The First and The Last

Who has the credential to say that he is the first, and he will be the last? Can the first and the last be the same person in a race? What about someone claiming that He is the Alpha and the Omega, that He is at the top ruling over everyone? He is none other than God alone, the Creator and Perfecter of our Faith. One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. When we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. This is our God. Even as sinners, we deny Him, like Peter, but our status as the sons and daughters of God will remain forever. Therefore, it's all about God's grace. Repentance requires a move. Repentance requires taking in a whole new point of view; looking at it God's way. It is about believing and trusting God the one and only one to overhaul us, to transform us, and to forgive our past sins. However, being a Christian doesn't mean our sinful nature will be gone, but trusting God that through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and by His strength, we will be able to overcome temptations. Christianity is more than a religion, a practice, a culture perhaps, etc. It is a walk of life, where the intimate relationship with God takes place, experiencing the love and the grace of our God, it is all about Him. He is the theme, the crux, the cornerstone, the One.

A passage from the book of Matthew 20 says:

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5So they went.

"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'

7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'

8"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'

9"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'

13"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Verse 16 appears a few times in the books of Gospel. In Luke 13 where Jesus talks about the Narrow Door,

The Narrow Door

22Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"

He said to them, 24"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'
"But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'

26"Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'

27"But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'

28"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last."

So what does this verse mean? Who will be first and who will be the last? Is there a reversal? The rich become poor? The poor become rich? A leader plummets and a newbie rising?

Analyzing different contexts, we can conclude that Jesus is telling a message that in the kingdom of heaven, there are many reversals, and the day of judgment will bring many surprises.

Surprises? What are they? Well, it can be someone who think they can earn a way to heaven, or perhaps mundane church goers - those who attend church service on Sundays as if attending a function, watching performance, to criticize the preachers, to meet up with friends, to spend a day in a Holy place to 'holify' himself, or perhaps because mommy says so. Or perhaps the surprises can be you and me, once was lost but later was found, but then took His grace for granted and was lost forever. Or those who do not keep watch, who shatter in their faith, who curse, who lead a life just like anybody else, who are proud, who are selfish, adulterers, dirty-handed businessmen, rotten politicians, slaughterers, etc.

We have to be aware that being born into a Christian family doesn't mean we inherit a place in heaven. Christianity is not a heredity. It is a personal conviction, personal faith, personal decision, personal relationship with God and his people. Once we receive Jesus into our heart but soon we are dwindling away, where the faith is fading away, finding that we start trusting ourselves more than committing to God.

Bros and Sis, for those who have been running the race, lets run with great passion, do not be distracted along the way, do not let go, for we know the rewards in the Kingdom. For those who are still wondering who He is, its never too late.

1 Peter 1:24-25 says,

"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you."

Isaiah 40:7-8 says,

"The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever."

Blessed Christmas. Have an encountering day!