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.

An Early Invitation

My wife and I once hosted a dinner with some members of the church. It was something that we had wanted to do for quite a long time, but unfortunately due to busy work schedules we were just not able to find a day that worked. On a particularly uneventful Monday evening, we realized that the next day was relatively a light schedule and we could possible make dinner work. We quickly texted some friends, and asked them to come over. We profusely apologized for the short notice and assured them that we would be understanding regardless of their response to our invitation. One or two people replied saying that they had other plans, but would love to make it another time.

We were understanding of their rejection because we invited them on such short notice. But how would we have felt if this was a date that we had set weeks in advance? How about months in advance? What if there was a particular event that we had informed our guests about years in advance?

There are very few events where we put more than a couple of months worth of effort into planning, a wedding is usually the only one. As soon as my wedding date was confirmed, I informed my best friends and would-be groomsmen. It was a very special invitation to me, and they were the first ones I wanted to inform. In reality their invitation was sealed even before the wedding date was set. Those friendships had been built up over many years. They had withstood the tests and trials. The acceptance of those invitations, sent months in advance meant the world to me. The earlier that you send the invitation, the more meaningful it is to the sender, the more they desires your presence at their event.

If this is so, what of the invitation that we have from God?

4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, - Ephesians 1:4,5

God's invitation was sent before you were born into this word. It was sent even before the world itself was formed. This was an invitation that was not sent on short notice, it was planned and meticulously prepared for.

How can we deny so great of an invitation? How can we RSVP no to the God who has desired your presence in His presence. It is a personal invitation for you specifically. No plus one. The card has been hand crafted for you, the message is written with the blood shed on Calvary and it beckons us to draw close to him and be a part of his family. Clear the schedules, shift your priorities, there is an event you have been invited to and its post marked before time even began.

Worshipping In Spirit & Truth

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. - John 4:21,22

Worshipping God "in Spirit and Truth" is a phrase that you may have heard hundreds of times if you have grown up in church. It's been repeated so many times that you may think you have a good understanding of what it means, but have never delved into the depth of its implications.

What does it mean to worship in the Spirit?

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. -Romans 12:1

To understand what spiritual worship entails, it is imperative that we understand this verse first as it directly defines what spiritual worship that is acceptable to God is: "to present your bodies as a living sacrifice".

A great imagery of this is taken directly from the Bible. Abraham is commanded by God to sacrifice the son that he had been promised by God. He takes, some wood, the fire. a knife and Isaac his son to Mount Moriah to fulfill God's command. Isaac understands that something is missing, the lamb required for the sacrifice. When they reach the summit, Abraham ties up Isaac on the altar. It is hard to imagine that Isaac was unaware of what Abraham's intentions were. It is harder to imagine that the boy who carried all the firewood up the mountain was overpowered by his aging father. But Isaac, on the altar, presents his body as the sacrifice. Every animal has an innate fight or flight response. It is not in our nature to give ourselves for the sake of others, and all our natural tendencies are towards self- preservation. But here, Isaac overcomes that and values obedience to his father over his own inclination for survival.

Jesus reiterates the absolute importance of obedience to the God the Father on Mt. Gethsemane. We see Jesus in extreme pain and agony, but his will and desire was to glorify God over his own human tendency for self-protection. To be a living sacrifice, we must place absolute importance on obedience to God.

So what are the other requirements to be an acceptable sacrifice? Per God’s laws, no animal with any kind of blemish could be offered in sacrifice to God. God wanted perfection of his sacrifices. God wanted nothing for his sacrifices but the best. Offering a blemished sacrifice was a grave sin. Why? Because God's standard is and has always been perfection.

“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” – Leviticus 19:2 (spoken to Israel right before the ten commandments)

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” – Matthew 5:48

If we are not committing to present our lives as a holy and acceptable sacrifice in worship to God, then we do not need his Holy Spirit.  If we are resigned to live our lives tolerating a little sin here and there, then you do not need God’s Spirit to empower you, and you do not need to rely on God’s grace.

But the standard of the Bible is clear. It says our reasonable service to God is to present ourselves holy and perfect, obedient to God’s will in our actions, in our thoughts and in our intentions.

Let us rely on God's Spirit, day by day, moment by moment to keep us holy and uncorrupted by the World.

To Worship in Truth

To worship him in Spirit is to worship him with the entirety of our being knowing that when we worship we are entering into the spiritual realm. We stand before the throne of God, and worship alongside angels and elders, and those that have gone before us into God’s presence, an innumerable number. It is a very real spiritual reality. This spiritual realm is more real than the physical world that we live in. This spiritual realm is permanent and eternal, long after the Earth and all of the temporary things that we strive after fade away, this spiritual reality will remain.

His worshippers will worship him in truth. We come to the throne of God, the mercy seat of God, the throne of grace. When we approach God we do so in truth, with a deep understanding that despite all our good deeds, all our prayers, all our worship, all our service we don’t deserve to be in God's presence offering him worship. Whether you live your life as perfectly as you could, or you have been trapped by the pleasures of sin, those that have received Christ as their savior now stand in his presence by the merit of Jesus Christ alone. We come to him truthfully acknowledging our faults and shortcomings, but also so in awe of the grace he had to send his begotten Son to die on our behalf and give us access to his presence.

What is very true is that our Heavenly Father is delighted with the fact that you are choosing to worship him in his presence. The praises and the worship that you offer to him are eternally on his mind.

There are people that claw and strive after power, they strive to be in the halls of power to be surrounded by people of influence. But when we enter into God's presence we can boldly approach the throne room of God in the spiritual realm.

When we worship we enter into God's presence standing truthfully and honestly before an all-knowing God. We acknowledge the truth that sin has corrupted every fiber of our being but simultaneously acknowledging that by God's grace he is redeeming us and sanctifying us. We worship wholeheartedly, confident in the truth that God accepts our worship and delights in it.