Reasoning for Life -- 2. The Creator of “Fitness” Didn’t Fit

All things were made by Him [Jesus Christ];
and without Him was not any thing made
that was made.  – John 1: 3

This article raises the question, “What are the ‘All things' the Apostle John is referencing?"  Literally, “All things” encompasses everything we see around us and everything within us.  It includes our eyes to see these things and our minds to contemplate their wonder and complexity.  We begin by considering ants and flowers.

“All Things” - Including Ants and Flowers
Our peonies have bloomed beautifully this year.  Recently, we saw a comment on Facebook from someone who was unable to make an indoor bouquet of their peonies because the flowers were attracting so many ants.  Although ants can be pests in homes and at picnics, the ant-peony relationship deserves a closer look.

Have you heard the claim that ants are necessary for peony flower buds to open and bloom?  We had heard this claim, too, but had never questioned the validity of it.  Turns out it is false.  But wait!  There is actually a more fascinating relationship between ant and peony, one in which each species benefits by its relationship with the other.  A relationship in which each species benefits is called biological mutualism. 

The ants observed on peony flower buds are attracted to the sugary droplets of nectar that are secreted from the sepals that enclose the flower within the bud.  According to the Farmer’s Almanac online, the nectar is “a great food source for ants, containing not only sugars, but also amino acids, lipids, and other organic compounds. When a scout ant finds the nectar on the peony, she emits a pheromone or odor trail on the way back to her nest.  Upon arriving at the nest, the ant scout alerts other ants about the food source.  The recruited ants then follow the odor trail back to the nectar on the peony flowers.”

Meanwhile, as the peony flower buds provide a food supply, the ants provide a valuable service to the peonies.  According to the Almanac, while ants are obtaining food from the peony flower buds, they “…protect their food source by attacking bud-eating pests by stinging, biting, or spraying them with acid and tossing them off the plant.” 

The fascinating relationship between ants and the peony plant is just one of a multitude of biological mutualisms on planet Earth.  Mutualisms exist with a variety of benefits that favor survival and reproduction including nutrition, protection from predators, pollination, seed dispersal, shelter, and numerous other functions.  Some plants like violets attach tiny food-containing eliasomes to their seeds to incentivize ants to carry and plant their seeds.

Amazing Complexity of Communities
Even more amazingly, planet Earth is populated on land and in the sea by unique biotic communities, each consisting of hundreds of animals, plants, and microbial species.   Each species lives in interdependent relationships with other species.  Biotic communities function with amazing persistence, seemingly with only the “invisible Hand” of their Creator who spoke each kind of creature into being and assembled them into biotic communities along with other kinds.  According to God’s Word, He is the Sustainer who makes provision for every living thing:

  The eyes of all look to You,
      And You give them their food in due time.
  You open Your hand
      And satisfy the desire of every living thing.  – Psalm 145: 15-16

But how does God “satisfy the desire of every living thing?”  The science of ecology reveals that each species that flourishes in a biotic community does so because of the interdependent relationships like we have described above.  To underscore the complexity of biotic communities, just pause for a moment and recall the last time you experienced the sights, sounds, and fragrances of a forest, wetland, alpine, or grassland community.  What is so stunning to us as observers is the amazing complexity and wonder of the myriad of plants, animals, and microbes living in interdependent relationships together.  To illustrate, check out the YouTube video made in a forest community—click HERE.

Those of us who enjoy gardening may appreciate how challenging it is to “create” a small perennial garden with a half-dozen or more horticultural flowering plants.  Even though our flower gardens are far less complex than native biotic communities, still it requires continual weeding and other efforts to maintain its original diversity. 

Another way to learn to appreciate the complexity of biotic communities is to try to “create” a biotic community “from the ground up?”  [Some may recall our efforts in cooperation with Cedarville University students to establish a prairie on a former agricultural crop field.  See HERE to begin a multi-webpage account.]

Then, there are “restoration ecologists” who claim not to be “gardeners,” partly because they are not starting “from the ground up.”  Instead, they devote their expertise to restoring existing native biotic communities that have become degraded—i.e. communities that have lost species by local extinction (extirpation) or which have become overrun by unwanted species, the so-called invasive species.  Invasive species were adapted to other biotic communities where natural interactions such as grazing and predation have kept their populations in check.  But when these species escape or are transported to a different biotic community, they can easily become overpopulated and harm populations native to the community. 

A prime example of an invasive plant species is Kudzu vine (Pueraria montana) a member of the Legume Family which was imported from Southeast Asia in the 1930’s.  Although Kudzu was appealing for its fragrant blooms, sturdy vines, and ability to colonize steep, eroded land, it soon became evident that it would not “fit” into biotic communities of temperate, Eastern North America.  The same sad outcomes are occurring all over the planet when people unwisely tamper with biotic communities and misjudge the “fitness” of an introduced plant or animal species.  These unfortunate outcomes are often partly due to an ignorance or misunderstanding of the ecological and genetic concept of “fitness.”

“Fitness” versus “Fit-ness”

In order to understand the term “fitness,” we must distinguish “fitness” from “fit-ness.”  “Fitness” is popularly associated with Darwinian evolution (Recall “survival of the fittest?”).  Here, “fitness” is judged by its success in survival and reproduction.  Darwinian “fitness” is defined by outcomes in an actual biotic community.  However, it is difficult to predict outcomes, especially when a species like Kudzu is introduced into a new community.  What may look like a good “fit” to conservation biologists and horticulturalists can turn into a “monster.”  The list of destructive invasive plants and animals is long.  For more examples, just perform an internet search using the key words “Australia” [or your own state or province] and “invasive species.”  You’ll be amazed!

How then can we avoid such catastrophes?   First, we must understand that while invasive species like Kudzu have superior “Darwinian fitness” to survive and reproduce compared to other species, they are very poor at “fit-ness” as judged by their ability to “fit into” a community along with hundreds of other resident species of that community.  This reality brings us back to what ought to be a great appreciation for the Creator of biotic communities.  It is the “fit-ness” or capacity to “fit in” that is essential to building a complex biotic community.  “Fitness” in the Darwinian evolution context is of lesser value because, as we said, it is limited in predictive capacity.  In fact, much of what we claim to know about the functions of the biological world is more “descriptive” than “predictive” or “explanatory.”  When we come to grips with this fact, we ought to be humbled.

Complexity Inside Cells

We have emphasized the complexity of biotic communities with their numerous species that display amazing “fit-ness,” each being intertwined with other species in relationships that provide mutual benefit.  But there is even more complexity and evidences of purposeful “fit-ness” beneath the surface—or should we say, beneath the skin or epidermis of animals and plants.  Each multicellular animal and plant species grows and develops through cellular reproduction of the zygote, the first cell of a new generation.  This reproduction leads to more cells but more amazingly, the cells begin to differentiate into different-looking cells whose form exactly complements their respective functions within tissues and organs.

For example, as a plant grows from an embryo of a seed, it develops leaves containing the green pigment chlorophyll precisely arranged within tiny organelles ("little organs") called chloroplasts.  Click HERE to visually go on a kaleidoscopic tour deep inside a plant leaf to observe how chlorophyll absorbs sunlight and converts it to chemical energy by converting carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins used in plant growth. 

The human body is composed of billions of cells that are diverse in form and function.  For example, consider our nerve cells, blood cells of different types, skin cells, muscle cells, and bone cells.  In most organisms that have sexual reproduction, sexual maturity occurs when sex cells, sperm and egg, reach maturity.  Sexual union demonstrates “fit-ness” literally as evidenced when two mates “fit together” in what humans refer to as sexual intercourse between male and female. 

Sexual union in humans is designed and intended by God for intimacy and procreation within marriage. But “beneath the surface” of this coordination at the organismal and organ level is a crucial and precise “molecular fit-ness.”  [Note that this molecule-level coordination also bears the design and purpose of God that calls for a "fit-ness" of our male and female sexuality within the bounds of marriage.]  Here, an array of molecules called hormones coordinate the functioning of the individual male and female reproductive systems through precise “lock-and-key fitting” of specific hormones with specific membrane receptors.  The precise “lock-and-key” encounter of hormone with receptor causes cellular processes to be set in motion.  The resultant cascade of molecular events controls the precise timing of sexual processes that God intends to promote sexual intimacy that can at times lead to sexual union (copulation), fertilization, and eventual development of offspring.  Although our explanation is very elementary, hopefully we can see that human sexuality affords one of the most amazing examples of God's design and "fit-ness" in creation.

Nanomachines within Living Cells
Proverbs 25: 2 states,
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the honor of kings is to search out a matter.

The writer of Proverbs invites us to exalt our Creator for the treasures of complexity He has hidden within His creation.  He adds that it is the honor of a king that the scientist is equipped with a mind to inquire and learn of creations complexity and wonder.  So far, we have traversed creation’s complexity from community to organism, and to cells and molecules.  Permit us to take one more dive into the complexity of how cells are composed and conduct the metabolism that supports our lives.

Earlier, we noted that our bodies are composed of many different kinds of cells.  Each cell is composed of membranes which consist of two layers of lipids (a lipid bilayer).  The lipid bilayer has numerous proteins and protein complexes imbedded within or traversing the bilayer.  Membranes form the boundary of cells, they form organelles (“little organs”), and also complex matrices such as endoplasmic reticulum within each cell.

Membranes are important in creating order within cells.  For example, the smooth muscles of our heart are designed to produce contractions necessary to pump blood.  Smooth muscle cells, or myocytes, contain two types of protein molecules, myosin and actin which together can produce muscle contractions which we detect as “heartbeat.”  Our purpose is not to teach heart physiology but to demonstrate the incredible complexity and design that makes regular heartbeat possible. Click HERE to WATCH A VIDEO that explains how heart muscle contraction is controlled by so-called action potentials produced by the pumping of ions across cell membranes.  Notice how the precise configuration of cells and membranes and the millisecond changes in action potentials all work in precise “fit-ness” to enable each heartbeat.

Some of you may use prescriptions of drugs known as beta blockers.  These drugs can control the duration of action potentials to improve heart function.  Again, we can see “fit-ness” at work.  What makes a prescription drug successful is its precise molecular configuration that enables it to bind to specific locations on ion channel proteins.

Finally, you may have noted that generation of action potentials requires energy in the form of the molecule ATP (adenosine triphosphate).  Because ATP is expended not only for heart muscle contraction but for skeletal muscle contraction and just about everything that cells do, it must be replenished.  In most living cells that possess organelles, the ATP is generated in organelles called mitochondria.  Mitochondria are known as the “powerhouses” of cells.  As we might guess, muscle cells are loaded with mitochondria!

Each mitochondrion has a double-layering of membranes, an inner and an outer membrane.  Within the inner membrane are protein complexes known as ATP synthase.  Click HERE and WATCH A VIDEO of the fascinating process of ATP synthesis by these motor-like ATP synthases.  Again, notice “fit-ness” on display as the “molecular motors” like nanomachines with many parts fitting and working together to rotate and crank out ATP molecules.

Finally, some readers may remember observing cells of one-celled life, protozoa and bacteria, under a microscope.  Based on high-powered microscopy and study of protein molecule configurations, we now can observe how one-celled organisms can propel themselves.  Click HERE to WATCH A VIDEO of how ATP energy is used to drive bacterial flagella via “flagellar motors.”  We ought to marvel at the design and purpose evident in the “fit-ness” of these motors and their protein components within membranes.

The Creator of “All Things” Doesn’t Fit
As we conclude, we hope you have been drawn into a clearer awareness that “fit-ness” as seen by how things at every level from whole communities of life to molecules --“ALL THINGS” seem to have a “fit-ness”—i.e. an appearance of design and purpose that has come from something or Someone beyond shear matter itself.  The Apostle John who lacked the scientific knowledge we now possess penned these words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God (emphasis added):

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being (John 1: 1-3).

The above words are the opening of John’s inspired Gospel-- a profound and powerful statement which takes us back to Eternity past.  As we said in Part 1 of “Reasoning for Life, Part 1: Before There Was Any Thing” (Click HERE to read.), John takes us even further back than the opening to the Book of Genesis.

Think about it!  Without the Word, the Logos, there was NOTHING!  Because ALL THINGS came into being through Him, Jesus Christ! 

In this article, we have touched on only a few of the ALL THINGS created by Him.  Why not pause again, and take a few minutes to look around you and listen to the sounds of birds, the wind, the sound of voices, and the awareness of your beating heart.  Although John had similar experiences by his five senses, he had no idea of what God would allow us to see through science since his first century writing.  John knew nothing of cells, membranes, molecules, and cellular motors that generate ATP.  His “All things” statement was meant to inspire hearers and readers in his era; but his words ought to inspire us even more.

But the Apostle John follows his “All Things” statement with another profound statement.  This one is tragically sad:

He (the Word, the Creator, Jesus Christ) was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. – John 1: 10-11

Jesus Christ, the Creator of “All Things,” came into His creation in human flesh through the Virgin Birth, but “the world did not recognize Him…did not receive Him.”  The Creator of amazing “fit-ness” from creatures living in interdependence within biotic communities all the way to the muscle cells and ATPase as membrane motors did not “fit!”  Membrane motors that enable the muscular predators to capture their prey, or the prey to escape their predators.  Christ came among us and walked among the His people, the Jews, and among the birds and flowers of the fields.  Walking within all that evidence of “fit-ness” that He created--yet He didn’t “fit!”

How can this be?  What kind of reasoning, or lack of reason, can explain humanity's rejection of Jesus Christ; and, the conclusion that He was “fit” only for horrible suffering on a Roman cross where He died as the sacrificial Lamb?  In “Reasoning for Life Part 3: Death of Reason” (CLICK HERE.), we try to answer this question.

Your Thoughts?
Maybe you have a question or wish to correct a perceived error in what you have just read—please feel free to use the “Comment” link below.  We hope you have been challenged to consider the amazing intricacy of the world around us and to reexamine your belief about how it came about.  The Creator of the universe has spoken to us through His Word.  John follows his tragic statement about the world’s rejection of Christ with these words, But, as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1: 12-13). If you have additional questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you.  Just post a “Comment” below or e-mail me at silviusj@gmail.edu