No Great People — God Alone Is Great

It is important to understand that there is no great person in this world — no such thing as a great man or woman apart from God. Scripture states it bluntly:

Surely men of low degree are a vapor, men of high degree are a lie; if they are weighed on the scales, they are altogether lighter than vapor.

Psalm 62:9 (NKJV)

The lie of human greatness

Many in this world proclaim their own greatness — great intellect, great wisdom, great might, great power, a great life. John calls this “the boastful pride of life”: men wanting to be significant in themselves, wanting to believe they are mighty. But it is a lie — a delusion, even a deluding spirit. And that same spirit wants to rise up and take hold within us, because pride is subtle. You can see it even in the religious world; the Pharisees took great pride in who they were in themselves.

This is why walking with God keeps us in a place of humility: the more we truly see Him, the more we realize He is the only great One. He alone is truly great, alone worthy of worship, service, obedience, and submission. He is God; He is other; He is holy; He is the only One worthy of our attention and worship.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

John 4:23 (NKJV)

You cannot be a proud person and worship God in spirit and truth, because for the proud it is all about them being esteemed, lifted up, and glorified.

The root of pride in Romans 1

The issue of pride is laid bare where God reveals Himself to mankind:

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.

Romans 1:20-22 (NKJV)

The breakdown comes when people refuse to glorify Him as God and refuse to be thankful. “Professing to be wise, they became fools.” Be careful of professing to be wise apart from Jesus Christ. The world’s degrees and universities can impart knowledge — how to do things — but that is not the same as wisdom. True wisdom from God causes you to live a fruitful, eternal life. The proud man cannot see eternity; he is spiritually blinded, imagining his temporal things will endure forever.

The frailty of human plans

Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish.

Psalm 146:3-4 (NKJV)

People make grand plans and boast in them, yet many who died today, unexpectedly, saw all their plans come to nothing — like the rich man in Luke 12 who said, “I will build greater barns,” only to hear, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you.” So we must walk humbly before God. And when God shows us a sin in our life, we must not flatter ourselves:

An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes, when he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.

Psalm 36:1-2 (NKJV)

Whenever you find a sin in your life, do not flatter yourself — call it a sin, confess it, forsake it, and ask God for help. Otherwise a person lives, as Psalm 49 says, in his own pomp without understanding, “like the beasts that perish.” There are many around us congratulating themselves and being praised by others, but without the truth they will perish. Let us recognize that there is no great person apart from God.

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