The Cell Speaks of God’s Wisdom
At the beginning of this study in Genesis, we learned how creation speaks of God. It is important as we study God’s creation that we listen carefully to what it has to say. On day three when God created vegetation, living things came into being. We need to stop and consider what that means and what the smallest unit of life has to say about God.
Remember that the smallest unit of recognizable matter is the atom. 90 naturally occurring elements or atoms make up every thing that exists. Atoms bind together to form molecules. All matter is made up of different types of molecules bound together.
In living things, different types of molecules have been brought together by God and designed to form cells. A cell is the smallest and most basic unit of life. All plants and animals are made up of living cells. Your body is made up of more than ten trillion living cells (10,000,000,000,000). Most cells are so small that about 500 of them could fit on the end of a pin.
Cells in plants
Since all plants and all animals are made up of cells, we want to examine the nature of a cell to learn about the wisdom of God. Because cells are living, they do everything a larger organism does.
All living organisms need food, take in gas from the air, get rid of waste, grow, reproduce and eventually die. A cell is living and does these things, too. It is like a tiny factory processing food and oxygen to produce the energy it needs to live, grow and divide.
Think about a sprouting seed. A seed starts originally as a single cell in the flower of a plant. It is fertilized, divides into more cells and develops into a seed. Under the right conditions, the cells in the seed come to life.
The information about life has been programmed by God into the seed. The seed contains all the material and information it needs to develop into a living plant. The DNA or genetic information in a seed will cause the cells to grow and reproduce and develop into the different parts of the plant.
As the plant grows, some cells will divide and specialize to become different parts of the root. Some cells will divide and specialize to become the different types of cells that make up the stem. Some cells will divide and specialize to become the different parts of the leaves. It is truly amazing that the seed, no matter how small, contains all the instructions for the plant to grow and develop. Each plant does that just the way God intended and designed.
Cells, Seeds and the Majesty of God
When we consider a cell and a seed and just how wondrous both are in their function and development, it should cause us to reflect on the majesty of who God is. Only God had the wisdom and power to bring forth life. Only God understands the complete design of all he has created.
God has given us a mind in part so we are able to discover wonderful things about his creation, like the working of a cell. The more we acknowledge and seek God, the more we gain understanding of him and his great power and majesty. However, because God is supernatural and of a completely different nature than people, it makes it difficult for us to understand fully all that he is and has done.
God is the Source
To rightly relate to God, we have to believe that God himself is the source of wisdom and understanding. He knew what he wanted to accomplish before he created anything. Before anything came into existence, it first was an idea in God’s mind. He knew the design of each and every plant and animal before he gave them life. He had a plan and purpose for everything he created.
God wanted earth to support life, that’s why he designed and created water, air and light. He thought out the plan or DNA for each living thing before he created it. Without these things and the information and life that come from God, earth would be an empty planet just like the other planets in the solar system.
Proverbs 8:22-31 speaks of wisdom and says, 22“The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; 23I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. 24When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; 25before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, 26before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. 27I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 28when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, 29when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. 30 Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, 31rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.
Wisdom
Wisdom is having knowledge and understanding of how things work and what is the right thing to do and then acting on that knowledge. Saying that wisdom is the first of God’s works means that the understanding that brought everything into being existed before God created anything physical.
Wisdom has its origin in God. He is the one who has all knowledge and understanding of how things work and what is the right thing to do. Only from gaining God’s understanding and doing things the way God says we should will we be wise.
Wisdom comes from God and is inseparable from God. If there were no wisdom, there would be no God. There would be no intelligent being to put things in place. Remember that the Law of Biogenesis states that non-living matter can’t give rise to life and the First Law of Thermodynamics states that matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed. There needs to be a supernatural being who has the wisdom and power to bring the material world into existence.
Clear Evidence
God and his wisdom have always existed and through his wisdom came the material world; all that we can see and touch was created by God. The marvelous things God created couldn’t have come into being on their own. That would contradict all proven natural laws and the clear evidence of design.
- Overview Questions: What is the smallest unit of matter? What do atoms form when they join together? What is the smallest unit of life? Cells are made up of what? What do cells divide into and become? How are they able to do that?
- Thought Questions: What is a craftsman? What does it mean that wisdom was the craftsman at God’s side? Why would wisdom have been filled with delight as God created things? Why can’t anyone be truly wise without seeking after God? How can we gain understanding of God through studying his creation?
- Prayer: Thank God that he is the designer and creator of life. Pray that you would recognize more of the majesty of who he is and the depth of his wisdom. Pray that you would grow in wisdom and understanding and appreciation of who he is and what he has designed.
- Week’s Memory Verse: Proverbs 8:22-23
What did God bring forth first? God’s creation comes out of God’s wisdom.
22“The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; 23I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began.
How long has God’s wisdom existed? What does that mean? What is the result of God’s wisdom?