God Focuses on The Individual

I'm sitting in a Panera bread at the moment thinking about this topic - it's a workday and I'm only a half of coffee into my day, so I feel a bit foggy. Blogging always help to meditate through these thoughts, so thank you for joining me on my journey. 

I've been thinking about God's love for the individual. I've been having my quiet time in Ezra and Nehemiah for the past few weeks, and that theme has become increasingly put in front of me. Ezra and Nehemiah were both individuals that God specifically used to impact the many. It seems God loves to start a fire: one spark that ignites a movement. This was certainly the case with Nehemiah, and as I've meditated on my understanding of the Word, I realize that this pattern is everywhere; so much so that I'm to the point to say that it is the essence of God's plan. God desires the individual. My theory is that God has this focus for two reasons: 

1. God desires a relationship with us individually.

2. The healthiest church is built one individual at a time. This is God's primary method to reach the world. 

My aim is to hit this point home by opening your eyes to this pattern by showing you how God has operated from the dawn of time through today. 

In The Beginning, God Created An Individual

It started with Adam. God very well could have created a world with hundreds, thousands or even millions of people - but he didn't he started with one. It's written in Genesis 2:7:

    then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

I like looking at how things were doing in Eden, because I believe what God began in Eden is what he intended for us - so when God created a man, and walked with him (Genesis 3:8). God always desired an individual relationship with individual men and women - which is why he began by creating an individual. 

God Called an Individual

Here we come to Noah. God preserved the entire human race by calling one man: Noah. Have you ever wondered why God didn't tell thirty people to build an Ark? Wouldn't the earth have been better off being repopulated with more than just two animals per kind? Why did God decide to baptize the earth and start over the way he did?

Because he focused on the individual. He called Noah, gave him a command, and through Noah's obedience, God saved all of creation. 

God Made Covenants with Individuals 

At the conclusion of the flood, God made a covenant with Noah that he would never flood the earth again - this is a promise made to a man, but applies to all of mankind as a result. In the same way, God made a covenant with Abraham. 

I pose the same question to you about Abraham as I did with Noah - why did God begin with one Patriarch? Couldn't he have revealed himself to a preexisting community and made them his chosen people? He didn't. He chose Abraham, and through that individual, he multiplied Abraham into a great nation, a chosen people, paving the way to Christ.  Because He chose to focus on the individual. 

God Appeared to Individuals

As I continue to write, I realize that I'm essentially summarizing the entire Biblical narrative. God appears to Moses in the burning bush as we know. He uses an individual to free the entire nation of Israel. He then appears to Joshua after him using Joshua to reclaim the land of Judea. After Joshua, God appears to the Judges who He uses to rescue His people and instruct them to return the Lord. Then, beginning with Samuel, he appeared to the prophets to establish his kingdom and to warn them to return to the Lord. 

Again, here was another choice God made. He could have appeared to the masses: he chose the individual. 

Jesus Trained The Individual

Here's the ultimate example. Did Jesus teach the masses? Absolutely. But he intentionally left crowds, and never once did he attempt to "muster" a crowd of people. People simply flocked to him, and he taught them as he had opportunity. 

Did Jesus have many followers? Absolutely! In fact, there is one record where he sends out 72 people into the cities he was about to enter! That's a lot of disciples. He gave them quite a bit of time. However, many of them would leave Him, as recorded in John 6. 

Did Jesus have 12 disciples? You bet. These were the people he dedicated the majority of his time with - they are those whom God gave Him, as he reports in John 17. They are the only group of people he invites to have the Passover with during the last supper, and the people able to be with him when he gets in a boat across the sea of Galilee, and the only people it's said that he "withdraws" with. But even among the twelve, there are those he prioritizes further. 

Did Jesus spent most of his time with three men? Yes. Peter, James and John were the only ones to join Jesus on the mount of transfiguration and the only ones to be allowed in the room with Jarius's daughter, and they were the three clear leaders of the church. 

But Jesus, even among the three, focused on Peter. He focused on the individual. Jesus only gave Peter an individually unique name, he held him to a higher standard in Gethsemane, singled him out with questions in the midst of the other twelve disciples, and the only man Satan demanded to sift like wheat. Peter is clearly the individual of Jesus' focus - a pattern he learned from his Father since the dawn of time. 

Why Does This Matter to Us?

When we lose God's focus, we lose. Period. What I want everyone to take away from this blog post is this: You matter. Your life matters to God. Your faithfulness matters. Your love for Him and people matter. Your relationship with Him matters. You aren't just a cog in a wheel, you are in important figure in God's Kingdom. God didn't just choose individuals: he chose you. You and I are an important figure in His plan. It's His greatest desire to make you as much a part of that as He can: but that only happens when we respond. That only happens when we accept that because God is individually focused, we are individually responsible. 

Our life has meaning - and meaning is tied directly to, and positively correlated by responsibility. The most meaningful tasks in life are those where much is required from us; where we are forced into the most responsibility we've seen. This is no different. You and I aren't just along for the ride, God desires us to be an integral part of his plan - individually.