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If such information [that makes a living cell different from a dead one] is merely an emergent property of the constituent components then it's arguably¹ not a "message" slipped in by some supernatural agency.

Conversely, if the information is not an emergent property of the consituent components then it must have originated externally. The external source may be physical such as the sun or space aliens - or God.

I agree with your restatement. It presents the issue quite well. I'm still concerned that there is the potential for confusion about the meaning of "information" in this context, but at this stage we're both on the same page.

Note 1: Now that I think about it, because you present the alternative in your restatement, we could remove the word "arguably" from the first sentence.

Thank you so much for your reply and for the rephrasing!

There is a problem with the word "information" used in context of "information theory and molecular biology". It has a very specific meaning whereas "information" has a very generalized, common usage.

Perhaps we ought to coin a mneumonic for it when we have these discussions. How about something like Cellcom?