For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
The annual theme of our church is “To Know Him in His Glory,” and the theme scripture is taken from the Book of Ephesians. Ephesians is one of my favorites, and I have read it many times even before I became a minister. Looking through my bible, I have underlined many verses of Ephesians and written many notes in the margins of the Bible pages. This book has had a profound impact on my spiritual growth and understanding of my purpose as a Christian, and one of my favorite verses is 2:10, "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Paul started the letter to Ephesians with praise and prayer to give the reader a sense of the great joy in his heart for the salvation of Jesus Christ. He then spoke with excitement about the marvelous work of salvation among us sinners which is based on the wonderful plan of the God who loved us, created us, and chose us from before the foundation of the world. Why did God save us? Because we are His workmanship in the first place, and "workmanship" means "masterpiece." What is a masterpiece? Just like Van Gogh's "Starry Night", Monet's "Water Lilies", Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa's Smile", Handel's "Messiah", Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5"... These are all great "masterpieces" that we are familiar with, and they are great works that will make us praise and marvel at the talents of these authors. "Wow, I am God's masterpiece!" is my inner monologue after reading Ephesians 2:10. Each of us is God's masterpiece, but we fall short of God's glory because of our sins (Romans 3:23). People should make a sound of praise when they see this masterpiece, however this is covered with dust and its’ brilliance is obscured. Therefore, God sent His only begotten Son to be crucified for our sins and raised from the dead three days later to restore this elaborate masterpiece to its original glory! God's purpose in restoring His glory to us is not to show off ourselves, but to enable us to “do good works.” Doing good works is not simply doing good deeds, but doing what God has prepared for us to do. By following and obeying God’s will in everything of our daily life, we are glorifying God. I pray that we can all be God's most precious masterpiece so that people can see His own glory in us! Comments are closed.
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