Luke 1.15 promises he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
Few men don’t desire to be great. Its inherent to our nature. It comes from our origin: we are made in the image of God.
God is great and ever increasing in glory so too those made in His image aspire to greatness. Since being kicked out of paradise for our rebellion we have perverted the object or goal of our greatness. Most of us want others to see and recognize us as great, the reason our natural desire is perverted.
We were made to glorify God so are supposed to use the near limitless talents and skills God has given us for the purpose of doing great works which honor God as King of kings in the universe.
In this passage God lists those things that cause Him to recognize a person as great. What are those things?
First, he will be focused on God. The reason he is not filled with wine but filled with the Spirit is so that he can always be in communion with God without hindrance. Fellowship with God is essential for doing the will of God for the glory of God.
Second, to be great in God’s sight is to bring people back to God. God is in the reconciliation business; it’s why He came to earth in Jesus and died on the cross in the first place. The great people of God are those who make every effort to win people to Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Third, he will help people have godly marriages and raise godly children. God wants parents to teach their children about Him and His ways. God’s plan has no generational lapse of knowing Him and obeying Him. A parent’s first and chief goal is to raise children in the way they should go.
Finally, they help the church obey the commands of Jesus. People are prepared to meet God when they pass from this life to the next, when they have lived a life in obedience to His commands. Disciple making is the work of teaching obedience to everything Jesus commanded us.
If we want God to consider us great, and we can be among that elite group, we only need to focus on God first and people knowing and loving God second.
If we make these things our priority we can expect great reward on that day we are called home to give an account for how well we lived in obedience to Jesus’ commands.
