Laminin --- All Things Hold Together

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created.

So what is Laminin and what does it have to do with God…

Let's take a look at Colossians 1:17 the words of Paul say, "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

Let's take a look at this image: This is Laminin.

What is Laminin, you might be asking? Wikipedia states that Laminin is: a protein found in the extracellular matrix, the sheets of protein that form the substrate of all internal organs also called the basement membrane. It is the major non-collageous component of the basal lamina, such as those on which cells of an epithelium sit. It has four arms that can bind to four other molecules. The three shorter arms are particularly good at binding to other laminin molecules, which is what makes it so great at forming sheets. The long arm is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor the actual organs to the membrane. The laminin protein is made up of three separate parts, called the A, B1, and B2 chains. That gives it a total of six "ends", which accounts for a lot of its flexibility in connecting up various kinds of molecules.

Let's not worry too much about the definition --- look at what the chain of these strands that makes up laminin look like -----it is a cross-----.

Here is an image of what a true strand looks like:

This is magnificent that it resembles a cross of God….

A couple of days ago I was doing research on the internet and I came across a YouTube video by Louie Giglio doing a sermon and I was blown away… I want to share what I learned but I fear not being able to convey it as well as I want. But I will share with you anyway what I learned.

Louie was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is. How He spoke the universe into being ... how He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire ... etc. etc. Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am so amazed and I was remembering how I always wanted to learn more and more about God's handiwork. I remember so many times thinking ... "How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???"

Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart ... how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.

And then I lost my breath. It was because he started talking about laminin.

I knew about laminin. Here is how Wikipedia describes them: "Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue." You see ... laminins are what hold us together ... LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what hold one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already. But what I didn't know is what laminin LOOKED LIKE.

But now I do.

And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already) ... Here is what the structure of laminin looks like ... AND THIS IS NOT a "Christian portrayal" of it ... if you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see ...

Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!!Amazing! The 'glue' that holds us together ... ALL of us ... is in the shape of the cross. Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things HOLD TOGETHER." Colossians 1:15-17

Call me crazy. I just think that is so cool.

Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together...one cell to another....by the cross.

You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin "glue" would look like long before Adam even breathed his first breath!! We praise YOU, Lord!

Please take a moment and look at this YouTube Video ----Louie Giglio ----about Laminin. This is an awesome video that explains more about Laminin.

I hope you found the video and information and research I have presented to you about Laminin. Wow what a rush when you realize that God left all of these signs for us about how he created us and the world around.

This was written by my wife.

May God bless you all.

Rev. JR Seabolt

Return Home