14. Great in Kingdom
Matthew 5:19-20
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The conditional promise of greatness is impossible to meet, for who can do and teach all the commandments? If you do and teach the commandments, then you will be called great in the kingdom of God. However, I repent of my failure to do and teach the commandments of God perfectly and completely; I believe in the gospel of the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ. Therefore, by substitution, with Jesus taking my place, I become one who does and teaches the least and the greatest of the commandments.
Being counted as a keeper of the Commandments I can claim the promise of Greatness. God makes me great; God considers me great; God thinks I’m great; and it would be a good idea to think of myself the same way that God thinks of me. I can take this promise to heart by thinking as God thinks: “I am great in the kingdom.” But I am only great because of God, not because of me; I become great when I recognize I am not and I simply receive His gift of greatness in the kingdom. Only when I know that He makes me great and I don’t have to make myself great will I be able to make myself small and be a servant of all. I am free to serve when God forgives and saves me; if I am already great I do not have to prove myself great. This promise changes me into a lowly servant. And that’s a good thing.