Life is a Miracle

By Abi F. May

Easter is the celebration of an event that is beyond comprehension. A body was brutally whipped, nailed to a cross, and hoisted aloft to die an excruciating and shameful death, then pierced with a spear before being taken down from the cross and wrapped tightly in grave clothes, and laid in a tomb. Three days later, that same body was once more living, breathing, walking, talking.

There is another miracle beyond my comprehension, one that takes place daily. A sperm joins with an egg to form a single cell, smaller than a grain of salt. This one cell contains the complex genetic blueprint for every detail of human development, including the child's gender, hair and eye color, height, skin tone, and much more.

Within four days, the fertilized egg has traveled into the womb.

At three weeks, the foundations of the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system are established, and the heart begins to beat.

At one month, arms, legs, eyes, and ears have begun to show. The heart is pumping blood through the circulatory system.

By six weeks, the rapidly developing brain begins to control movement of muscles and organs.

At week nine, the developing life is now called a "fetus"—Latin for "young one."

At three months, the baby is perfectly formed. He has fingernails and toenails, and he can raise his eyebrows, wrinkle his forehead, and turn his head.

At 16 weeks, the baby is a little over one third the size he will be at birth.

At five months, the baby's hair, eyelashes, and nails are growing.

The rest of the time in the womb will be spent in preparation for birth, which is usually at 40 weeks, although nowadays babies born at even as little as 22 weeks have a chance of survival.

Finally comes the grand exit from the security of the womb into the world. All of the possibilities, pleasures, and pains that life brings have begun for yet another human being.

How can a single cell grow into a fully formed baby in nine months? The process can be observed, but I can no more comprehend the spark that drives that process than I can comprehend the miraculous resurrection of Jesus.

But we don't have to understand. We can simply rejoice in the wonderful gift of life that the Creator has bestowed upon us—life here in this world, and eternal life in the world beyond!

POINTS TO PONDER

The Chinese have traditionally counted a baby as one year old when he or she is born, and they have a point. The baby has already been alive before birth, and what has changed is merely the baby's environment. Thanks to pioneering medical imaging technology, such as 4D ultrasound, we can watch a fetus as it sucks its thumb, blinks, yawns, smiles, and moves inside the womb, leaving no question that it is a unique living soul before birth.—Abi F. May

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Advanced scanning means we have a window on the secret life of fetuses. At 11 weeks we can see them yawn and even take steps. At 22 weeks, they begin to open their eyes. Between 20 and 24 weeks we watch as they seem to cry, smile, and frown. … When I see a fetus that can smile at me, I know absolutely that we should not tear it from the womb.—Stuart Campbell

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Imagine yourself as the world's tallest skyscraper, built in nine months and germinating from a single brick. As that brick divides, it gives rise to every other type of material needed to construct and operate the finished tower—a million tons of steel, concrete, mortar, insulation, tile, wood, granite, solvents, carpet, cable, pipe, and glass, as well as all furniture, phone systems, heating and cooling units, plumbing, electrical wiring, artwork, and computer networks, including software. —Alexander Tsiaras and Barry Werth, From Conception to Birth: A Life Unfolds

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The spark of life is a miracle of God, not some kind of physical accident. At conception, God combines a new human body with a new human spirit to create a new immortal soul with a distinct personality, different from anybody else in the whole world.—David Brandt Berg (1919-1994)

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Science has its explanations for how children come into being, but when you first hold your baby and look into those little eyes, you know that you are holding a miracle. You are looking at one of the great mysteries of the universe—a glimpse of Heaven and the creative power of God. There in your arms is tangible proof of the love God has for you, for He has chosen you to parent a new soul.—Derek and Michelle Brookes, Keys to Baby

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Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;
The soul that rises with us, our life's star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.

— William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

Before … During … After Life

Life before life

You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.—Psalm 139:13-14,16

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: "I am the Lord, who makes all things."—Isaiah 44:24

Life during life

I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.—John 10:10

You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy.—Psalm 16:11

Life after life

I [Jesus] am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.—John 11:25-26

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.—John 3:16

Resurrection—How It Works

Someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?"

What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.—The apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-44, 50-55,57)

(Originally published in Activated March 2008, © 2008 Aurora Production AG)