To declare someone “the greatest of all time” in some field of endeavor is an audacious claim. Greatest how? Greatest in skill? Greatest in innovation? Greatest in popularity? Was every person in the entire world throughout all time considered? In the realm of social media, “greatest of all time” is as reliable an assessment as are the words “the world’s best” on a restaurant menu – it is a matter of opinion.
At my ordination service, I had the responsibility of choosing a Scripture passage to read. I chose 1 Timothy 1:12-17, where the Apostle Paul describes his call to ministry as an act of God’s mercy because he saw himself as the foremost sinner, the GOAT if you will. I chose that passage because I, too, recognized that my call to the pastorate with its weighty title of “reverend,” was only by God’s mercy. I knew well my sinful past and, with not a shred of pride in it, was vying for Paul’s claim to being the GOAT. Were a rigorous and thorough assessment possible of every person who has ever lived, there would be many contenders, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Were every life assessed, one man in history would stand as singularly unique, the man Christ Jesus. A relative of mine recently described him as “our greatest teacher,” and certainly he was the GOAT, but he is so much more. Jesus is the greatest of all time in righteous living for he alone lived a sinless life. In the category of saviors, Jesus is the greatest of all time, for he is the only Savior, the only one who can save people from eternal damnation. He is, says the Bible, the only mediator between God and man.
Christ Jesus is not only an historical figure of great importance, he is the GOAT historical figure. He is the hinge on which turns all that happened before he came to earth, all that happened after he came, and all that will yet happen.
The same is true on a personal level. Christ is the hinge on which turns all that has happened in a person’s life and all that will happen. He alone can redeem a person’s past, assure them of a glorious eternity, even radically change them in the present. My life bears the evidence of Christ’s great work of redeeming and renewing. Christ Jesus is truly the GOAT, and I pray that you will come to know him.
