Drop everything you are doing and open your eyes. Now, hold out your hand and look at it. Can you see it? I mean really see it? Hold your hand closer and concentrate. Maybe you’re not trying hard enough. Let me help you . . . 

What you are looking at is a tool that is both part of, and used by, the most brilliantly engineered object on this planet. It can be loosely compared to both computer and machine (and more). It is a system which contains more stored information than all of the data centers mankind has ever created—combined! It is self-sufficient and capable of reproducing itself, energizing itself and making decisions for itself. The bio-mechanical machine that your hand is part of is more sophisticated than the smartphone in your pocket. And it is flexible, unlike any robot.

And yet, with all of its complexity and engineering, the bio-mechanical machine you inhabit is driven by an operating system that requires just 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of storage. To put that into perspective, a modern computer operating system typically uses between 5 and 25 GB.

 

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:14, New International Version).

King David knew His Creator God. He knew that he was no accident, and that his wonderful body was a beautifully designed human machine. The mechanics involved within his body staggered his imagination. While he knew nothing of the “software” running the machine that his consciousness inhabited, he was fully aware of his origin.

Let’s try this again. Drop everything. Hold your hand out and look at it. Can you see it now? Can you see the marvelous, created machine that you are? Can you understand the absurdity of believing that your body is the product of chance mutation, just as your smartphone did not come into existence accidentally? Can you see the engineering prowess required to design even a telephone that can’t think or reason for itself? Can you see the thought that went into its design? Can you now more clearly understand how only the All-Powerful God could have designed something this complex and miraculous? 

Believe it or not, you are like a supercomputer. An achievement so grand, so completely amazing, that to pass you off as an accident requires more faith than any belief in a Supreme Creator God. Look at your hand, already!

But the story does not end here. Your bio-mechanical body is being driven by an operating system far more sophisticated than anything running on any computer mankind has ever conceived.

Human OS 1.0

Are you aware that your fleshly mechanical systems require code not that much different from the code inside your laptop? Well, they do. For the purpose of this article, we’ll call it Human OS 1.0. (We’ll get to 2.0 later.)

We discussed the scale of the information contained within your body. However, it is important to understand that your body does not store 100 trillion different kinds of data. Each cell contains one copy of DNA, and it’s replicated 100 trillion times. So, while your body does contain a lot of stored data, it is all basically the same copy. It is much like those pesky duplicate photos that sometimes appear in your computer or phone.

Each of those DNA copies runs a duplicate version of your body’s operating system, Human OS 1.0. This operating system determines a number of physical characteristics about you, such as eye color, hair color, skin color, gender, how tall you will be, etc. It carries instructions that may determine your susceptibility to certain diseases and allergies. Scientists are also beginning to understand that your DNA may even hold clues to food preferences and whether or not you have the potential to be a great pianist.

Your phone’s operating system uses roughly 1.5 GB of data storage space. Your phone can make calls, tell you the time, show your location, give you directions to a coffee shop, take and store photos, and accomplish numerous other tasks. Each app you install gives your phone more abilities. In a similar manner, your body is like a machine that your conscious mind is walking around in, and it, too, has lots of “apps” capable of communicating with its hardware features. These “apps” have access to the following: two 25-megapixel, high-definition video cameras with live recording, noise filtration, auto-focusing, and snapshot options, and both provide gaze-worthy portals for peering into when that cute someone is giving you “the eye.” There are a pair of stereo microphones with auto-location, and a varied and complex speaker system capable of producing heart-warming audio. 

Furthermore, there is a nose and mouth which detect both the best and worst of tastes and smells (ick). The entire machine is covered in an organic suit literally coated with millions of tiny sensors capable of detecting changes in pressure, temperature, pleasure and pain. All these systems are fueled by a sophisticated supply and waste management system. The whole thing is monitored by a self-aware central computer with more processing power than any manmade computer. (To see an example of the complexity of your systems, visit YouTube and look for “Your Body’s Molecular Machines.”)

Once again, hold your hand out in front of you and look at it. Concentrate hard, and then read the following:

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in His own image . . . ” (Genesis 1:26-27, NIV).

Now what do you see? Let me help you: you are looking at a marvelous created being. However, the part you can see, your hand, is only the visible part. Now, wriggle your fingers. What do you think causes them to move? If you said, “my brain,” then you are correct, at least partially. Your brain sent the signal, but before that happened, several other things had to happen. First, those digital cameras had to process some images and send them to your brain, where they had to be converted from raw, reflected light into something recognizable as a command. Next, you had to understand a very simple instruction (“wriggle your fingers”), decide to act on that instruction and then your brain had to send out a signal to the muscles in your forearm, which retracted and tugged on tendons that in turn pulled against the joints in your fingers, causing them to move.

Everywhere along the way, your Human OS was interacting with the fleshly mechanical parts of your body. But your operating system goes far deeper than just ordering the mechanical bits to wriggle. There is also the mental and emotional side of you, the inner thinking. Those thoughts of yours—both good and bad. Everything you think, feel and believe, all that you know, every action you take—again, both good and bad—is governed by Human OS 1.0.

The Truth About Your OS

It’s a good operating system! Or so you might think . . . Good in its design and execution? Yes. Good in the way your machine executes the code? Not so much. Of Human OS 1.0, God has a few things to say:

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). And: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7).

What these two verses reveal is that Human OS 1.0 is specifically and intentionally designed to seek out that which pleases the mechanical machine. Your operating system is self-serving. Everything that it does is specifically designed to satisfy its own needs, its own desires and its own habits. A truly Genius Software Developer created Human OS 1.0 and gave it the ability to operate contrary to His own will. In designing the code, He gave you individuality. He gave you the capability and the capacity to make your own choices. And, most importantly, He gave you the desire to make the choice that best serves you in the “now”—the best choice for the current moment.

Why would a Great and Wise Developer do this? Why would He create this incredible, wonderful machine and then implant it with an operating system that could become corrupted? Deuteronomy 30:19 provides the answer to this question:

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live . . . ” (NIV, emphasis added). 

This brings to light something about our Creator and something about you. He gave you this marvelous machine in which to explore the world, to discover who you are and what you are. By creating you in His Own image, He also gave you a mind capable of exploration, engineering, art, mathematics and music. You can live and you can learn—you can experience all that this world has to offer. And you can choose whether you want to live your life in man’s image or whether you want to live life in God’s image.

“For, ‘Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil’” (1 Peter 3:10-12, NIV, emphasis added).

The Creator, the One Who wrote your code, is diligently watching His creation to see what it will do. What choices will you make? And with all of this world’s tempting options, how will you decide in which direction to turn? Fortunately, your operating system comes with a user’s manual, and it qualifies for some pretty clever upgrades. We will discuss that next time.