How small does a person have to be before they’re entirely insignificant?

This meme’s been making the rounds on social media, and I’ve seen it across platforms, posted by numerous friends, and friends of friends. Sometimes the tone of the post is humorous, as in “Just how big a problem is me forgetting the cover sheet on my TPS report?” Sometimes it’s more introspective, with a twist of brooding. Regardless, it pleads for an answer to the question “What’s the point?”

I’ve written in a previous post about the four great existential questions: Origin, Meaning, Morality, and Destiny (see OMMD isn’t a Band from the 80s). Since the questions whirl endlessly, like fidget spinners on marble, then the answers to the questions should have a share of the space. And, so, in answer to the question, “What’s the point of all this?” can I offer to you a different way to consider your personal and almost immeasurable stature among the incomprehensibly vast dimensions of the universe?

God made it all. He sustains it all. He set you apart and made you very different from everything else.

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.         
Hebrews 11:3

And, earlier in the same book, speaking to sustaining all things:

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. 
Hebrews 1:3

And, to your worth:

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
Matthew 10:29-31

God made it all, God keeps it all running, and you are very important to the One who made it all. So… what’s the point?

Well, here’s one point that Jesus made:

Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 10:39

What’s Jesus talking about? Dying to self; the almighty I; the great big baby still screaming for attention in so many ways. We’re to cast off our concern for self and focus on those around us. If the universe is vast (and it is), and you’re smaller than miniscule in comparison, then that dark area inside of your skull is even smaller. It’s a tiny space, friends, inside your head. Everything in there focuses on self, and the whole world closes down to just you.

No wonder the universe seems so big.

But, when we get out of our heads and take note of those around us, consider what can be done for them, look to their needs and concerns, then the world opens up. It gets bigger. And, your importance suddenly takes on new facets when you’re bringing the love of Christ to someone. You may look tiny compared to a photo of the universe. But, you’re significant to that somebody.

That significance shouldn’t be the bedrock testimony of who you are, though, and whether or not you’re important. Wait, didn’t I just make the case that you become important when you set the importance of another ahead of you? Yep! But, here’s the thing: Your importance is not extrinsic. It doesn’t come from outside of you. Your value isn’t determined by anyone, even you. That’s the point I was getting at (clumsily).

Your value is intrinsic. It’s intrinsic.

Origin, meaning, morality, destiny. They’re not arranged haphazardly in the sentence. It’s more than just the four words in a line. It’s a linear progression. Do you want to know the meaning of life? Then go back one place to the left and ask yourself “What’s my origin?”

If you accept what’s been beaten into you, into us all, day after day, that you’re just the result of random co-location of atoms that formed by accident, then where’s the meaning in that? Spoiler alert: There isn’t one. That’s not just me saying it. It’s not true just because I just wrote it down. Read Dawkins. He’ll tell you that you’re a throwaway survival machine with the ultimate purpose of replicating your genes. That’s it; nothing more. There’s your value according to naturalism.

Seems a little forlorn, doesn’t it?

Do you want the truth? Can you handle the truth, Lieutenant Kaffee? The truth is that you were created by Almighty God.

When people tried to back Jesus into a theological corner with a question about divorce, here’s what He said:

"Haven't you read," He replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?"
Matthew 19:4-5

Not to bog things down too much. But, it’s important to note that, in the Greek, it is crystal clear and unambiguous that Jesus was speaking of the beginning. Not a beginning. Not the beginning of people. He was speaking of the only “first cause:” The beginning of all things. And, you were made in the image of God.

No other thing in all creation carries the image of God. Now, we’re to see in God’s handiwork in the stars above, note it, contemplate it, and worship Him for it. But, the actual image of God is not in the stars, or the vast universe and all those billions of galaxies.

The image of God is in YOU. That, my friend, gives you intrinsic value.

When Hitler murdered the millions, he was committing crimes against humanity. When Hitler murdered each person (individually) he was killing one born to carry the image of God.

It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about you, or what you and I think about anyone else. We all, everyone of us, were born with intrinsic value by being made in the image of God.

It’s our origin.

Moving to the right in the order of Origin-Meaning-Morality-Destiny, then, your origin informs your meaning, which sets your morality, and then determines (ultimately) your destiny. Jesus said (in John 14:6), “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

There was a time when time itself scared me. The concept of eternity was unfathomable and terrifying; the idea of the distance from one end of the universe to the other gave me a galaxy-sized hole in the pit of my stomach. That changed when I accepted what God has spoken to us all, that He is my Creator. There is a God (for real), and He wants to be known, has made Himself known, and will run to you if you will just come to Him.

In the Parable of the Lost Son, Jesus explained it this way:

"'I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.' So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."
Luke 15:18-20 

Why such commotion by God over one person? Why, in a sea of humanity numbering nearly eight billion, on one planet of eight orbiting one star, in a galaxy of billions of stars, in a universe of billions of galaxies… why would God kick up such a fuss over little ol’ you?

Because you’re made in His image. It’s in you. You have an intrinsic worth that surpasses the value of every star and every galaxy in the whole of the vastness of outer space combined. The stars were made by Him. But, they were made for you (that’s a post for another time!). Every star – made for you.

You. In a universe of stuff, you carry the image of God, my friend.

But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:8-9

That’s the point. That’s why it matters. Return to the One whose image you carry. Turn in repentance and walk to God, and He will run to you.

You do matter. You matter that much.

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 
Isaiah 40:26

Not one star is missing in all those trillions and trillions. Are you missing? Are you a lost son or a lost daughter? The next time you look to the night sky, consider who made it all, and whether you’re missing from His count.

God’s peace to you.