Luke 7:28 (NKJV) 28 For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
Over the last number of posts, we have been talking about your potential in life. I say “your potential” because I want to give emphasis to the fact that this is not just a general idea we might consider in theory. You have the potential for greatness. That greatness may never be recognized by the world. We have a very definitely skewed view of what is great in our culture. Greatness is often measured by how many people know your name. Some of the greatest people in history, and certainly in the history of the church, are people you and I have never heard of. Nevertheless, the impact they had is measured in both history and eternity.
How much people know who you are is often determined by the destiny that God has for your life. I believe that in God, there are no small destinies. Everyone is equally important in God’s eyes whether people know them or not. God sees your destiny as important. The truth is you do not even know what impact you might have on the world if you simply allow God’s destiny and potential to work in your life.
I cannot say if the potential in your life will result in things that other people will call great. I can tell you with absolute certainty that you have the potential to be a great mother, father, husband or wife. I can tell you that you have the potential to live a life that matters. It may not seem to matter on a global scale, but it certainly can matter on an eternal one. Every soul your testimony and influence causes to turn to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ will be noted and celebrated in heaven (Luke 15:10.)
I can also tell you that you have the potential to have a life of joy and blessing. 2 Corinthians 1:20 tells us that all the promises of God are both yes and amen in Christ. If you look up those promises you will find everything from health for your body, peace for your mind to provision for your needs. If the Bible is true, and it is, then when we go to God with these promises his answer to our request will be yes. There is nothing in the human condition that is not addressed by the promises of God found in the Bible. You have the potential to live a great life and to influence those around you to similar greatness.
In today’s scripture we find a promise that explains where your potential comes from. Jesus makes one of those statements that we really do not understand unless we think about them. He says that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet to live up to that point in history. Let us think about that in context. Who were some other prophets we know of from the Old Testament? Moses was considered a prophet. Sammual was a prophet. David was a prophet. Elijah and Elisha were prophets. What about Jerimiah, Isaiah, Danial and Ezekiel? All these prophets would seem to be greater than John the Baptist.
John never led an army, won a battle or wrote a book. He was never considered a leader in his nation and was not even recognized as a prophet by the ones who should have done so. He was a simple man who lived outside of society and baptized people in preparation for the coming messiah. How could Jesus say John was the greatest to ever live? He might say he was a great prophet, but greater than all the names I mentioned? That seems extreme. Yet it was Jesus, the Son of God, the one John says was with God in the beginning and was God, who said it. It is the Word of God made flesh who called John the Baptist the greatest prophet among those born of woman. How could this be?
It is true because God does not see the way we see. He does not judge greatness the way we do. When we see someone whose greatness in the kingdom of God results in some kind of recognition that we might call fame, we need to understand that the recognition is a result of the potential within them. The recognition is not what is great. If we never heard of them, the greatness would remain. That is why Jesus knew that John was the greatest prophet to ever live. He simply obeyed God’s command in an extraordinary way.
All of this is powerful when we think of John the Baptist. It can change our perspective on what greatness really is and how we might reevaluate our definition, but it is the next thing that Jesus says that is really hard to believe and very important to us. I find it significant that he says it in the same breath. There is no pause. “He who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he (John.)”
Who is in the kingdom of God if John was not? We need to understand this from the perspective of what Jesus is in the process of doing. He is establishing something that had not existed on the earth since the fall of man. There had been manifestations of the kingdom of God through things like the nation of Israel. However, the kingdom of God he intended to rule on the earth had not existed since Adam. God gave Adam dominion. Adam lost it to Satan. Jesus was about to give it back. The least in the kingdom of God he is talking about is the least person who would receive the redemption that Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection was about to buy.
The least born-again person is, potentially, greater than the greatest prophet to ever live. I am not sure that there is a “least” among those born of God. I certainly do not believe that God looks at any of his children as the “least.” I do know that we see ourselves that way. We have degrees in how we view other people. Some have more potential than others. The reasons we think that do not matter. Once we are in the Kingdom of God, even if we think we are the least, we are, potentially, greater than the greatest prophet to ever live.
If you take this a little further, he never says there is anyone in the kingdom of God greater than another. He says all are greater than the greatest in the Old Testament. What is the source of this potential of which we have been speaking? It is not your talents, position, family or any natural thing. You have great potential for greatness because Jesus is your Lord and savior. Nothing else is as important.
I want to encourage you today to accept the potential you have in Christ Jesus. I want you to accept that this potential does not come from you. God has invested gifts and talents into your life. He has given you a destiny that is unique to you. He will use all those things, but they are only valuable when they are energized by your real potential. You are a child of God that has been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God. You are part of the kingdom of God. This kingdom can be defined as the active rule of God. God wants to actively rule in your life and by extension of that rule, cause you to walk in dominion over the life you face.
Can you overcome? Can you live victoriously over every challenge? Can you have impact for Christ in the World? Yes, you can. You have all the potential you need to do all those things because you are a child of God. The question is how we access and release our potential. That we have it is a foregone conclusion.
For Audio Messages Visit: https://anchor.fm/bill-kiefer or search Practical Wisdom from the Word of God or Bill Kiefer on Spotify or where you listen to podcasts.
Leave a Reply