From the Least to the Greatest

By Pastor Chad

When I was a kid, I always hated being picked last during team selection. In the end, I found being picked last was a motivator for me to work harder and get better, but–at the time–it made me feel small and insignificant. No one wants to be the worst player on the team. No one wants to be picked last. Even as an adult, who wants to be the least valuable employee? Or who wants to be the neighbor no one ever talks to?  

In Christianity, we claim all human beings are equally valuable. From the womb to the tomb, every man, woman, and child is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Thus, every human is created by God and is important. We may have different roles in life, but our roles or status does not determine our value. The infirmed paralytic is just as humanly valuable as the prince of England. We are not all of the same race and country, but the indigenous tribes of the Amazon are just as valuable and important as the President of the United States. 

And it isn’t just our human value that factors into Christianity. Scripture also declares that everyone and anyone can know God and enjoy Him forever. In Hebrews 8:11, the preacher quotes the prophet, Jeremiah, in proclaiming, “And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” The author of Hebrews is stating that anyone who has faith in Jesus, from the least to the greatest, can know God. This doesn’t mean that there are some who are less valuable than others. What the author is emphasizing is that any and all who come, can have a relationship with God. 

With the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, God has begun a new covenant. Now, all who call upon the name of the Lord can be saved (Romans 10:13). And all who are saved are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Thus, God lives within followers of Jesus Christ. He is intimately and personally connected to each and every Christian–whether they be male, female, Gentile, or Jew. If one repents of her sins, and believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ, she can have a relationship with God that is just as deep and profound as that of David, Paul, or Mary.