We have learned that the population of the world
in 2007 was 6.6 billion people! (www.prb.org) The population of
the United States was 302.2 million people. With these great numbers
of people before us, it is sometimes difficult for us to think
of the great value and importance of one single person. God, in
His Holy Word, teaches us the great value of ONE!
In the days of Noah, the wickedness of man was
great. Genesis 6:5-8. The Lord was sorry He had made man and determined
to destroy all of them. However, Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord! One man, Noah, believed and obeyed God to the saving
of his house and, thereby, the entire human race! Hebrews 11:7,
1 Peter 3:20. Can one person make a difference?
In Luke 15:1-32, our Lord spoke of His missionHis
purposeby telling the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin,
and the lost boy. "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy
in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."
(10) Each of these stories emphasizes the importance of one soul
to God. However, the third story also emphasizes the importance
of the one salvationthe one hope of the lost: the decision of
and the return of the lost son to his father! If one soul is so
important, how much more important are 6,600,000,000 souls! Yet,
we must see that the salvation of these souls must be one soul
at a time.
The story of the healing of the man named Legion
vividly shows the love of God for one single person. Mark 5:1-20;
Luke 8:22-39. Jesus was teaching and healing multitudes of people
on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. However, He commanded
his disciples to go with Him across the sea and through a great
storm to the land of the Gadarenes. One pitiful, wild, lost soul
met Himone possessed by many devils or demonsas many as 2,000!
He dwelt among the tombs; he cut himself with stones and cried
out night and day! The people had sought to bind him with fetters
and chains, but he broke them. He fell down before Jesus and worshipped
Him. Jesus cast out these demons into a great herd of hogs feeding
on the mountain. These ran into the sea and were drowned. The
herdsmen ran into the city and the people came out to see that
the wild man was sitting, clothed, in his right mind, and speaking
with Jesus. They immediately begged and pleaded with Jesus to
leave their country at once! They thought more of their many hogs
than one human being! Jesus left them and returned to the
other side.
We must make many decisions in life. However,
there is one that is supreme in importanceour choice to hear and
to obey Jesus Christ! When Martha complained to Jesus that Mary
was not helping her with the house chores, Jesus replied, "Martha,
Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one
thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which
shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42
The choice to put God first in our lives is very
personal. The apostle Paul spoke of his commitment to Christ in
his letter to the church at Philippi. Philippians 3. He cast aside
everything he had in order to win Christ. (8) He wrote, "Brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing
I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
(13, 14)
The importance of every single effort made in
service to our Lord is taught in Matthew 10:42. "And whosoever
shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of
cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto
you, he shall in no wise lose his reward." The Lord gave
the same wages to those who worked only one hour in His
vineyard (His kingdom; His church) as He gave to those who began
very early in the morning! Matthew 20:1-16.
Paul wrote, "For there is one God,
and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
We are so very thankful to our God that He has given us His Only
Begotten Son! John 3:16. Neither is there salvation in any other!
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me." 1 Timothy 2:5; Acts 4:12;
John 14:6
Yes, the number one has great importance
in the Bible. Do you believe in the one God? Have you been
baptized with the one baptism commanded in the one faith
by the one Lord? Do you have the one hope found
only in the one body, the church of Christ, revealed to
us by the one Spirit in Ephesians 4:1-6? Editor.