What does this mean?
I believe that God has made me and all creatures, that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still preserves them.
1. God is the Maker of heaven and earth. I believe that God made all creatures, all things in heaven and earth. He also created man. About the creation of man we read in the Holy Scriptures: "And God said, Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God, created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them; and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Gen. 1,26-28. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Gen. 2,7. There is a great difference between the creation of man and the creation of all other visible things. God, so to say, took especial care about this last of all His wonderful works. He did not merely say: Let there be a man, but God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as it were, deliberated and planned beforehand how to make man. God then formed man, that is, his body, out of the dust of the ground, and breathed the breath of life, his soul, into his nostrils, his nose, and so man became a living soul.—And what is more, God created man in His own image, after His likeness. As God is Lord and Master over all things and governs them, so He gave to man the power to govern all things on earth; He gave him dominion over all the creatures on earth, to be Lord over this world. God made man in His own image. Adam and Eve were created holy, without any blemish and sin. They knew and loved God, their Creator, and lived according to His holy will. Truly, man is the foremost of all of God's visible creatures. God has made all men; therefore I confess, He made me.
2. "I believe," I know it to be true from the Word of God, "that God made me." He has made me by giving me body and soul. True, God did not make me as He made Adam, by forming my body out of the dust and breathing the breath of life into my nostrils. He made me by giving me body and soul through my parents. Nevertheless it is true that God has made me, that my body and my soul are the gift of God, my heavenly Father. I confess: "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." Job 33,4.
3. How wonderfully did God make me! "He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses." Consider how beautifully and wonderfully God made your body. He gave you eyes and ears. You can see and hear; you can see all the great works of Go, the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the animals and plants, the mighty mountains and the vast seas. You can see your fellow-men, your friends and parents, and hear their voices, hear their words that instruct and console you. You ca read your Bible and hear the preaching of God's Word. He gave you not only eyes and ears, but all the members of your body—your mouth so that you are able to talk to your friends and parents and make known your needs and wishes; your feet and hands for your work.—We are wonderfully made. God has given you a soul, and He has endowed it with reason, and has given you all your senses. You are able to think about the great work of God that surround you, to try to understand what they are and for what purpose God created them, You are able to understand all that God tells you in His Word about Himself, His will, and His grace, and thus to know Him. You are able to feel His goodness, His fatherly love and mercy. Surely we must say: "I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well." Ps. 139,14.
4. "I believe that God has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still preserves them." Every Christian confesses: God, my Father, preserves me, my life, my body and soul, all that I am. God has not made us and given us His great gifts and then left it to us how to preserve and keep them. This we could never do. He is not like a builder who, having finished a house, leaves it and lets others take care of it in the future. "He is not far from every one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17, 27.28. He will preserve us, and He alone, our Almighty Father, can do it. He has preserved me until this day. The fact that I am still enjoying life, that I still have body and soul with all their precious gifts, that I still can see and hear and have the use of my members, that I still have the gift of reason and the use of my senses, all this is not my work, not due to my prudence, or the care of my parents, or the skill of a physician, but it is God's work and gift alone. "He upholds all things by the word of His power." Heb. 1,3. And I believe that God, my Father, will also in future preserve me, His child, until the hour of death, and that He will then for Christ's sake take me up to heaven, body and soul, and there preserve me forever.
REMEMBER:—
1. God has made you. He has given you your body and soul, eyes, ears, and all your members, your reason and all your senses. He is your almighty Father.
2. God has preserved and still preserves you. That you are still living, that you have body and soul and the use of your reason and all your members, is God's free gift alone. God is your almighty Father.
3. How precious are these gifts of God! Never forget how wonderfully you are made. God, your almighty Father, is also a very kind and loving Father.