| (Copyright 2017) by Brenda Branson (Hanson, Kentucky) |
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 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT Our focus today is on Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s masterpiece.” Was that your first thought when you looked into the mirror this morning? Did you catch a glimpse of your image and go “Ta-Da! I’m God’s masterpiece?” I’m guessing that many of you just said, “No, no way!” The word “masterpiece” is from the Greek word “poeima” (poem). Poeima is more like a masterpiece than a poem. Creating a masterpiece takes time. DaVinci and Michelangelo took four years to complete their works of art (Mona Lisa and Sistine Chapel). So, if you didn’t recognize yourself as a masterpiece in the mirror this morning, don’t worry. You’re a work in progress. The good news is that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6 NIV) Sometimes the process of chiseling a sculpture or painting a portrait can be long, tedious, and painful. If God is the potter and we are the clay, do we really mean it when we say, “Mold me and make me after thy will?” In his book, The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis writes: “We are, not metaphorically but in very truth, a Divine work of art, something that God is making, and therefore something with which He will not be satisfied until it has a certain character. Here again we come up against what I have called the “intolerable compliment.” Over a sketch made idly to amuse a child, an artist may not take much trouble: he may be content to let it go even though it is not exactly as he meant it to be. But over the great picture of his life—the work which he loves, though in a different fashion, as intensely as a man loves a woman or a mother a child—he will take endless trouble—and would doubtless, thereby give endless trouble to the picture if it were sentient. One can imagine a sentient picture, after being rubbed and scraped and re-commenced for the tenth time, wishing that it were only a thumbnail sketch whose making was over in a minute. In the same way, it is natural for us to wish that God had designed for us a less glorious and less arduous destiny; but then we are wishing not for more love but for less.” The masterpiece God is creating in you is reflected more in the person you are becoming rather than the outward appearance which is often a source of worship in our culture. “You have worth because of what God says about you and has done for you. God says, ‘You’re my poem. You’re my masterpiece. I don’t want you copying somebody else. I’ve put gifts in you — heart, abilities, personality, and experiences — and I want you to use them.’” (Rick Warren) Every individual is needed in this world, and every person is valuable in a role no one else can fill. “There are no little people in the family of God. Every part is necessary.” (Rick Warren) Do you want to be everything God created you to be? Are you sure? It’s easy to say “yes, I want God to work in my life,” but it’s not easy to give up control and let him do the work. Maybe for the first time in your life, you need to believe that you are God’s masterpiece, and see yourself the way he sees you. If you build your life and self-worth on the truth that you are created as God’s masterpiece, your value will not diminish or increase by what you do or fail to do. No one has the power to diminish your value as the person God loves and treasures as his own. AS YOU PRAY: * Say, “I love you, Lord.” * Ask God to show you how he sees you, and to help you believe you are truly his masterpiece. * Thank God for his continuing good work in your life. ———————————————————————————————————- See Brenda Bransons other articles at: Branson, Brenda – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) Reprinted with permission from: Broken People https://www.brokenpeople.org/ ———————————————————————————————————- |
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