The importance of people

I was reading in Romans this morning and came to…

Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. ¹⁰ How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. ¹¹ He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, ¹² and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Romans 4:9-12

When I read that section it made me pause and think. My mind grabbed onto… The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,…and wouldn’t let go.

There’s a song that I first heard about eight years ago that speaks of Mary and asks if she knew what she had in her son. When I first heard that song I was amazed by it. It made me stop and think. Made me ponder. Made me really wonder, as a mother, if Mary did know what she held when she held her brand new baby. Did she have any idea of just how important He was?

The verses in Romans 4 affected me that way too. Here was Abraham. A man going about his life. He worked, he cared for his family. Human nature gives us the understanding that he had to hurt, worry, fear, be happy, be sad, get sick, have health problems, get tired, experience exhaustion…and the list goes on. He was an ordinary man.

Yet Scripture tells us… The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe. Did he have any idea as he went about his daily life how important he was? Did he understand the plan the Lord had for him? Did he have any concept of who and what he was in the plan of God’s people? Could he even grasp the importance he would play?

As I read those verse those were the thoughts that stood out to me. Could Abraham have had any idea of just how important he was? But then I got to thinking of all the other Biblical figures whose lives we can read about and know of the importance they held. We can know…but did they?

Did Adam have any idea of how important his life would be on all of mankind? Did he realize that by sinning he was, in fact, causing the death and destruction of not only himself but of millions…billions…of people? Could he have even fathomed that many people? Did he know that his sin would have a profound effect on the world for all time?

Did Eve have any idea of the importance of what she did when she gave the forbidden fruit to Adam? Did she understand her role in the fall of man? Or did she see what she did only through the way it pertained to her and Adam? Was she, like most of us, only aware of the affect of her actions as they happened? Did she only see the cause and effect of this moment in time with no understanding of the long term consequences of what she did?

Did Noah understand how important he was in the world when he and his family were the only people saved out of the entire world? Did he know the importance of being the only person to find favor with God? Did he understand how important his place would be in the ancestry of the entire world for all time?

Years ago my sister told me about a television program she had seen that talked about a common ancestor all people have. Apparently scientists have discovered some gene in all people that is a common gene…everyone has it. According to what my sister told me, scientist called this the mother Eve (or something like that) gene and attributed it to the fact that all of mankind had a common beginning.

I don’t remember anything else my sister might have said about that program but as I remember that small amount now I have to wonder if Noah, if Adam and Eve, knew or understood the importance they would have on the beginnings and on the existence of all of mankind?

Did they know?

Did they understand?

What of all the other people we see in Scripture? They had an important role to play, they served a purpose in the plan of God, but did they understand…could they understand…as they lived out their lives the importance of their place in the Lord’s plan for mankind?