You Are God's Masterpiece

     In Ephesians 2:10 it says, "We are God's Workmanship (or Word of Art; some Good translations say "Masterpiece") created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He prepared beforehand." That word in the Greek for "workmanship" is "poeima." It is the where we get our English word poem. In Greek culture poetry and philosophy were the highest forms of art. Literally the Greek Word is translated many times as "Masterpiece." You are God's Work of Art.

You are His artwork and made in His image! (Genesis 1:27).  Malcolm Smith (Bishop of Zoe Community of The Holy Spirit) used to say on his radio program, “You are who you are by the artist who put you together.” He would go on to say that, “What makes a famous painting, sculpture, or piece of art valuable is the signature of the artist.” If someone found a lost painting from Leonardo Da Vinci it would be worth millions! Why? It is because he is a world renowned artist. The painting would be valuable based on the greatness of the artist and the quality, the beauty of the art work. The Mona Lisa is valuable, the statue of David is valuable, and the Sistine Chapel is valuable. And get this, you are valuable. You’ve heard the slogan, “God don’t make no junk.” Well it’s true and you are valuable to Him!! You have dignity and great worth because you are God’s artwork, made in His image. We may have tried to damage the art through sin but we are still valuable. I could take a Da Vinci painting stow it away in a warehouse and it could collect dust. Just because it gets covered with dust and dirt, that does not devalue the art. Our sin may taint us but we still have value because we are made in God’s image.

 

We are His artwork and His masterpiece. As humans we are both sinners and God’s artwork. We have, not only depravity (great sinfulness), but great dignity! We have worth! We are so valuable to God that He thought we were worth the shedding of Jesus’ blood, so that He could redeem us. It is true that we have all “sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We have broken His commandments and need His forgiveness. We need to run to God and ask for His mercy. But when we do we find that He embraces us and freely gives us mercy for our unrighteousness and forgiveness for our sins.

Let me put this another way. A preacher once gave a brilliant illustration on this topic. He had a $100 bill. He announced, “If I were to give this to someone as a free gift would anyone like to take it?” Immediately all hands in the room went up. He then proceeded to wad it up and wrinkle it. He asked, “Now it’s all wadded up, does anyone still want it?” Again everyone raised their hands, eager to get a $100 bill. He then threw it on the ground and stomped on it and again he asked, “Do you still want it even though I stomped on it and it’s all dirty?” And again everyone raised their hand. He then proceeded to explain. We are like this $100 bill. We are valuable. Even though we sin, make terrible mistakes, blow it, and trash our lives; we ‘get wadded up, stomped on, and messy, so to speak, like this bill’, God still wants us and loves us because we are still valuable to Him. Just like the wadding up, and stomping didn’t decrease that bill (you guys knew you could still spend it and it was worth a lot to you), we still have great worth despite sin’s damage.” We are valuable to God, we are His masterpiece of artwork, we are worth a lot to God. We are made in His image and this is a great honor.

Now I am not compromising on sin. God hates sin and yet, He still is love (“God is love” 1 John 4:8). He is Love and He is Holy. A very grace focused Christian who always spoke of God’s love, mercy, grace, and compassion had this to say, “I want neither a terrorist spirituality that keeps me in a perpetual state of fright about being in right relationship with my heavenly Father nor a sappy spirituality that portrays God as such a benign teddy bear that there is no aberrant behavior or desire of mine that he will not condone. I want a relationship with the Abba of Jesus, who is infinitely compassionate with my brokenness and at the same time an AWESOME, incomprehensible, and unwieldy Mystery. ” ― Brennan Manning.  And we want that, we, if we really search our hearts, want a perfectly just God. That gives us security to know He will never do evil. God is tender, merciful, gracious, compassionate, and affectionate!! But He is also Holy and Just; however, even though He hates sin He LOVES sinners. The saying is true, “Love the sinner but hate the sin.” On the other side He cares deeply and passionately about us. One ancient Christian writer said “I will have nothing to do with a God who cares only occasionally. I need a God who is with us always, everywhere, in the deepest depths as well as the highest heights. It is when things go wrong, when good things do not happen, when our prayers seem to have been lost, that God is most present. We do not need the sheltering wings when things go smoothly. We are closest to God in the darkness, stumbling along blindly.” ― Madeleine L'Engle     

     SO I DARE YOU!!!! Today go look in the mirror, look at yourself, and say, "You are God's Masterpiece, God's Work of Art."...........Until Next Time. Steve J

 

Accepted, Righteous, and Loved Unconditionally

Accepted and Loved

Having Right Standing With God

 

 “^{Eph 2:4} But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

^{Eph 2:5} made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”  

 “^{Tit 3:4} But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,

^{Tit 3:5} he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ^{Tit 3:6} whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ^{Tit 3:7} so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” 

 

^{“2Co 5:21} God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

 

God, The Amazing Lover

Jesus! What a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Refrain

Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hallelujah! What a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

Hymn – Words by J. Wilbur Chapman, Music by Rowland H. Pritchard. 1830 and Revised in 1910. Public Domain.

I have Good News for you. God loves messed up, needy, and sinful people, despite their faults. God loves and adores dysfunctional and broken people who have made a mess of their lives. He is the healer of broken lives and wants to make you whole because He is so in love with you. When I say that, I mean God IS CRAZY ABOUT YOU! He’s madly in love with you, and longs for you. That’s right He’s madly in love with you! He is head over heals in love with you. He is wild about you, crazy about you, and love crazed over you.  Do you do bad things? Are you a sinner? God loves you; He absolutely adores you and wants to embrace you, give you a bear hug, kiss you on the neck, and dress you in royal robes! You are precious to Him and He delights in you, yes you. God loves you just the way you are, sin and all. God loves us just as we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us in the lost state we are in. He longs to give us life, freedom and joy!

 

He can make us whole and holy. Understand, this is an invitational love to come to Him through Jesus so He can be your Father (Abba, Daddy, and Papa – using Biblical terms). Look at this Bible verse that shows God loves sinners, “This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’” (1 Timothy 1:15, NLT). This is an invitation to come to Jesus and then have a relationship with your Heavenly Father. Then after (and only after) that, His Spirit comes inside of us and we learn to quit doing things our own way and let Jesus be Lord of our life; for Him to be our guide, our strength, our help, and our lover. But it happens by faith alone in Christ alone. We simply trust Jesus to save us and He does. He cleanses us and gives us new life.

Jesus will live inside of you and give you an “abundant life” of joy, love, and peace (John 10:10). It is like the marriage covenant. Jesus is the most loving groom ever and we get to be His bride.  He wants to forgive you, liberate you from your addictions, and even free you from your bondage to sin, and have a relationship with you; just so He can lavish you with love and with a great & passionate affection!! And He will cause you to not only be loved, but to love God and love man as well (with His kind of Love).

 

But He loves you now, just as you are; a sinner. He loves you! God loves you! You may be a drug dealer, murderer, liar, or rapist but God loves you and is saying, “Come to me and let me love you, cleanse you, heal you, and make you into something beautiful. Let my love and life fill your heart.” When you run to God by faith in Christ, you will find He isn’t mad at you but will embrace you, love you, and fill you with His Spirit.

      Are you ready? We can simply bow our knee to Jesus and say, “Ok You’re the boss now (Lord) and I trust you to save me and put myself in your hands. I believe you right now have washed away all my sins, and God has forgiven me. Please come live inside of me and make me the person you want me to be.” The words don’t matter but this is just a simple way of expressing your faith in Jesus in order to get the free gift of salvation (justification). In His book The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning Defined Justification when he said that, "justification by grace through faith means that I know myself accepted by God as I am.”  He explains, "Genuine self-acceptance is not derived from the power of positive thinking, mind games, or pop psychology. It is an act of faith in the grace of God alone.” - Brennan Manning

 

     It requires a decision. Do you want to be forgiven and return to The God Who loves you. It is as simple as just believing in Jesus. Run to Jesus and Jesus will put you in The Father’s arms to nestle and to be loved on. The reformers used to say, “We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone.” It’s true and you can receive “eternal life” (forgiveness, power to live righteously, and have God come fill your heart with His love and His everyday friendship). Just believe and receive it. And we can stand on God’s Promise that He will take you back as His beloved forever safe in His Arms.

In the movie “Luther”, Martin Luther was taught a prayer by his mentor that signified his believing in Jesus for salvation, his placing his faith in Christ for eternal life. I still say it is the best prayer I’ve ever heard. It goes like this, “I’m yours Jesus save me.” It’s that simple, “I’m yours Jesus save me.” ⁴ You can pray to Jesus right now as a way of expressing your faith in Jesus. Say those words, “I’m Yours save me”, and He will save you. It is that simple. Just trust Him.

 

Oh and you men and women who are already Christians; God is NOT mad at you. He is pleased with you and loves you. Romans 5:1 says, “^{Ro 5:1} Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Did you get that? We have peace. The war is over. The penalty has been paid. The debt for all sins has already been paid. And you are justified! That means God sees Jesus’ perfect righteousness when He looks at you. And we all know that God The Father is Pleased with Jesus. So you have peace with God.

Some of you are asking but where do works come in? What about The Book of James what it says about works and faith? I will address that in the next Blog. But for now you need to know that God is not mad at you but pleased with you, because Jesus has made you pleasing to Him.