By Andrew Conrad

I went on a date with my wife the other day.  We had a real Mexican breakfast, cooked by real Mexicans, overlooking the main plaza in town.  I am so grateful God called me to be a missionary to a Latin country.  After our delicious, real Mexican breakfast, (no, I am not trying to incite jealousy!) in the evening we went to see, The Martian, in English of course.  (Do not, under any conditions, watch a foreign film with another language dubbed in.  When I first came to Mexico, I tried to watch my favorite series, Star Trek.  I didn’t make it through a single episode.  It was in Spanish with Mexican actors filling in the lines, and it didn’t work.)  Matt Damon’s character in The Martian reminded me of something out of Genesis.

God created mankind in his image and likeness.  After creation, he brought to Adam every living creature so he could name them.  Imagine the intelligence Adam displayed to be able to name every animal, even every different classification of zebra, of deer, of bird, of great cats, snakes, and elephants.  Every kind of animal named uniquely.  God gave Adam an intelligent mind able to sort, classify, organize, and arrange.  He also gave Adam the strength of will to finish the job; it is undoubtedly difficult to name and remember hundreds of thousands different animals, birds, and reptiles, and not give up or get confused.

The brave “Martian” in the film also displayed the intelligent mind God gave to humanity: The ability to think, to analyze, to solve, and to overcome a difficult, perhaps impossible situation, and prevail in the end.  Those whose worldview is only science fail to realize how different and exalted we are above the animals.  Certainly, some animals can escape mazes, can store food, and make rudimentary plans, but none can compare to the depth of reason, the moral fortitude, the strength to overcome in the face of certain defeat, and then, like the Martian’s crewmates, to sacrifice their own physical safety and professional future to save a friend, reflecting in a small way God’s character and image in us: God’s willingness to sacrifice himself to save us because of the great love he has for us.   Galatians 1:4 – God gave himself for our sins, the he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of our God and Father.  What a great thing to know not only are we so different than animal life, but God gave his life for us, not for animals or angels, but for us.