It is right and good to believe and say that all lives matter, that every person is equal in dignity and value as a being made in the image of God for the glory of God. However, there is one person, one man, whose life matters more than that of any other man, infinitely more, and that is the man, Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament, the Gospel of John begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4).
It becomes clear upon further reading in the chapter, that the Word being referred to is Jesus Christ, God the Son, the second person of the divine Trinity, the creator and reason for the universe and all that exists in it, particularly the life of man. Jesus would embody all that God had revealed regarding His glorious person in the Old Testament (Colossians 2:9), as well as fulfill the prophetic promises of a Messiah who would redeem and restore both man and creation back to the glory in which they were created (Genesis 1) (Psalm 8:4-9).
He would do so, however, as a man, as we read in John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Renowned Puritan author, Jonathan Edwards extols the infinite dignity of Jesus Christ in his book The Excellency of Christ. In it Edwards writes:
In the Person of Christ, we see infinite glory and lowest humility come together paradoxically and meet in his person. Infinite glory and the virtue of humility meet in no other person but Christ. Infinite glory and lowest humility meet in no created person, for no created person has infinite glory, and they meet in no other divine person but Christ….In Jesus Christ, who is both God and man, those two diverse excellencies are sweetly united. Christ is a person infinitely exalted in glory and dignity (Philippians 2:9-11).
The Bible teaches that unless Jesus Christ matters more to us than anything or anyone else in this world, our life will not matter beyond this world (Luke 10:25-28) (1 Corinthians 16:22) (Matthew 10:37-39). Thus, I want to use the next couple of posts to point out, from the Bible, why Jesus Christ should matter to you above all else in His creation.
Grace and Peace ×