You Matter

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 ESV

From the first verse of the Bible, it’s clear who the main character is: God. It sounds obvious, like I’m belaboring an obvious point, but it’s one that we often forget, especially in our hyper-individualized, modern world. If we actually stop and think about what this verse is saying, we realize the profundity it carries.

God created everything. God created everything. That’s everything I’ll ever see in my life, you’ll see in yours, and infinitely more. He spoke light into existence with his very voice. He created man out of dust and spoke life into every living being that was and is and is yet to come. The fact that such a big and powerful God would have wanted to have anything to do with some humans at any point in history, let alone 2024, seems ludicrous from this point of view.

Yet, that’s the beauty of the Gospel.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” Genesis 1:26a ESV

Many philosophers have wondered what makes men different from every other animal on the planet. Some point to our intelligence, some to our morals, and some to other hidden attributes. The Bible paints a beautiful picture of our creation: we are made in the image of God. Actually think about that fact. Every single person was made to be a reflection, a painting, a shadow of the most powerful being in the universe. That goes for the most popular politician, and the criminal sentenced to death. Humans are the crowning achievement of God’s creation; we matter a lot.

Humans have a sinful habit of dividing ourselves. We place ourselves into man-made hierarchies to elevate some of us and tear others of us down. However, the Bible tells us that we’re all equal. We’re all God’s creation. I, like many of you, have heard that statement most of my life, but rarely do I ever stop and think about what it means. It means that not only am I incredibly important because I’m made in the image of God Himself, but that also goes for the guy I gossip about, the girl I find annoying, or the boss who just chewed me out at work. Sometimes we can forget that those around us are also God’s prized creation. When we forget that, we can easily sin against one another.

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6–7 ESV

Science estimates that over 100 billion people have ever lived. That means if you spent just 1 second thinking about every one of the 100 billion people who have ever lived, it will take you about 3,200 years to do it! How much more powerful must our God be, who not only has thought about us for a second, but has formed us in the womb, and knows us so intimately that He numbers all of the hairs on our head. The only logical conclusion we can draw from the fact that God cares this much about us, is that we matter dearly to Him.

But, You’re Not the Point

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 ESV

So far we’ve only covered the very beginning of the story. God created us in His image, we matter deeply to Him, and He seeks to have a relationship with us. However, something went wrong in this equation, something that stranded us from God. If you’ve gone to Church for any amount of time, you already know the answer: it’s our sin.

Our sin, which is so easy to overlook, to justify, and to explain, is what causes us to put ourselves over others, to let our pride take over, and to commit horrible atrocities against one another. We took God down from His rightful place in our hearts and put ourselves there instead, worshipped not the Creator and King of the universe, but the creation. 

God could have left us in this state of sin and death. There was nothing God needed us to provide for Him. There was nothing we could give Him, nothing to compel Him to do anything to help sinful humanity. That is, except for His love.

God’s love resulted in Jesus Christ.

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4–5 ESV

After prophesying His birth hundreds of years in advance, God took on human flesh and was born of the virgin Mary into this world. Jesus is the main character of the Bible; He’s who the whole book points to. It’s Jesus’ actions that literally split our calendar in half, and changed the course of history forever.

Jesus lived a perfect life and died for our sins on the cross. That’s a simple sentence, but it covers around 33 years of temptations, travel, preaching, teaching, beatings, and death that our Savior had to endure, just because we like to tell lies sometimes. It breaks my heart that my sin nailed Jesus to the cross, but I willingly sin every day, and so does everyone else.

Only the most supreme act of love would drive the Creator of the universe, to suffer a humiliation as great as this. 

Jesus didn’t stay dead. He rose again, and He’s alive in Heaven. We know about Jesus because His disciples and others saw Him, told everyone, and were murdered for spreading the information, yet they wouldn’t recant. Now Christianity is the biggest religion in the world.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

Now we know we aren’t the point of the story. We screwed the story up, and Jesus is offering a way to fix it. Now we have a choice to make: will we accept His forgiveness and throw everything else away, because nothing else matters in comparison to eternity with the One who created everything, or will we forsake God for a chance to put ourselves on a pedestal that will vanish in about 80 years.

When we put God back in charge of writing our story, it’s going to change. Plot points that we think are relevant are going to be irrelevant. That relationship may change, you may not always get what you want, but God will always take care of you. Because even if you’re not the point, you still matter to God. He knows the number of hairs on your head. He made them.

God is calling us to help Him write the story of history. How so? By spreading the Gospel. We can’t just sit here and soak up God’s grace; that defeats it’s purpose. If you have the gift of eternal life, and know how others can also obtain it, how could you not share it?

The only way for us to truly understand our role in God’s incredible story is for us to take ourselves off of the pedestal we’ve put ourselves on. We have an incredible mission from our Savior Jesus to go to the ends of the Earth with the Gospel, if only we accept our role.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20 ESV

The Master of the universe is knocking. Will you let Him in? He singled you out, and chased you down in your darkest moment. He gave His Son to die for you, because you matter to Him. 

He’s knocking; will you let Him in? He wants to show you the point of the story.