God's Workmanship

A series on illustrations of the Gospel.

An old sculptor decides to commemorate in stone his son who recently passed away. He decides that this next piece he will create will be his magnum opus or his most important piece. Rather than picking any stone, he decides to go to a quarry some distance away. After many days of journeying he arrives at the quarry, looks over the edge and takes in the sight.

He meanders through the quarry and inspects each stone. After many hours of looking he finally sees a boulder that will work. In the mind’s eye of a master sculptor such as himself, he does not see the block of stone but rather the image of his son that lay beneath it waiting to be uncovered. He walks around it a couple of times, inspects it from all angles and determines that this block indeed will be the canvas for his art. From henceforth, he does not see a block of stone anymore, he sees only the end result, his most beautiful creation, the one he will be remembered for.

With tedious effort and careful movements, he cuts the stone from the rest of the quarry and sets about on his long journey home. The journey home seems longer than the journey to the quarry. The weight of the block lays heavy on his shoulders, every maneuvering of the rock produces cuts on the sculptor's hands and feet. But the sculptor loves his masterpiece and treats the block gently. His only thought now was about how to free the image of his son from the rest of the rock that kept him hidden. With this motivation he presses on until he finally arrives at his workshop.

The easy part is done. Next comes the painstaking process of chiseling away the imperfections and fault lines. The sculptor has years of experience. Every strike is precise. He only removes the right amount of material. The image of his son is seared in his mind, he even sees this image in the block at all times, and even when he looks away from his work.

Slowly but surely the sculpture begins to take shape. First the legs, then the arms, then the torso and finally the head. He carves out very finely each feature, even to the smallest lock of hair. He tearfully carves out the features of his son’s face. After many years, this formless block gives way to the shape of a man, and finally to the likeness of the sculptor's son. After the last bit of polishing, he puts the sculpture of his son on a pedestal. He gives the sculpture the name of his son, puts the marks of his craftsmanship on it and finally reveals it to the world.  

And the world indeed comes to marvel. They see the beauty, they marvel at the lifelikeness and wonder to themselves how someone could create a piece so beautiful. As they learn the identity of the sculpture, they stand in awe at the love of the sculptor for his son. They sing praises to the sculptor for his skill, perseverance, and vision.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2: 1-9

We are God's workmanship.

In his sovereign will and purpose he chose us out of the quarry that was this wicked world. We are not much different from the boulder to our left or to our right. The only difference is that we have been chosen and predestined by God to be made into the image of his son. We were once slaves to the passions of our flesh and mind. But by the grace of God he selected us.

He lavished us with love and mercy. While being dragged from the quarry to the workshop, when we were still just a “block of stone”, enemies of God and children of wrath, Christ loved us. Not for our own qualities, for what good qualities did we have? No, he loved his Son and inside of us he saw the image of his Son that would soon take shape. He did not give up on us when we weighed heavy on him. He showed us kindness when in our rebellion we cut his hands and feet and continued to show us the immeasurable riches of his grace. God showed his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

We were rescued from the quarry of this world, and the wrath of God by his grace. We did nothing. The boulder has no power to move on its own, no amount of will power will get it to the sculptors workshop. No amount of skill the boulder possesses can take away the portions of stone to reveal the image that lay beneath. Even if the boulder is eroded by some natural means, there will never be an image underneath. The beauty of the sculpture that lies beneath the rock is only in the mind of the master.  Our good works, our skills, education produce nothing of value to God. Only when we truly recognize our inadequacy and submit ourselves to the master can God began to shape us.

Lastly we should recognize the value in what God is making out of us. God considers us his masterpiece, he takes pride and joy in the work of his hands. Our imperfections and flaws do not pose a challenge to him. He has determined in his mind what you will be and He has the skill and power to bring it to pass. He chips away at the rocky bits, the bad habits, the sins that we cling to and replaces it with the image of his Son.

In this process, God is glorified. He stands back, watches and rejoices as the world marvels at his creation. How did a selfish person become so generous? How did a contentious individual become a peacemaker? In Peter’s case, how did a coward come to say "I am ready to die for Jesus"? How did doubting Thomas, travel to the ends of the world to speak the gospel of Jesus courageously to the point of death? Through our transformation, God is glorified. Slowly but surely, not by our own works, but by the hand of God alone we are being sanctified to become God's workmanship, his masterpiece.