God's Masterpiece

Well, I've cast my heart toward foundational issues these days as we're between. Books of the Bible and um Ephesians will not let me go. It's been a joyous. Bondage, if you will. to these glorious foundational truths that are So beautifully laid forth by Paul's letter to the Ephesian church.

We've been looking at Ephesians 2:8 and 9. I think we had three installments there, and then verse 10. just beckoned me to deal with it also.

So here we look at Ephesians chapter 2. Verse 10.

Sort of a summary crescendo statement of all that Paul has. laid forth to this point.

So he writes in Ephesians 2.10. Four. Could say, because of all I've said so far that is true about our salvation. For we are his workmanship. He didn't say we're his workmanship, plus, we did some to make it complete.

No. We are His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. for good works. Which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in.

The um You know, all that exists Is Christ Workmanship. Everything. Absolutely everything. I mean the most hardened unbeliever. Wouldn't would not be so.

Yeah. Dastardly, if you would. To claim that man had something to do with solar systems in outer space. And the galaxies. And the stars.

The planets None of them would ever claim that man somehow pushed up the Rocky Mountains. Spread out the great plains. filled up the Atlantic Ocean. are dug out the Grand Canyon. Man couldn't have done that.

Man didn't do that. It's all God's workmanship. It's all of grace. Everything that is a gift from God, a gift to all of us. Colossians 1.16, by the way, speaks of Christ And says that all things were made by him and.

Four heels. I'll point this out at this moment. I think it's important to understand. That I believe it's very accurately. Are very accurate biblically to state it this way.

The first creation, all this physical world we all know today. It was all made by Christ. But there's a new thing he's working on. A second creation. The Bible calls it the new creation.

All that's not made by Christ, all of that is being made in Christ. There's an important distinction there. Because what's in him can never be corrupted. What's in him can never fall into sin. What's in him can never know moral pollution.

What's in him can never face judgment. This new creation. That God is about, and that's what Paul's talking about here particularly. Saying it's his workmanship, this new workmanship, this new thing God is doing. is in Christ.

Second person of the Godhead. But as we think back now on this physical realm we now live in. We know that every person that's ever lived is God's workmanship. God made them. I mean, think on it.

What did you have to do with being conceived and born? It's God's work. The first birth? or your spiritual second birth. It's always God's work.

But as we live in time and space history and this physical world, everything around us is what we call the product of common grace. is common to all men. Wicked unbelievers. Are you given the common grace of sunshine and the common grace of rain and the common grace of minds to think with and bodies to work with? Just like God's children have all of those things.

They're common, they're all from God. All gifts of God, as the text says, God brings the rain on the just and on the unjust. He's so good, he showers the earth with common grace. All of this is a part of the first creation, if you will. Yet, the glories and the wonders of the stars and the galaxies and the mountains and the seas and all that we see around us.

I mean, the earth declares the glory of God. The heavens declare the glory. It's all his workmanship. But listen to me. That is not to even be compared to.

The new creation. This second work. God is now doing. Which is what Paul is particularly referencing in verse 10 when he says, We are his. Workmanship.

So, the second creation, the new creation that's now being formed, you see, you're sort of the preliminary to it. You're the warm-up band to the main concert. Being saved and being a part of the church is just a A preliminary to the glorious ingathering of his church. when the eternal perfect state is established at Christ's return.

So, this grace work that he's doing now, this work of building the new, our second creation. Is what we call redeeming grace and saving grace. There's common grace that's common to all men, but there's unique, specific redeeming grace that He is incorporating into to save His children and to build His church. That's what Paul has been talking about. When you start in Ephesians 1.1, and you go down to Ephesians 2.10, he's been unfolding glory after glory, wonder after wonder of all of God's special work.

In saving his children. and building his church. Actually, when you come to verse 10. The Greek scholars tell us it's something of a. Summary crescendo.

It's a climactic summary statement. All these things that God is doing. To save his children and build his church. And it's as if Paul's pen can't contain itself. And he writes, literally in the Greek, his workmanship we are.

His workmanship we are. I don't know about you, but I like that. There's not some sort of deal, some sort of contract of God to do his part, and you've got to do your part. And maybe if you do your part well enough and long enough and consistent enough, God might let you get in on being a part of his family. No, no, no.

It's not. His workmanship and your workmanship, it's just his workmanship. That's the point Paul's coming to.

So things have been building till we get to this phrase, the first part of verse 10. And then he says, where his workmanship, in the next part of verse 10, says, created. Created in Christ Jesus. The word created there, it's the same word that the scripture uses in the original Greek for creating the first heaven and earth. It's bringing something out of nothing.

It's a miraculous work. Christian salvation is a miracle of God. Have you experienced the miracle of the new birth? I kind of outlined it this way, and I'll interject it at this moment. When he says, for we are his workmanship.

That speaks of the origin of our salvation. We're his work, it originates in him. Then it says we are created in Christ Jesus. That speaks of the miracle of our salvation. It's a divine origin, and he produces a miraculous event.

Now that would go all the way back into sending his son, that's the Christmas message, all the way through the son's perfect work. All the way to the Son's preeminent work of death on the cross, burial, and resurrection, and all that the Son is doing today in intercession for his work, his children. It's a miraculous thing. It has its origin in God. It's a miracle work of the second person of the Godhead, Jesus.

And then it is created in Christ Jesus, i.e., as I've been saying, he is the agent of the work. If of divine origin. It's a miracle, and the agent who performs it is Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead. His workmanship we are. Colossians 3.10 reminds us.

And have put on the new self who is being renewed. In other words, You're part of the new creation when you're saved, but until you get to glorification in heaven, God is working on you, renewing you, growing you to a true knowledge. according to the image of the one who created him. We're being conformed to Christ's image slowly as God does this new workmanship, this new creation in and through us.

So both I rather God is both artist and God is creator. And he's artist and creator in order to manifest his great power. His great wisdom, his great glory. Because you see, in the first creation, Christ spoke. And everything came into being.

And then he speaks and brings everything into order. He speaks and brings Adam out of the dust of the earth and he forms mankind. But in the second creation, he takes man who is fallen and corrupted and wicked and depraved and sinful and radically ungodly. He takes man that in every way deserves punishment and raises him up through the provision of Christ and makes him cleansed and pure and holy and gives him the righteousness of his son and plants him in God's family, his own family, and keeps him there forever. That's a greater work.

That's a greater work. You see. Spiritually speaking. For now. The Bible says you see through a glass dimly.

Yeah, Pastor, I I kinda see it, but there's so much I don't grasp. Oh, you're going to have better eyes when you get to heaven. You're going to have better eyes, and you're going to have a better brain. That thrills me. You're going to have a better brain when you get to heaven.

I wish I had enough brain to enunciate to you the glories that I feel in my soul about the truth of God's word. But I'm limited. We're all limited down here. We see through a glass dimly.

Now we see quite clearly this First creation physical RAM. But slowly after conversion, we see more and more clearly the glories, the superior glories. the preeminence of the second creation he's now building. And he's going to have a new creation populated with people, and he's now. Saving them.

All over the earth, one after the other. Putting them together in a church so that in that church there are, should I say, replica? Or preliminary of what it's going to be one day when he gets all his children together in glorious. Glorification. And thus we will be with the Lord forever and ever and ever.

All this was wrapped up in that little baby. You came that first Christmas. I mean, when Jesus came. Its own. It's on.

And nothing. can possibly detour, slow down, and thwart. The plan and work of God's great new creation. Rop through the Seeming weakness of a little Maybe. Because The weakness of God is stronger than men.

Well So we come to verse 10. That's introducing this thing. And his workmanship we are is the exclamation, the crescendo coming from Paul's pen as he writes to the church at Ephesus. But saying, we are his workmanship. And verse 10 reflects back on the totality of all that he said in chapters 1 and 2 to this point.

So I want to just glance back. We certainly don't have time to do much work on it at all, but glance back at some of the aspects of this new masterpiece work, this workmanship of God, building this new, this second new creation. I call this God's masterpiece. And first of all, Roman 1, we'll look at the masterpiece planned. The masterpiece planned.

He planned it when.

Well, verses 4 and 5 of chapter 1. Look back at that. I think they'll put it on the screen. Verses 4 and 5 of chapter 1. Just as he chose us in him, here it is, before the foundation of the world.

You see, Jesus and the cross. Was not an Ambulance sent to the scene of an accident. It was God's plan. From all eternity. That he would have for himself and build for himself a new creation and he planned it all from before the foundation of the world.

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love. That was the motivation of God's heart to do it all. A love we can't grasp or comprehend, but we are certainly glad that we're the objects of it. He predestined us to adoption as sons. That means before the foundation of the world, through Jesus Christ, through Jesus Christ to Himself.

According to the kind intention or the kind purpose of his will. Pastor, why did he do it that way? Why do we have these elements of God choosing us before the foundation of the world? God predestined us to adoption as sons. I have one simple answer.

The reason why he did it, because it was his purpose. It was his kind intention to do it that way.

So, God planned and ordained that he would perform this masterpiece work.

Now, when I use that word masterpiece work, two things should come to your mind. Number one, you are a masterpiece work of God. Your salvation is a masterpiece work of God. And by the way, he's still working on the canvas. You're not done yet.

You're not done yet, but he's he's still working on you. And His purpose to bring us all together as a church, as his people, as an ecclesia, called out ones, called to one another, and called to Christ together, local churches on the earth. That's a masterpiece work of God. It should be that the church can't be explained. The church is beyond man's comprehension.

How do these people get together and sacrifice and love and care for each other the way they do? It's a masterpiece of God. You can't explain it humanly. And that's one of the great fallacies of modern professing evangelicalism, you can explain most churches.

Well, this is sharp, and this is creative, and this is witty, and this is clever, and he's talented, and he's charismatic, and that's what makes the church go. No, it does not. It's the miraculous work that originates in God, whereby one after another, He's changing people by the power of His gospel through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. They're becoming individual masterpieces, and all together we are a masterpiece work of God. His workmanship we are.

You determined to do all of this before the foundation of the world. And when did it how does all of this happen?

Well, verse 4 says it happens. In him. In Him. There's a mystery to that.

Sometimes the scholars or the theologians like to say, in the sphere of Christ. I can't explain all of that. But I kind of get it. We are in the sphere of the merits the work, the person, the perfections of the second person of the Godhead. By the way, that means that some are in Christ, many are Out of Christ.

And they're not a part of the second. The true new creation, this masterpiece work of God.

Well, that's the masterpiece planned. It was planned before the foundation of the world. Secondly, the masterpiece provided for. I pulled out the little phrase from verse 19. By the working of the strength of his might.

How did this get done? How could God take fallen, wretched sinners, cause us to be cleansed? Renewed, purified from all sin, defilement, and corruption, and give us the very righteousness of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. How is that done? By the strength of his might.

I guess done. Pastor, when I think about that, it just humbles me to the dirt. It makes me think a lot more of Jesus.

Well, that's the goal. That's the goal. Look at verse 7, if you will, of Ephesians chapter 1. In him, we have redemption. Here's the strength of his might in what he did.

Through his blood. Is dying on the cross, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. And then down in verses 19 and 20 of the same chapter, which he brought about. In Christ, there we go again when he raised him up from the dead and seated him at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but in the one to come. It's as if Paul is saying, if you don't think this masterpiece is going to be continued, preserved, and endure forever.

Then you haven't considered the one who's going to see that it happens by the strength of his might is the one who is far above rule, all authority, all power, all dominion, and every name that is named, and not only in this age, but in the one to come. Y'all remember Bill Stafford? You'd prep some. You say I'm so saved, it's pitiful. That's pretty saved.

So thoroughly wrought and provided for through the work of Jesus Christ. I love that phrase: the working of the strength of his might. You might be laying in bed one night. At the end of some of your most Gross failure. Wanton disobedience.

Selfish indulgence. And you may think, as you cast the eyes of your heart toward heaven, how could I be saved? I'll tell you how. The strength of the power of his might. Because you're his workmanship.

I believe in the balance of Scripture this bears out. I know in the balance of experience it bears out.

Sometimes God lets you go do some things you should not do. Just to remind you of what you are. As if God is saying, see, that's what you are. And if I let you go, just no telling how low you would get. Hmm.

He does it to bring us back. to trusting only and completely in him.

Well the point is how are Salvation, i.e., this masterpiece work of God in saving us, is provided for through the merit of Jesus Christ. His death, his burial, his resurrection. All right, the masterpiece planned well before the foundation of the world. The masterpiece provided for through the work of the Son, Jesus Christ. The masterpiece applied or realized in verse thirteen of chapter one.

When is it realized? When do you become The masterpiece work of God that God's going to continue working on. We'll look at verse 13. In him you also That means you non-Jews. You Gentile dogs.

You who are the outcasts considered Unsavable, unclean, unredeemable by the teachings of most in ancient Israel. Even you! Mm. Get to get in all this. In him you also, you Gentiles, After listening to the message of the truth.

The gospel of your salvation. Having also believed. were sealed with the Holy Spirit. When you hear And not everything. You'll never grasp all that's involved in Christ and his work.

But in your brain you grasp the essence of what Christ did for you, that you're a sinner, you need him, and in your heart you embrace him by faith, and that's when you became the masterpiece of God. Technically, you could say, well, he had his heart toward me the whole time. Yes, but in real, I'm talking about realization of it. Actualization of it began. The moment you believe.

On Jesus Christ. The masterpiece realized. We were sinners, Romans 5 says. That's a characterization of us. We were the ungodly, Romans 5 says.

We were the enemies of God, Romans 5 tells us. We were helpless to fix our situation.

So the question is asked, then when are we taken out of that classification? Sinners and ungodly and enemies and helpless. When are we taken out of that classification into the classification of redeemed, forgiven? Masterpiece of God. The moment you believed.

The moment you cast your faith on Jesus Christ. As your only hope of forgiveness and salvation. You know, belief again, I think one way to define belief is settled rest. I've given up on me. I've given up on doing better.

I've given up on being better. I'm giving up on morally reforming my life. I'm giving up on church ordinances and church rituals and sacraments and seeing a priest or trying to renovate my life. I'm giving up on me and everything else. And I've come to an abandonment and a settled rest at the feet of Christ.

Or at the foot, I should say, of a bloody cross. I'm resting my confidence right there. The moment you come to that place. You become God's Masterpiece. I'm a center.

Jesus has provided all that is necessary to forgive my sin. And consider me as holy and righteous in his presence. And There's a conclusion, a resolution in my heart that He is the only wise, true Lord for my life.

Now, all of this is not matured. All of this is not worked out into all the details of what it means. I don't even know all the details of what it means, but the germ, the seed of that is there. Breasting in Christ to forgive me. Secure me as his own.

and to be the only true Lord and boss of my life. That experience, are you listening to me? That experience of coming to that conclusion, coming to that resolution, coming to that rest in Christ, that. Is part of the workmanship of God. In yourself.

Did he not seek us when we were not seeking him? This is good stuff. If you're a sinner, and if you're not a sinner, I can't help you. If you're a sinner like Jeff Knoblet, this is good stuff.

Well The masterpiece was planned. This work of us becoming this masterful work of God. As a part of this bigger masterpiece work of being his people. Today, that means being a part of his local church. That was planned before the foundation of the world.

It was provided for through the might of Jesus Christ. It's realized in our lives when we repent and we believe on Christ. Then it's applied to our lives. Um As we believe and trust Christ as Savior. And now we come to number four.

The masterpiece preserved. The masterpiece preserved. Verse 13 and 14. And I pulled the phrase out of verse 13 to summarize this. You were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

He put his spirit in you. For a number of reasons, but one of the key reasons is to assure you. that you're authentically his and you're safe forever. I'm going to say that again: that you are authentically one of his. And you are safe forever.

The seal there is the same word that would be used in the ancient world when a king would put that little droplet, if you will, a little patch of wet wax on a. an edict and he would put his ring The signet ring in that seal.

So everywhere the herald went, the people could see the seal, see the signet imprint of the king's ring, and know this is authentic and it has authority. God says, I put the seal on you. I gave you my Holy Spirit, which proclaims to you, assures you thoroughly, you are authentically my masterpiece, and my authority will keep you. Forever. You remember the tomato steak?

We're not looking for little gimmicks or hoop jumps or You know, you go out in the yard and you drill that tomato steak in the ground. I talked about it last week, I know. And you When you start doubting, you look at the tomato steak, and say, Say, You see that tomato steak? I drove that tomato steak in the ground when I asked you to save me, so I'm saved.

Well I'm not going to encourage anything like that, but God's word says you have the spirit. bearing witness with you To tell you, you have the seal of authentication. And listen to me. Are you listening? Not your performance.

This thing of trying to chart out, did I do more good than bad? Am I doing better than I did last year?

Well, I hope you are, but that's not the basis. of assurance. Trying to count up goods and bads and I believe that's a trap of the devil. But looking for the presence of the Spirit. bearing witness with my spirit.

That I am a child of the living God.

So we are authentically the king's property, and we are. wonderfully protected by the power of the throne. Philippians 1.6. For I'm confident of this very thing, that he who began. A good work, the work of making you his masterpiece.

He will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. John 6, 37. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. It's the sealing, the preserving of the masterpiece work. John 6, 39.

This is the will of him who sent me: that of all that he has given me, I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. The master p piece planned. Before the foundation of the world. Provided for? Of the strength of his might, Jesus.

Realized when I come to confess my sin and believe on Christ, preserved by the Spirit He's placed in me that shows me I'm preserved and safe forever. And then number five, the masterpiece. Proven. Proven. Look at verse 10 of our main text again, Ephesians 2:10.

How rich this is. Or we are His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus for good works. which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Now, you see, he's not said anything about works to this point. He's only talked about grace. It's sovereign. It's God's work. He does it through His Son.

He regenerates you. He saves you. He keeps you. And then Paul said, but there is a place for works just not to gain salvation. It proves your salvation.

It doesn't keep your salvation, it gives evidence of your salvation. The word good works, that God made you this new creation, this workmanship you are of His for good works, and He prepared beforehand. God would just have a problem giving us this text. With the person who says they're converted, but they're not devoted to faithfully serve God in a local church. Because he prepared beforehand that he would make you his.

Masterpiece work to the end that You would get in on the service of his kingdom to a local church. It's a primary. Foundational. essential part of the masterpiece work of salvation. That we do good works.

It's the idea of undertaking an employment. Of taking on an occupation. In other words, when God saves me, He starts doing this masterpiece work. He stirs in me new affections and new desires to get in on. The good work.

Now listen to me. You don't get to define the good work.

So many of you get off track here. You have a heart for the puppy dogs, and I'm going to rescue the puppy dogs, and that's a good work, and that's okay. I don't want puppy dogs to suffer. Cats, maybe not puppy dogs. Yeah.

I'm not serious.

Okay.

Well, I just, you know, and there's this cause in the culture, and these people are hurting, and this cause, and these, and the Bible tells us: as far as it is possible, do good to all men. Amen? Christians should have a heart for those things. As far as it's possible, as long as you're not neglecting the bride. Because if you feed everybody else in town, but your bride's children aren't fed, you're failing.

Are y'all with me on this? The bride is the church.

So primarily The good work is to get in on the work Jesus came to do.

Well, what did Jesus come to do? Feed the hungry? He did a lot of that. But every town he left, he left some hungry people he could have fed. Are you listening?

He healed a lot of people. But every town he left, he left some people sick that he could have healed. He raised some people from the dead, but every town he was in, there were graveyards and people he did not raise from the dead. You know what Jesus did? And the divine perfection of him self-limiting himself to a human form and a human body, so he could be our Savior, that he might perform the good work of securing the church.

He said no to a lot of good things to get the thing done that the Father sent him to do. I'm talking about balance here. You with me? I'm not letting us off the hook of helping people nearby who need help. But I believe one of Satan's traps.

I remember. Emmanuel Scott was a dear black preacher in downtown Dallas, Texas. I loved hearing Emmanuel Scott, he was just a good man. Good preacher. And he became pastor of this huge downtown church in Dallas.

And in this sermon, he said, you know. There were a lot of social needs in the community in downtown Dallas. And the church had been used to doing a lot of social ministries. And he said, I began to observe after I became their pastor, the social ministries were getting way up high on their priority, but the spiritual ministries were getting lower and lower. Here's how you said it.

He said, in Dallas, downtown, we feed the hungry. But other folks are doing that. You'd have to be saved to do that. In downtown Dallas, we help house the destitute, but other folks are doing that. And he went on through things.

Here's what his point is. We are most truly doing the work of God when we do what no other group even claims to be their job. Reaching them with the gospel. building the church. That's our priority.

That's the main good work.

So, here, when you evaluate, am I doing the good work? Do you have a heart for the church? That's the good work. Jesus said, Paul, Peter, Peter, listen to me. Peter, listen to me.

Peter, you're concerned with so many things. Peter. When you said, I'm the Christ, the Son of the living God, Matthew 16, he said, upon that rock I will. Build my church. That's the good work of God.

That's the good work of God. So I say this with some passion because I wouldn't talk this very clearly as a young Christian. And I literally would stay awake at night as a new believer thinking, Did I help enough hurting people today? And it was almost like Over time, God spoke to me and said, Well, that's not all your job. Your main job is my church.

If I'm missing this, when you get to heaven, you tell the Lord it was Jeff Noblet's fault. He told us to put first what you put first. And that's what I did. There were hungry folks that he could have fed, and he did not feed all of them. There were sick folks.

He could have healed and he did not heal all of them. They were hurting folks in a thousand different ways, and he did not minister to all of them. But you know what he did to absolute. Unquestionable. Thorough perfection Redeemed his church.

Satisf Church. Went to cross Every one that the Father had given him, fare he perfectly. Sealed. Secured. Their redemption.

I want to run through something real bad. And so, if you're one of his, you know what you're going to do? Kid in school is hurting. You teachers, you try to help them, of course. Puppies on the side of the road?

You wanna stop and help them? Help the puppy. A thousand one other social needs, as we're able, the Bible says, but you must join Jesus on the good work. Spreading the gospel. Building up his church.

Do you have the proof? That you're a masterpiece because there's something in you that keeps drawing you back to serving God and His church. with his people. Because after all, brothers and sisters, if you feed that man, he doesn't know Christ, he'll go to hell full. If you give him a place to live and he doesn't know Christ, he'll go to hell from a decent home.

Does that mean that's wrong? No, it's not wrong. It's just not the primary thing. I think there's a vivid illustration of this when the woman comes in. and pours the costly perfume on the feet of Jesus.

What the text say, a year's worth of salary it took to buy that bottle of perfume? And she lavishes it extravagantly on Jesus' feet. Who spoke up and condemned her? Judas The guy who was a scheming, manipulating counterfeit. We could have used that money for that perfume to fed a lot of hungry people.

Jesus didn't say it was wrong to try to feed the hungry. He said, look, wait a minute. The poor you have with you always. But you don't have me always. Truth in that.

Don't you go out here and say, Brother Jeff told us we're not supposed to help anybody. It's not what I'm telling you. I try to help people. I try to be kind to people. That's not the core of your Christian duty.

The core of your Christian duty is get in on the good work he came to do. which is building his church. And shall I say it for the ten thousandth time? He's doing this masterpiece work of saving individuals. He's doing this masterpiece work of building his church all to the end of his own glory.

His own glory.

Well I've seen the Amazon jungle. Have you? I've seen it. I've been to Igwasi Falls in South America. One of our presidents visited Igwa Sioux Falls years ago.

And when he looked at the Igwasi Falls in South America, here's what he said: Poor Niagara. It's an incredible thing to see. I've been in the mountains and the beaches of Hawaii. I've been to the Horn of Africa. And I want to tell you.

The earth declares the glory of God. It's his workmanship. Perfect. Nothing compares. The masterpiece work of saving you.

Saving us. and making us his family for time and eternity. That's where Paul's getting to. His workmanship. We are.

So let's be balanced. Let's care for those around us as we're able.

Well, let's put first what Jesus puts first. That he might get the most glory. And by the way, could I say that and I don't chase this rabbit too far? But Tom If we want to help the most hurting people in the communities around our country, around the world, what would we do? Build the most true churches.

When you have a community of true churches, you help more people than if you try to help people first. Are y'all getting this? That's the best way to help the most people. Yeah.