Hands. What a marvelous creation of God for the good of mankind! Only the human is equipped with a hand. The monkey has something similar to a hand, but it is very clumsy compared to that of man.

Most of us have experienced the marvel of an infant wrapping his tiny hand around our finger. As this child grows and becomes more coordinated, he will hold toys in his hands, pick up bits of food with his fingers, point to things that interest him, or leaf through the pages of a book. With each passing year, he will be capable of performing more complex tasks with his hands. These same hands may someday be those of a doctor or nurse, a musician, an artist, a writer, a construction worker, a carpenter, an athlete, or a minister of the gospel.

With the help of thirty bones in the arm and hand and about fifty muscles which are connected to the brain by nerves, the hand is able to perform endless motions and activities. The fingers and thumb are bent by the large muscles in the arm and can grip a heavy tool for work requiring strength, but can also do very light and delicate work. No machine can duplicate the performance of the human hand. With speed and agility the hand can easily move from one kind of task to another.

Besides having the ability to do work, the hand can give and receive messages. Through sensory nerves in the fingertips, messages are delivered to the brain. It is through this sense of touch that we can detect temperatures and textures. The blind have benefited from this, learning to "read" with their fingertips. The deaf are able to communicate through means of sign language performed with the hands. There are many messages which can be relayed by the hand without a word being spoken. Most everyone understands a wave, a handshake, and a clap or a pat on the back. And fingers are wonderful little tools for helping us count!

Emotions can also be expressed by the hands. Love and comfort can be shown by a touch of the hand. Likewise anger and hate can be conveyed by a hurtful blow or gesture. So, hands have the potential for causing incalculable goodness as well as evil.

The hand is referred to over 1,800 times in the Scriptures. The very first hands belonging to Adam and Eve were used in disobedience to pick and partake of the fruit God had clearly forbidden them to eat. Thus, sin entered the world by the wrong use of the hands, causing separation from God. No fig leaf aprons made by their hands could cover Adam and Eve's sin nor reconcile them to God. An animal sacrifice was made to clothe them with skins. This shedding of blood was the beginning of many sacrifices made in Scripture, all pointing to the ultimate sacrifice of God's Son on Calvary's cross. Adam and Eve's son, Abel, realized the value of the blood when he sacrificed a lamb as an offering to God. His brother, Cain, thought that by bringing the works of his hands he would be accepted of God. When Abel's offering was accepted and his wasn't, Cain became angry and lifted up his hand against his brother and killed him (Genesis 4:8). Isaiah 59:3 refers to the sinner's hands and fingers as being defiled with blood and iniquity. James 4:8 tells us that our hands need to be cleansed. How can this cleansing be accomplished?

The Bible proclaims that "the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save" (Isaiah 59:1). It was in God's plan that he would send His Son to be the Saviour of the world (1 John 4:14). The Son of God became a man so that His sinless, obedient hands could accomplish the greatest work ever done—providing redemption for sinful man (John 17:4). Despite His hands of love and healing, the Lord Jesus was rejected and those blessed hands were nailed to the cross. There He was judged for the sins of the world and shed His precious blood that alone has the power to remit sins (Hebrews 9:22).

Personal faith in Christ who died, and acceptance of the blood shed from His pierced hands for our cleansing, assures us of a home in heaven with Him for eternity. The wounds in His hands, feet and side will remain throughout all eternity as a reminder of the price He paid to redeem us from our sins (Zechariah 13:6).

Won't you, by faith, place your hands in the hands of Him who is able to save? To reject His outstretched hands is to invite eternal judgment. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God" (Hebrews 10:31). To trust in the One whose hands were pierced for you is to receive eternal life and security. Jesus says of all who believe in Him, "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand" (John 10:28,29).

—M.S.J.