You are a Poem. His workmanship - ( His handiwork NIV) ( His masterpiece NLT)

Transcription

1 You are a Poem Ephesians 2:10 Sunday, September 23, 2018 Ephesians 2:1 10 (NKJV) 1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I want us to focus in on that last verse this morning Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. His workmanship - ( His handiwork NIV) ( His masterpiece NLT) Story: Gus the grumpy caterpillar & Barnabas the beautiful butterfly - - transformed That s the story of Ephesians - that s the handiwork, the workmanship of Jesus in people s lives. Transformation. Page 1 of 6

2 The very next thing that Paul says to the church is Remember. Ephesians 2:11 (NKJV) 11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands Then v.13 says - Remember when you were without Christ Remember that you were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel Remember that you were strangers from the covenants of promise Remember that you had no hope Remember that you were without God in the world. Ephesians 2:13 (NKJV) 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. That s the handiwork of Christ Jesus. I want you to remember who you were before Jesus began that transformation work in your life. Now I want you to remember what has happened since. Are you growing in your faith and walk? Are you more excited, energetic about being a Christian that you were a while back? Or have you become complacent? Perhaps you ve stalled out. That s a hindrance to the handiwork of Jesus in your life. It s great to be saved. That means we won t experience the wrath of God that we ve earned, that we deserve. But that s not the handiwork of Jesus Christ in your life that Paul is talking about. As Brandon pointed out on Wednesday night, that word is poiema - a poem. Guzik points out that the Jerusalem Bible translates workmanship as a work of art. Maybe that s what the Gaithers had in mind when they wrote that hymn Something Beautiful. Something beautiful, something good All my confusion He understood All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife Page 2 of 6

3 But he made something beautiful of my life God s love has power and that power transforms a life. It meets us right where we are. But when we receive His love, it always takes us where we should be going. The love of God that saves my soul will also change my life. That love makes something beautiful out of a heap of brokenness and strife. That love transforms someone who is without Christ into someone who is Christ-like It transforms those who previously were not a part of God s commonwealth to those who have been brought into that commonwealth The love of God transforms strangers into family That love of God brings hope to the hopeless That love transforms those who were once without God into someone who has the Holy Spirit living within them. We are His workmanship, His creation something new He has made of us in Jesus Christ. Spurgeon - The spiritual life cannot come to us by development from our old nature. I have heard a great deal about evolution and development, but I am afraid that if any one of us were to be developed to our utmost, apart from the grace of God, we should come out worse than before the development began. Spurgeon - Our new life is as truly created out of nothing as were the first heavens, and the first earth. This ought to be particularly noticed, for there are some who think that the grace of God improves the old nature into the new. It does nothing of the sort. NOTE: Created in Christ Jesus for good works: That beautiful thing God is making of us is active in good works. These are just as much a part of God s predestined plan as anything else is. These good works are valid evidence that someone is walking as one of God s chosen. Works play no part at all in securing salvation. But afterwards Christians will prove their faith by their works. (Wood) Some people act like the moment they were saved or the day they were baptized, the work of Christ was completed in their lives. I hope that isn t you Page 3 of 6

4 Listen to Paul as he writes to three different churches Romans 12:2 (NKJV) 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV) 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Philippians 3:21 (NKJV) 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Remember, if you are saved you are Christ s poiema. The poiema, the poem, is supposed to be about a transformed life. No less drastic as the metamorphoses of the caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. Listen to 2 Corinthians 3:18 again But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image Now that s a huge transformation. Christ s workmanship in your life can be rather painstakingly slow or it can be a little hastened along the way, but it will never be completed. It takes much longer when dust collects on your Bible during the week. It takes much longer when you don t sit down and talk to God during the week. Actually you become a stumbling block to Christ s poem in your life. But the poem can be written much quicker when you actively seek to see it develop in your life. Yet we will always be looking to read the next stanza of the poem that God is writing in your life. You will never be completed until you see Jesus face to face. Page 4 of 6

5 This church isn t for those who have it all together. It a place for those who desire to see the next verse of Christ s work in their life ~ a place where we can gather together and share our poems with one another. God made a powerful promise to a woman named Sarah. Her response: she laughed at Him. Jacob deceived his Father and stole his brother s birthright Jonah ran from God. Martha worried too much When Jesus asked the disciples to pray with him, the disciples all fell asleep Jacob, Jonah, Martha and the 12 disciples all shared at least two things in common. 1) They all loved the Lord and 2) They were all imperfect. And you and I fall into that same category. All of us are far from perfect. You see, the church is not for people who are never disobedient. The church is not for those who think they have it all together. The church is not for those who have arrived. We are like AA. We are basically sinners anonymous. I guess SA. Let me close with this passage Philippians 3:12 16 (NKJV) 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. Paul says, I ain t there yet but I m gonna be. I m going to press on, and on and on. I m looking for the next stanza in the poem that Christ is writing into my life. I haven t yet apprehended but I keep reaching forward Page 5 of 6

6 Jesus has set a goal for my life, He has a prize for me to receive. As verses 15 & 16 said and we are all in the same boat. I get tired of two things that I hear over and over again: 1) Critics complain that the church is full of hypocrites. No, the church is a collection of unfinished poems. 2) On the other hand, I hear church folks say - God s not finished with me yet as an excuse for bad behavior. At the same time they are NOT pressing on. At the same time they are not reaching forward. And so it becomes a nagging cycle between the critics and the half-finished, but lazy poems. Remember Paul s words: Mature Christians have this mindset - we press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. That s how we hush the critics. You were created by God in Christ Jesus FOR - GOOD WORKS. Page 6 of 6