God's Masterpiece
*Watch or listen to the corresponding message here.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, Most High God, thank you for… everything. As the head, thank you for your body. As the Messiah, thank you for your sacrifice. As the King, thank you for your Kingdom. As the Lord, thank you for your power, authority, rule, and influence in my life. Thank you for forming me from the earth, knitting me together in my mother's womb, and calling me your masterpiece. All glory in heaven and on earth belongs to you!
Focus
“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 2:10, emphasis added, NLT)
(Ephesians 2:10, emphasis added, NLT)
Devotion
It’s true. The first time you hear it it might be one of the most unexpected, unfathomable, maybe even unacceptable things that God tells us about who we are, but it’s true—you are God’s masterpiece! It’s true.
The understanding that I am God’s masterpiece is, at times, difficult to sink in though. Before I came to faith there were times I walked around wishing I looked better, wishing that I was smarter, wishing I was funnier, wishing I was, honestly, a different person to various degrees. Most of the time I was content with who I was, but sometimes I thought that I would be better off if I could change certain parts about myself.
Even after God plucked me out of darkness and planted me in his Kingdom of marvelous Light, this little piece about being a “masterpiece” sounded like it was coming from a foreign language.
God: Obra maestra.
Me: No thanks, I’m not hungry.
I hear the words, but I don’t understand. When I think about it, the fact that it’s hard for me to accept that I am, and we are, God’s masterpiece might be pollution from living in darkness where the evil one has such a strong influence. What better way to prevent us from seeing who we are than damaging the self-image of the one that bears His Image. But, this is what happens when we allow the evil one to influence our lives.
So, what are God’s standards? How can he call mankind his masterpiece? To understand how we are God’s masterpiece, we shouldn’t critique ourselves using the world's standards. We should move to look through the eyes of Christ.
Out of perfect love, perfect knowledge, and absolute power, he created each and every one of us and called us his masterpiece. This is where my world brain kicks in and says, you’re not that good-looking, bro. But when God created us and called us his masterpiece, he didn’t make a world full of supermodels. So he must mean something, knowing God, deeper and more profound. Something that transcends our worldly understanding, and flips everything upside down.
The rest of Ephesians 2:10 goes on to say, “He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” We might not all be supermodels, but God didn’t have that in mind when he called us his “masterpiece.” We are his “masterpiece,” as new creations in Jesus, masterfully made so that we can do the works the Father planned for us long ago.
When you take all of Ephesians 2:10 as a whole, in my mind, I can see that being God’s masterpiece doesn’t merely include one’s looks—but every physical and spiritual fiber of our being. It includes our gifts. It includes our talents. It includes our skills. It includes our personality. Everything must be taken into account when we try to envision what God meant when he called us his masterpiece because we are his “masterpiece,” made specifically to fulfill the role that he has planned for us.
A can opener is pretty ordinary, but when you get it opening a can: it’s a masterpiece.
It even includes our deficiencies because where I lack in one area, someone else shines. We’re the body of Christ, not Matt’s body (though it makes funny noises from time to time, it’s better for us all that we’re not my body). I was made, specifically, for works that God has had in store for me from before the beginning of time. You were made, specifically, for works that God has had in store for you from before the beginning of time. We are the body, and with Jesus as the head, we shine.
In closing, God sees deeper, and far more reaching, than the world's standards of what we would call a “masterpiece.” While the world, the flesh, and the devil judge with their standards—sometimes unapologetically—God sees every part of us. We are his masterpiece, or workmanship, made specifically to fulfill a role that God has planned for us from before the beginning of time. When we are operating in the role that God has made us for, with him leading, we shine. We, as God says, as new creations in Christ Jesus, are his masterpieces.
The understanding that I am God’s masterpiece is, at times, difficult to sink in though. Before I came to faith there were times I walked around wishing I looked better, wishing that I was smarter, wishing I was funnier, wishing I was, honestly, a different person to various degrees. Most of the time I was content with who I was, but sometimes I thought that I would be better off if I could change certain parts about myself.
Even after God plucked me out of darkness and planted me in his Kingdom of marvelous Light, this little piece about being a “masterpiece” sounded like it was coming from a foreign language.
God: Obra maestra.
Me: No thanks, I’m not hungry.
I hear the words, but I don’t understand. When I think about it, the fact that it’s hard for me to accept that I am, and we are, God’s masterpiece might be pollution from living in darkness where the evil one has such a strong influence. What better way to prevent us from seeing who we are than damaging the self-image of the one that bears His Image. But, this is what happens when we allow the evil one to influence our lives.
So, what are God’s standards? How can he call mankind his masterpiece? To understand how we are God’s masterpiece, we shouldn’t critique ourselves using the world's standards. We should move to look through the eyes of Christ.
Out of perfect love, perfect knowledge, and absolute power, he created each and every one of us and called us his masterpiece. This is where my world brain kicks in and says, you’re not that good-looking, bro. But when God created us and called us his masterpiece, he didn’t make a world full of supermodels. So he must mean something, knowing God, deeper and more profound. Something that transcends our worldly understanding, and flips everything upside down.
The rest of Ephesians 2:10 goes on to say, “He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” We might not all be supermodels, but God didn’t have that in mind when he called us his “masterpiece.” We are his “masterpiece,” as new creations in Jesus, masterfully made so that we can do the works the Father planned for us long ago.
When you take all of Ephesians 2:10 as a whole, in my mind, I can see that being God’s masterpiece doesn’t merely include one’s looks—but every physical and spiritual fiber of our being. It includes our gifts. It includes our talents. It includes our skills. It includes our personality. Everything must be taken into account when we try to envision what God meant when he called us his masterpiece because we are his “masterpiece,” made specifically to fulfill the role that he has planned for us.
A can opener is pretty ordinary, but when you get it opening a can: it’s a masterpiece.
It even includes our deficiencies because where I lack in one area, someone else shines. We’re the body of Christ, not Matt’s body (though it makes funny noises from time to time, it’s better for us all that we’re not my body). I was made, specifically, for works that God has had in store for me from before the beginning of time. You were made, specifically, for works that God has had in store for you from before the beginning of time. We are the body, and with Jesus as the head, we shine.
In closing, God sees deeper, and far more reaching, than the world's standards of what we would call a “masterpiece.” While the world, the flesh, and the devil judge with their standards—sometimes unapologetically—God sees every part of us. We are his masterpiece, or workmanship, made specifically to fulfill a role that God has planned for us from before the beginning of time. When we are operating in the role that God has made us for, with him leading, we shine. We, as God says, as new creations in Christ Jesus, are his masterpieces.
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