Identity in Christ: God’s Masterpiece

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Text:  Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

(ESV)

I must confess that when it comes to creativity and the ability to create a work of art, I am lacking.  Because of this lack in my life, I have great admiration for those that have the talent to create works of art and blessed to have a wife and son that have this gift.  As I am writing this, I see a ceramic eagle made by my son and two angels made by my wife.  Not only are these works of art something I can admire for their creativity and workmanship, but they also serve to remind me of how much I love them both and remind me to pray for them. 

While God blesses some with creativity in their lives while others lack creativity, we all lack the ability to force ourselves into obedience to God leading to our salvation from sin.  This is because our default nature is one of disobedience to God and obedience to the spirit of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1-2).  So ingrained in our nature is this spirit of disobedience that God gave us His Son Jesus in human form and with Jesus giving up His life to make a path towards righteousness for humanity.  After choosing this new path of righteousness, our life purpose changes from conformity to the world system we once followed to transformation through the conviction, counsel, and empowering of the Holy Spirit as we pray, study, and meditate on God’s Word (Romans 12:2). 

Thankfully, our justification and righteousness, or right standing with God, is not because of our works but because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross and our choosing to believe and accept what Jesus has done (Ephesians 2:8; John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10).  However, our belief in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross must grow from a self-serving belief to receive eternal life to a loving and transformative belief based upon a realization of the depth of God’s love for us.  So deep is this love for fallen humanity the God did not hesitate to give His only Son Jesus who as God knew no sin and yet willingly took the cup of wrath for humanity on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21; John 3:16; Matthew 26:39).  In the eyes of God, we are all a masterpiece of His creation and worthy of the price of sacrificing His son Jesus for our redemption. 

As I look at the ceramic pieces created by my wife and son and admire their beauty, I also recall the work they put into creating these masterpieces.  Each of these pieces began as greenware which is very fragile and contains rough edges.  The first step in transforming the greenware into a masterpiece involves cleaning the rough edges.  This requires the use of a knife with care taken not to break the fragile piece of greenware while removing the rough edges.  When an individual accepts Christ as their savior, they are like a piece of greenware that has the shape of the masterpiece it will become but with rough edges.  Removal of these rough edges comes through undergoing the knife of trials in our lives understanding that the trials are tools in the skillful hand of God and are designed to remove the rough edges without destroying us (Jeremiah 29:11). 

After cleaning, the greenware goes into a kiln where heat transforms the fragile greenware into a strong ceramic piece or bisque.  This is a picture of how the Lord can use trials and struggles in our lives to not only remove the rough edges in our character but also produce perseverance and strength (James 1:2-4).  These trials and struggles also produce endurance, character, and hope (Romans 5:1-4). 

The last step in the creation of a ceramic masterpiece is painting the piece to transform the piece from a boring piece of white bisque into something beautiful.  A life made strong through enduring the struggles of life should be a fruitful life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  Like a beautifully crafted and painted ceramic piece, the world needs more fruitful believers that have undergone the knife scraping off rough edges of character and the fire of trials producing strength of character. 

Everybody experiences struggles and trials in life.  Our choice when a struggle or trial comes is to either become bitter or become better.  For Christians, the struggles are part of God’s plan for their lives and designed to remove the rough edges of character and produce strength of character (James 1:2-4; Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 5:1-4).  When viewing the struggles in life from this perspective, they are not something we should be bitter about but something making us better.  I pray that those reading this would become stronger through the struggles in life and view them as part of the transformation process of Romans 12:2 that brings from conformity to the world through obedience to Christ and His Word.  May God bless everyone reading this.