“Everything that God is and does is marked by excellence.”

Andreas Köstenberger

As always, first, it is important to mention that the English version of this article has been translated from the Spanish version of Towards Excellence (https://hacialaexcelencia.org/2022/05/15/la-excelencia-comienza-en-el-corazon-del-ser-humano-introduccion/); not necessarily from the original texts and works of authors here cited.

So now, let me begin by sharing that a few years ago, I had the opportunity to venture a submarine trip in Hawaii. A short but surprising journey to the bottom of the sea, where the wonders of the marine realm only seen on the small and big screens, became a beautiful reality. This incredible experience simply confirmed me that wherever we are, we will always be surrounded by beauty and magnificence.^[1]

But not only that, it was an extraordinary experience, as it led me to an unfathomable reflection. Just as even in the depths of the sea the Triune Creator God left His mark of excellence; likewise, the Triune Creator God left that same mark of excellence and even superior, in the depths of the heart of the human being, the pinnacle of His creation.

Andreas Köstenberger, in his book “Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue” states:

“Systematic theologies generally do not list excellence as one of God’s attributes…however, for excellence can be viewed as an overarching divine attribute that encompasses all the others. Everything God is and does is marked by excellence.” (Köstenberger 2011)

And as we have also noted in the previous articles, the mark of God’s excellence is present in all of creation, consequently in humans.

Wernher von Braun, the renowned German scientist who brought us into the space age, laid the groundwork for cell phones, satellite radio, the Internet, GPS, and Doppler radar. But not only that, especially he held a firm belief in the Creator God of the Bible. And we precisely quote Von Braun because after his conversion to Christianity he was a strong proponent of the Christian faith and creationism, thus defending that creationism was a feasible scientific theory for the origin of the universe, life, and man.^[2] He stated:

“To be forced to believe…that everything in the universe happened by chance—would violate the very objectivity of science itself. Certainly, there are those who argue that the universe evolved out of a random process, but what random process could produce the brain of a man or the system of the human eye?” (Bergmann 2014)

Science with all its advances is still amazed at the extraordinary structure, composition and functioning of the human body, as it is the case of those who study the human brain and all the complexity that it entails, which, without a doubt, continues to leave tremendously astonished those who tirelessly, advancing in investigation after investigation, do not stop until they specify the magnitude and depth of this organ.

According to an article from the “Institute of Creation Research,” researchers found the rosehip ethereal neuron, and Sherwin, its author, says:

“…in postmortem samples and in sections of brain tissue from surgical procedures. Interestingly, this newly discovered neuron is not found in mice. They are unique to humans, and rosehip neurons can activate a unique set of genes in that single type of brain cell.” (Sherwin 2018)

Extraordinary as the brain is, although small in its physical structure, just 3 pounds if we talk about the brain of an adult, it manages the information of 1000 supercomputers. The brain is like a communication center, and it has a computer, a library, and a video camera all in one. And the more the brain is used, the better it becomes!^[3]

Isn’t it fascinating? But there is still something much more fascinating in the human being, something highly impenetrable. His soul! Why? Because the soul represents the very being of a person.

Coming soon “God’s Mark of Excellence,” an extraordinary topic.

[1] Cecilia Yépez, “Excellence Stems from the Heart – Part 1”, Blog “Towards Excellence”, https://towardsexcellence.org/2017/02/28/excellence-stems-from-the-heart-part-1/

[2] Jerry Bergman, “Wernher von Braun: The Father of Space Flight,” Institute of Creation Research, https://www.icr.org/article/wernher-von-braun-father-space-flight

[3] Donald B. DeYoung, “Thinking about the Brain,” Institute of Creation Research, https://www.icr.org/article/thinking-about-brain/

Tagged: Andreas Köstenberger, creation, Excellence, Excellence of God, human brain, Science, The Mark of Excellence of the Triune Creator God, Wernher von Braun