Sunday, October 21, 2012

Meiosis and the Genesis Account

Genesis has always been one of the more interesting books for me to read because it leaves the reader with so many questions of how 'life' as we know it came to be. I have personally begun a study of the bible chronologically and found that there was something interesting to be seen about the story of Adam and Eve... 
Meiosis is a series of stages that a cell goes through if it is meant to divide and reproduce gametes (male/female reproductive cells). Essentially, the process begins with one cell, which replicates and divides itself in half. This causes the parent cell to produce two cells in the first process of Meiosis 1. That's where it hit me: Adam and Eve were the two cells in this process. 

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion... over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

 Meiosis begins with one cell that is preparing to multiply it's genetic code into two half cells. God being who He is, who else's image would He make in mankind but His own? Because God's ultimate purpose is to extend His glory over all the earth! He chose to make man in His own image just as the first cell produces the two daughter cells. But God did make Adam first, that is why it's called "mankind" and not "womankind." Now, what does it mean to make man in His image in meiotic terms? It means that you are taking genetic information/characteristics that are being passed down from one cell to it's replicate. For instance, God gave us the ability to love one another just as He loves us! Now comes the interesting part!

Genesis 2:21-23- So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,“This at last is rbone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was staken out of Man.” 

This passage just screams cell division to me! Right?! God took one person whom He already created and split the man's body (in the form of his rib) to form a completely new creation: woman! That has to mean that God had intended all along to create two people in His image and He provided all of the characteristics and information that they could possibly need in Adam so Eve would share them as well. And guess what, we are still part of that same genetic code today. God was the parent cell who fashioned us to reflect and replicate His glory until the end of time! 

Remember David's Psalm where he spoke directly to God about being His creation? 
Psalm 139:13- "For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb." God created us, not for us to marvel at our bodies and give into our flesh and its sinful nature, but to present ourselves to God as the holy and pure vessels for His spirit that we were created to be. :)





Friday, October 19, 2012

The Corpus Callosum

     This subject has been on my mind for weeks, no pun intended. This, dear readers, is the Corpus Callosum. It is the main connecting network for your brain to send information between the hemispheres. What got me so inspired by this is the fact that this bridge is a direct reflection of Jesus Christ living in us. Corpus (latin: body) callosum (latin: tough) is a collection of between 200-250 million fibrous projections producing the largest bridge sufficient enough to relay information for our brains for our entire lifetime! It is made up completely of white matter too. Without this, our neurons would have no way of crossing the gap between the hemispheres and we would be left with a split brain. You may be wondering now, "Cool, but how does that bring Jesus into the picture?" I'm so glad you asked. Look at the Gospel, Jesus was the purest, cleanest, most perfect person to walk the earth. White, in this context, meaning pure... are you following me? Jesus was this white body. He is God, and is also the only one who could have a body tough enough to endure the pain of the cross for our sins. Moreover, He made a way for us with His own flesh, wide and tough enough to endure any sins we have to carry, and bridged the gap between Heaven and Earth! He is the only way we could ever see God because He lived a pure and blameless life so we can have eternal connection with God. Without Jesus Christ, we would be 'split' from God for eternity and have no way of knowing of His love and wonder for us! 

Take a moment and think of how your life would look if you were or still are 'split' from God? There is something beautiful about how the brain can reveal something so vital to our lives and it is embedded there for all to see and take awe in. Thank you God for giving me (and all of you) a brain to make such connections. :)
      Tell me, how many times has someone told you that God and Science don't mix? That they are polar opposite views and only clash when brought together to discuss the laws of the Universe? My answer would be 'countless.' What I hope for you readers to see is that I am just a regular college student who was given a gift of using science as a means to see God. Science is not the end in itself. I'll provide you with scientific applications of God and the Gospel. Hope you enjoy it!