“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB).
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Contents
1) The Dimensions of DNA (Tom Edwards)
2) Thinking More of DNA (Tom Edwards)
3) Harsh Words (Doy Moyer)
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The Dimensions of DNA
Tom Edwards
Recently, I was very impressed by the following statement:
It has been estimated that if all of the DNA in an adult human were placed end-to-end, it would reach to the Sun and back (186 million miles) 400 times. (Lesson 3 “The Existence of God — Design”; Apologetics Press, https://apologeticspress.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/hsc0103.pdf).
Another source had put that number of trips of DNA to the Sun and back at 600 times, while another did so at 300 — but even the shorter distances are still astronomical and amazing!
If you wonder how this can be so, when thinking of cells as being so microscopic, read on.
What are the dimensions of DNA? You might find this truly amazing if you do not already know — and even still amazing if you already do know. For how can it ever be anything but amazing!
Though DNA is said to be only about 2 nanometers in diameter (which is just two-billionths of a meter or two ten-millionths (0.0000002) of a centimeter, yet it has a length when stretched out of about 2 meters! So, in other words, its length is about 1 billion times longer than its diameter.
And even putting the DNA slightly shorter at 6 feet (as some do) will result in a total distance of 914,400,000 times longer than its diameter!
Yet, the nucleus in which DNA is stored is said to be only about 5.5 to 6 microns in diameter. Six microns is the equivalent of 6 millionths of a meter, or six ten-thousandths (0.0006) of a centimeter. So DNA, which has been tightly coiled and packed in the nucleus, has been likened to “packing about 24 miles of very thin, double-stranded string into a tennis ball.”
In thinking of this, I am reminded of what David declares to God in Psalm 139:13-16:
For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them. (NASB)
So the next time you think about your DNA, imagine all of it being stretched out and placed from end to end, and making 400 trips from you to the Sun and back! For DNA is an awesome part of you!
DNA is just one of the many intricate and intelligent designs which makes our lives possible. Try making a list of all the other things, too, that you are made of that is necessary for your very existence — such as a brain, a heart, at least one kidney, a liver, blood, a circulatory system, a respiratory system, etc. How vitally important they each are! Not having even one of these would be fatal. But how would a source that is non-intelligent know of the need for these things and also develop them, along with everything else that is necessary for our existence?
How can one not believe in an Intelligent Designer when considering all of the facts that reality reveals!
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Thinking More of DNA
Tom Edwards
In doing Google searches, you can easily run into different figures as to the number of cells in the human body. NOVA online, on “Cracking the CODE of LIFE,” put the total number of all kinds of cells at “about 100 trillion.” Lesson 3 in “The Existence of God–Design,” which I had cited in the previous article, concerning the 400 round-trips DNA (if stretched out and placed end to end) could make to the Sun, also gave that same number. For it states: “A body is composed of over 250 different kinds of cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, nerve cells, etc.) totaling approximately 100 trillion cells in an average adult.”
But even if the total number of cells were much lower, DNA would still be an amazing part of us, and its length when stretched out and placed end to end could still make numerous round trips to the sun. For consider the following chart:
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Harsh Words
Doy Moyer
Somewhere along the line, it seems our culture has been convinced that insulting people is the way to win others to their way of thinking. Harsh words that disparage intelligence coupled with character-destroying insinuations have become embedded in our arguments and disagreements. This is the way of the world, a path lacking grace and mercy and which can only lead to further division and hatred.
In leading up to the point that we need to take on the mind of Christ, the apostle Paul argued, “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose” (Phil 2:1-2, NASU). Notice the terms: encouragement, consolation, love, fellowship, affection, compassion, joy, united. These are produced by the Spirit. How could this be accomplished? The answer is given: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (vv. 3-4).
The mind or attitude of Jesus is what we are aiming for (v. 5), and this was demonstrated by His self-emptying act of dying for us. And as John would say, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).
For the child of God, we are to speak with grace (Col 4:6), love (Eph 4:15), and kindness devoid of bitterness (Eph 4:31-32). We don’t revile or insult in return when such is hurled at us (1 Pet 2:21-23). And Jesus is our example in this.
I am aware that there were times Jesus spoke more harshly, calling out hypocrites for what they were (Matt 23). Yet Jesus knew hearts in ways we do not. He can judge what we are not capable of judging. Be very careful in trying to justify hard language, especially that which is graceless and insulting. We can be direct and straightforward and still be respectful.
We can do better, can we not? I can, and I intend to. If we have arguments to make, make them without rancor and insult. Whether we are talking with unbelievers or fellow saints, we gain nothing by harsh rhetoric that requires us to know the hearts of those with whom we have our discussions. Let the truth be spoken so it can do what the Lord intends for it to do, and let us avoid speaking in a manner that gets in the way of that truth.
— Via Doy Moyer’s Facebook site, April 13, 2024 (Doy had no title for this article, so I thought “Harsh Words” would be a good one.)
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel — for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30-31).
2) Believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins. For every accountable person has sinned (Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10), which causes one to be spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1) and separated from God (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23). Therefore, repentance of sin is necessary (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30). For whether the sin seems great or small, there will still be the same penalty for either (Matt. 12:36-37; 2 Cor. 5:10) — and even for a lie (Rev. 21:8).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9-10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21). This is the final step that puts one into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27). For from that baptism, one is then raised as a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17), having all sins forgiven and beginning a new life as a Christian (Rom. 6:3-4). For the one being baptized does so “through faith in the working of God” (Col. 2:12). In other words, believing that God will keep His word and forgive after one submits to these necessary steps. And now as a Christian, we then need to…
6) Continue in the faith by living for the Lord; for, if not, salvation can be lost (Matt. 24:13; Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA 31501
Sunday: 9 a.m. Bible Classes and 10 a.m. Worship Service. Congregational Song Service: 5 p.m. for every first Sunday of the month.
Wednesday: 7 p.m. Bible Classes
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 281-9917
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
https://thomastedwards.com/go/all.htm (This is a link to the older version of the Gospel Observer website, but with bulletins going back to March 4, 1990.)