Masterpieces
“For we are God’s masterpieces. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” – Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)
In the beginning, God created all that we know and said it was good. On the sixth day, “God created man in His own image… male and female He created them. And God saw all that He had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:27-31).
And we know the rest of the story. In Genesis chapter three, Adam and Eve chose to believe Satan and let the enticement of the world satisfy them over God. That action resulted in sin and depravity—brokenness and eternal death entered our world.
As horrible as that was, God in His sovereignty also had a plan of redemption on His mind from day one! Through the coming of Jesus Christ, His sinless life on this earth, His death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection, we can once again have victory over sin and eternal life in Him.
So not only have we been created by God, but by receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, our lives can be made completely new. A masterpiece once again in Him. The artist’s greatest work. A beautiful new creation that has been freed from sin and death and reconciled back to God Himself. Amazing!That’s who we are: God’s masterpiece in Christ Jesus.
But is that how we live?
Do we believe we are masterpieces?
Do we see ourselves as great works?
Do we live like the beautiful creations we are?
Oswald Chambers expresses… “If we continually talk about our inabilities and ways we don’t measure up, it’s an insult to our Creator. Thinking God can’t save and sanctify me because I have so many imperfections in my brain and body is flat out defiance before God.”
God doesn’t see us as second best…He looks upon us proudly, with love and with a divine purpose over our lives.
God doesn’t see us as second best. He doesn’t see our stuttering and stumbling as flaws. He doesn’t focus on our stature or our successes. He doesn’t say, “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve.” He looks upon us proudly with love and with a divine purpose over our lives.
This has been apparent in my own life. I am 6’5” tall. My wife is 5’2”. I majored in athletics and played professional football, while my wife earned two master’s degrees. If she felt inferior because she can’t run or jump, she would always be frustrated. Likewise, if I wanted to go to eight years of school and practice medicine, I would be missing what the Lord had in store for me as an athlete and currently as a pastor for His church.
God doesn’t make mistakes.
Everything He does is perfect.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father” (James 1:17).
So it is with each of us. He sees us as perfect. His Masterpieces. Created in His image to do good works.
Imagine David. He was the shepherd boy, turned warrior, writer/poet, king who was known for being “a man after God’s own heart.” He didn’t see the full picture all at once, but David trusted God with his life and his purpose and eventually became king over God’s chosen people Israel.
But the Lord said to Samuel (about David’s brother), “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (I Samuel 16:7).
If we don’t live like masterpieces, then we can’t fulfill the good things God has planned for us!
If we don’t live like masterpieces, then we can’t fulfill the good things God has planned for us! So let us not only embrace our understanding that we are “masterpieces” of God but take heart knowing it is for His distinct purpose “…so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10).
When my family moved to Phoenix just over a year ago, I was working remotely with a Christian mission organization. I wasn’t looking for a new job or position, but God had other plans for me. When we look back at the sequence of events that He set into place, it is apparent that only God could have orchestrated my arrival as a pastor at Scottsdale Bible Church. He knew long ago I would be here, prepared for this position, and His timing was perfect.
Now, as a pastor here at SBC, it is my prayer that we as believers would live with the knowledge that the God of the Universe created us just as He planned from the very beginning and that He has equipped us to do good things for Him… in advance! The next time you find yourself saying, “I wish I were better at that,” or “Why am I not more beautiful?” or “I don’t I have a purpose?” remember that you are negating the beautiful work of art the Lord created! Instead, live like the masterpiece you are, lean into your gifts and talents that He has given you, and trust Him with the details of your next steps.
