God’s Masterpiece
Psalm 100:3 “Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”
Pastor Herk continues: The Apostle Paul uses the term “in Christ” multiple times in his Epistles. This was not by accident. Paul wants to leave no doubt of who comprises God’s masterpieces. As magnificent as things are in God’s created nature or in the immense created universe, they are not God’s masterpieces. God’s masterpieces are those people who have repented and escaped their grievous sins and accepted the free gift of God through faith in Christ Jesus. In Ephesians 2:4-9 the Apostle Paul explains, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Those are the real masterpieces.
The born-again Christian has been transformed and re-created all new through the means of the death of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, on the Cross, His resurrection from the dead, and His ascension to the right hand of "God the Father" in Heaven. But, Paul doesn’t stop just by recording the process by which we become God’s masterpieces. The Apostle goes on to describe the purpose of God’s masterpieces. In artistic masterpieces have been created for many different adornment and enhancement purposes. We can look in Scripture and find support for why God created us as His masterpieces. In Ephesians 2:10, the Apostle Paul focuses on the purpose: “for or unto good works”. We were created to do good (godly) works. The word “unto” used here is the Greek word “Epi”, meaning the superimposition of direction (of time, place, order, etc.), a purpose or reason in relation of distribution.
Revelation 4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
The Apostle has made it absolutely clear that there is no room for our own works when it comes to out salvation, there is a place for God’s good works in the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ. We do not do good works to get saved, but because we have been saved. By our own desires and efforts, our own good works can never earn favor with God. We cannot earn salvation through anything that we do that is good. The wages of sin is dead, so us sinners can never be good enough to receive salvation. There is only one way to the Father in Heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. The finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross saved us from the wrath of God against sin and changed our eternal home from Hell to Heaven. In unending gratitude of our redemption, we serve the Lord willfully and joyfully by good “godly” works for His honor, praise and glory. God’s masterpieces are created to do good works. We are works of art by God’s hand.
Let's conclude Pastor Her's message on God's masterpieces in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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