means we never have to taste death.  We can inherit everlasting life.

Blessing
Romans 10:9-13 says, "If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord", and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will not be put to shame.'  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

The blessing stems from the shedding of His blood, for "without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins."  We need only confess His Lordship, and believe in His sacrificial gift to us.  His blood gives us the blessing of salvation, of hope, and of eternal life in heaven.

As I said earlier, I can clearly see the Maker's Mark in every detail of the cosmos, of life in our world, and especially in the human form.  We are made in God's image.  The blood that courses through our veins has restorative and healing power on a small scale.  If we look closely, we can see not only proof of intelligent design, but also a picture of the Divine.