We live in an amazing world. The greatest of all creations is man himself, the marvellous machine—precise and efficient. The human body has a dynamic framework of bone and cartilage called the skeleton. The human skeleton is flexible, with hinges and joints that were made to move. But to cut down harmful frictions, such moving parts must be lubricated.
Man-made machines are lubricated only by outside sources. But the body lubricates itself by manufacturing a jelly-like substance in the right amount at every place it is needed. Yes, the body is a wonder machine, despite the defects from genetic copying errors (mutations) that have accumulated since the Fall of man brought on the Curse (Genesis 3).
The body has a chemical plant far more intricate than any plant that man has ever built. This plant changes the food we eat into living tissue. It causes the growth of flesh, blood, bones and teeth. It even repairs the body when parts are damaged by accident or disease. Power, for work and play, comes from the food we eat.
Even in freezing weather our bodies will sometimes overheat. The body’s own cooling system then takes over. Drops of perspiration pour from millions of tiny sweat glands in the skin. This is a major way in which our cooling system keeps our temperature down. The human body has an automatic thermostat that takes care of both our heating and cooling systems, keeping body temperature at about 37°C (98.6°F).
The brain is the centre of a complex computer system more wonderful than the greatest one ever built by man. The body’s computer system computes and sends throughout the body billions of bits of information, information that controls every action, right down to the flicker of an eyelid. In most computer systems, the information is carried by wires and electronic parts. In the body, nerves are the wires that carry the information back and forth from the central nervous system. And in just one human brain there is probably more wiring, more electrical circuitry, than in all the computer systems of the world put together.1 Yes, it is a wonderful thing—this brain of ours.
