A Precious Little Girl

God has blessed my son and daughter in-law with their first child, and me, with my first grandchild, Hannah Grace. She is a beautiful little girl! Perhaps it is simply because she is my granddaughter, I don't know. But I am very much taken by her presence. Oh, did I say she was a little girl? Yesterday she weighed a little more than 4lbs 10oz. I hope to return to my blogging through Hebrews soon. For right now, and I suspect for many years to come, I am pondering the wonder of this little girl and the One who has given her.

THE FOREMOST

There is no doubt it has been read, quoted and preached an innumerable amount of times since the precious word of God has been in the hands of His children. I am referring to the portion of scripture found in 1st Timothy 1:15 where the Apostle Paul describes himself as the foremost of sinners. The verse reads, "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all."

Paul was not the first to be made God conscience regarding the depth of his sinfulness. In Job 42:5-6 we see Job declaring "I have heard of the Thee by the hearing of the ear; But now m eye sees Thee; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes." And in Isaiah 6:5 Isaiah writes, "Then I said, woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."

In 1st Corinthians 15:9 Paul wrote that he was "the least of the apostles" and that he was "not fit to be called an apostle" because he had persecuted the church of God. To the churches in Galatia he had spoken of how he had persecuted "the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it." In Ephesians 3:8 Paul included the entirety of believers when he stated that he was "the very least of all saints" and yet had been privileged, through grace, to preach the riches of Christ. Indeed, Saul of Tarsus had caused much harm to the body of Christ and to many of its members and their families.

Webster's defines "foremost" as meaning "first in a series of progression" and "of first rank or position." I recently found myself considering Paul's assertion that he was the foremost of sinners. Don't get me wrong; I am not questioning the inspired word of God but just considering the words Paul was moved to write. Was he really first in the line of many and did he actually rank at the very top as the worst of sinners?

Perhaps it was not really his rank amongst sinners that Paul spoke of when he declared himself as the foremost. In 2 Corinthians Paul admonished against measuring or comparing ourselves with ourselves. I suppose that if we did measure ourselves with ourselves, we would come up with a list progressing from the least to the greatest of sinners. Maybe Paul would be at the top of that list and maybe he wouldn't. But the measurement is the "stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ."

And so, was not "foremost of all" sinners Paul's rightful place, his only place, as he looked upon the glorious Christ? In awe, as he considered Jesus and His holiness, aware of his own sinfulness and his salvation by grace, could he have placed himself somewhere other than the foremost? I suspect that Paul may have company in the position as foremost. Is it not the position that will readily be taken by anyone who is granted a heart knowledge of the truths of Christ, His righteousness, salvation by grace and forgiveness of sins?

If you or I would dare gaze wholly on the righteous One, we might also be inclined to declare ourselves as the foremost of sinners and join Paul in crying out, "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Paul rightly declared himself as the foremost of sinners. As we look upon the glories of our Savior, as revealed through God's holy word, you and I will join him there.