The biblical record of the creation of the human body comes from Genesis 2. It is simple. It is direct. It is brief.

Genesis 2:7, “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

After Adam was created, God created a woman, Eve.

Genesis 2:15-23, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

Unlike Adam and Eve who were created as mature adults from the dust of the earth and rib bones, we are created by God through the miracle of life in our mother’s womb.

King David, in Psalm 139:13-14, offers a beautiful statement concerning the creation of the human body.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

The following information regarding the development of a human fetus comes from The Virginia Society for Human Life.

The third month:

• At this stage of development, the baby weighs roughly 1 ounce and is about 3 inches long.
• The heartbeat is detectable.
• Its tongue, teeth and eyelids start to form.
• The essential organs all are under construction and major body parts are in place (legs, arms, head and torso).
• Other developmental milestones for this period include thumb-sucking, head-nodding and balling fingers into fists.

The fifth month:

• And by month’s end, the fetus measures 8 to 10 inches long and tips the scales at 1 pound.
• All its major organs are complete.
• Its bones are growing stronger and its muscles longer.
• Its reflexes also are sharpening up-it can now swallow, kick and execute an occasional somersault.
• New in this month: hair, eyelashes and eyebrows.

The seventh month:

• A 7-month-old baby stretches 16 to 18 inches long and weighs between 4 and 6 pounds.
• The baby can blink, and its eyes may even remain open for short period of time.
• The baby’s fingernails now reach beyond its fingertips and its skin is starting to smooth.
• Hearing is fully developed.
• This month, the brain develops rapidly, and all of its organs except the lungs are mature.
• And as the baby grows larger, space in the womb becomes scarce. Expectant mothers should still count on catching a few elbows every day, but the elaborate somersault sequences should stop.

In the eighth month:

• By now, the baby’s lungs are mature, its skin pink and smooth, and its toenails fully grown.
• The baby can also execute an array of reflexes, such as head turning, blinking and grasping.
• It now stretches between 20 to 22 inches long, and weighs about 7½ pounds.

And sometime in the 9^th month, a human being enters the world!

Personally, I choose to believe, and I don’t find it hard to believe, that this didn’t happen because of star dust marinating in a hospitable environment over a period of several billion years; it happened through the creative design of the Creator God!

Now, I want to focus on the first part of the phrase from Psalm 139:14, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

When was the last time you consciously and specifically praised God for the body he gave you or at least parts of it? When was the last time you said, “God, thank you for my eyes that I can see with?” Or, “God, thank you for my legs that I can walk with?”

Personally, I can’t recall the last time I paused and thanked God for my heart or my skin or my stomach!

We tend to focus our prayers on asking God to fix what doesn’t work with our bodies or to change what we don’t like about our bodies; or we give thanks when something that was wrong, got fixed.

Tuesdays with Morrie, is a wonderful book about the final months of a man by the name of Morrie who suffered with Lou Gehrig’s disease, a brutal, unforgiving illness of the neurological system. Morrie was a college professor and the book is based on 14 Tuesday visits by a former student by the name of Mitch. On the 13^th Tuesday, Mitch asks Morrie to tell him what he would do for twenty-four hours if he had his body back. By this time, Morrie was in his last days and his body was barley functioning in any way. This is the exchange:

What if you had one day perfectly healthy, I asked? What would you do?

“Twenty-four hours?”

Twenty-four hours.

“Let’s see…I’d get up in the morning, do my exercises, have a lovely breakfast of sweet rolls and tea, go for a swim, then have my friends come over for a nice lunch. I’d have them come one or two at a time so we could talk about their families, their issues, talk about how much we mean to each other. Then I’d like to go for a walk, in a garden with some trees, watch their colors, watch the birds, take in the nature that I haven’t seen in so long now. In the evening, we’d all to together to a restaurant with some great pasta, maybe some duck - I love duck - and then we’d dance the rest of the night. I’d dance with all the wonderful dance partners out there, until I was exhausted. And then I’d go home and have a deep, wonderful sleep.”

That’s it?

“That’s it.”

It was so simple. So average. I was actually a little disappointed. I figured he’d fly to Italy or have lunch with the President or romp on the seashore or try every exotic thing he could think of. After all these months, lying there, unable to move a leg or a foot - how could he find perfection in such an average day? And then I realized this was the whole point.

I want to challenge you to be very conscious and specific this week in praising God for our body! I want to encourage you to begin each day this week with these statements as part of your morning prayer:

Monday: “I thank God for my sight.” Imagine going through just 1 hour today without your sight!

Tuesday: “I thank God for my hearing.” Imagine what you would miss if you could not hear!

Wednesday: “I thank God for my legs, feet, arms and hands.” Imagine what your life would be like if you were confined to a wheelchair for just 1 week without the use of your limbs!

Thursday: “I thank God for my sense of smell & taste.” And tonight enjoy your favorite meal!

Friday: “I thank God for my sense of touch.” Without touch we would not know to remove our hand from a hot stove top or cover our hands when they are freezing in the cold.

Saturday: “I thank God for my vital organs.” You and I can’t see these organs, but we would die without them. That is why they are called, ‘vital’.

And one more thing: I want to challenge you to memorize Psalm 139:13-14, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”