People Matter to God!

People matter to God! John 3:16, the most recognized scripture in the Bible, says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Displeased with mankind’s sinful behavior, God could have chosen to wipe us off the face of the planet forever. Instead, he chose to extend grace and mercy by offering his one and only son as a sacrifice for our sins. Why? Because people matter to God!

We learn from science that people matter to God. The anthropic principle points out that the universe is designed in such a way to support and nourish human life. For example, raise or lower the universe’s rate of expansion by even one part in a million, and it would have ruled out the possibility of life. And, if the ratio of carbon to oxygen had been slightly different than it is, none of us would have been here to breathe the air.

Suppose the earth had been a bit closer or further from the sun, or just a little larger or smaller, or if it rotated at a speed any different from the one we’re spinning at right now. Given any of these changes, the resulting temperature variations would be completely fatal.

So the lesson we can draw from the Anthropic Principle is this: Someone must have gone to a lot of effort to make things just right so that you and I could be here to enjoy life. In short, modern science points to the fact that people must really matter to God.

We learn from cutting-edge management experts in business that people matter to God. For example, in Thriving On Chaos, Tom Peters refers to this transformation as a “customer revolution.” Also, Ken Blanchard, author of the enormously successful book, The One-Minute Manager, toured the country talking about what he calls “the upside-down pyramid.”

What is the change that they feel is so critical for all of corporate America to hear? Businesses, if they’re going to be successful for the long haul, must pull their attention off of themselves and refocus their energies on their only reason for existence—to serve their customers.

Because people matter to God, they should also matter to us. One of the greatest ways we can show our love for God is by being fruitful in our outreach to those who do not know Jesus. John 15:8-10 says, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (9) As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. (10) If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”

One of the main reasons it is so important to reach people who are at enmity with God is because they will perish for all eternity in hell. An atheist was told by some Christian friends that those who do not receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior will go to hell. Then, they began to describe the horrific conditions of this eternal state to the atheist. After the conversation, the atheist began to observe the lives of people who claimed to be Christians. Like all people, he wanted to see if their mission in life truly reflected their message.

What he observed was the fact that Christians in America do not live much different from the rest of the people in society. The atheist came to two conclusions after monitoring the lives of these so called Christians.

First, he concluded that they must be hypocrites and not really believe hell is the final destination for all who do not receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Second, he inferred from his observations that Christians must be the most selfish people on the planet. Looking at his Christian friends, the atheist said, “If I believed what you believed, I would spend every breathing moment trying to convince everyone I meet what you proclaim. The fact that you don’t do this proves to me you really don’t believe your message.”

Charles Spurgeon said, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies, and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions and let not one go there unwarned and not prayed for.”

2 Peter 3:8-9 says, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. (9) The Lord is not slow in keeping with his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

In 2007, my prayer for every Christian is every time we wake up in the morning we would remember that living the mission and delivering the message of Christ is our duty.

May we never forget or become desensitized to the fact: People Matter to God!