You Are God's Masterpiece

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, January 10th. When we look at the fabric of our lives, it can appear chaotic and messy. Today's message helps believers change perspective to better see the completed project. What does God see when He looks at your life? Well, He sees far more than you see.

His attitude is not the same as yours more than likely. Because, you see, here's the difference between what God sees and what you and I see. We see ourselves as an unfinished product. We see ourselves, for example, if it were a portrait as being unfinished.

If it were a tapestry, unfinished. When God looks at you, He not only sees you as you are, but He sees beyond that and He sees you for what you can be, what you will be, what He has predestined you to be. So, therefore, what He sees is a person of value, a person of worth, and a person of great promise.

And yet, oftentimes, we don't see that. And so, we live chained to our old self. What we were before we became a child of God.

Those old thoughts, those old ideas about ourselves, those ideas that are no longer true of us, we still think the same way. And therefore, if we live our lives that way, here's what will happen. You'll live your whole life on a level far below that which God has provided for you. Or the way God sees you. God wants you to be free from that. He wants you to understand who you are from His viewpoint. And in order to live an extraordinary life, a life above the average, not the normal Christian life as people compare it, but He wants you to see yourself the way He sees you.

And once you get a glimpse of that, you'll never be satisfied the way you used to think. So, I want you to turn, if you will, to Ephesians chapter two. And I want us to read these first ten verses together because here, Paul describes exactly what's going on in our life and the way God sees us. So, beginning in the first part, he describes us the way we were before we trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior.

And so, he says it this way. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among them, he says, we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. That is, even as those who were unsaved. But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, He made us alive together with Christ, by grace you've been saved. And He says, and He raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace and kindness toward us, in Christ Jesus. And then the two verses most people remember, for by grace you have been saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, but not of works, lest any person should boast. And then listen to what He says. For we are, not we were or shall be, we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them.

Listen to that. He says, we are His workmanship. That is, every single believer falls in the category of his workmanship. Now, that word workmanship can be translated also, a thing of notable excellence. Something that is magnificent.

That is, a person of notable excellence. Now, somebody says, well now wait a minute. There's nothing notably significant about me.

Well now, here's the difference. You are looking at yourself from your present perspective, which means, of course, we see our faults, our failures, and our weaknesses. We see our sinfulness at time, and we see the way we act, the things we say, the things that we do maybe, that we know do not fit really who we are as children of God. And so, what we're looking at, watch this, when we look at ourselves, we see the unfinished portrait. We see the unfinished tapestry. For example, a person who is making a tapestry. On the one side, all of these threads are just perfect.

Every single color is in its proper spot. And so, when you look at it that way, it's very impressive because you see that there's a design there and when it's finished, it's going to be absolutely beautiful. And so, when you think in terms of that, then you have to say, well if that be true, then maybe there's hope for me.

Oh, there's more than hope for you. God has already, listen to this, He has predestined, predetermined, it's a settled issue with the living God that you are going to be transformed into the likeness of His Son. Once you trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you become the product that God is going to transform the likeness of His Son.

If you choose to live a life of rebellion and disobedience to God, one of these days you'll be eternally sorry. But for every person who's trusted Him as their Savior, there's an awesome future for every single one of us. Now, what I want us to look at here is I want us to see how God's planned all this.

That is, this isn't just my opinion. I want you to see how God in the very beginning planned, listen, planned to make you a masterpiece. So, you can go back to Genesis chapter one, verse twenty-six, and listen to what He says.

He says in the very first chapter of the Bible, let us, who is us, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit makes up the Trinity. Let us make man in our own image. That put you and me in a category above every single thing God ever created.

And we become awed by the universe and awed by the stars and awed by the galaxies and awed by the depth of the ocean, awed by the mountain peaks and awed about all these things. Let me ask you something. Which one of these things can have a personal relationship to Jesus Christ? Not a one. Which one of these things can feel the mercy of God and the grace of God?

Not a one. There is nothing to be compared to a human being, to a person, a person of worth and a value and a promise in the eyes of God. So that what God wants us to see, He wants us to see, listen, He created us in His own image in order that you and I can have a personal relationship with Him. So, if you'll think about that, go also back to what He says in Ephesians chapter one. Listen to what He says in verse four. He says, just as He chose us, that is, God chose us in Him that is in Christ, chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. Listen, persons of magnificence. He says, persons of notable influence.

That is, masterpieces. He chose us. That is, when you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, God's goal for saving you was to make you like His Son in character, not physical being, but in character. Because then we best represent Him. We best personify who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And when we went back to heaven, He left us here.

Doing what? Working in our lives so that we would reflect His Son in the lives of other people. So, He says He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. And of course, that eighth chapter of Romans, which we refer to often because it is so very important. Most people stop at verse twenty-eight.

The Bible says that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose. But verse twenty-nine is just as important because here's what He says. Those whom He foreknew, He predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son. So that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is living on the inside of every single one of us, what's God doing? He's working in our lives in such a way that, listen, as we submit to Him, He is conforming us to the likeness of His Son so that people who meet you, who do they meet? They should meet the Lord Jesus Christ, hear you speaking, watching your actions in your presence, something of Christ within you. God's plan is that you and I would be a masterpiece, His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for the purpose of good works.

Now, so that's His plan. Now, the question is, what's the process? What is the process God goes through to make us who He says He is?

Now, I want you to watch this very carefully. It's very important that you and I understand the truth. The truth is what sets us free and the truth is what finishes that product. The truth makes us the masterpiece because as we follow the truth, something happens in our life.

Not only, for example, He says we are His workmanship. Part of that workmanship, listen, is not only instruction but cleansing. God is continually cleansing us of the things that ought not to be in our life, showing us what does not fit in our life. When someone who is painting that portrait uses colors that do not fit what the finished product is going to be like or something gets spilled on it. They have to eliminate that, remove that, cleanse that. And the same thing is true of the tapestry.

If something gets in there that's not the right color, then it has to be removed. God is in the process through our confession and repentance of doing what? He brings our sins and our faults and our failures to, listen, to our mind not to condemn us but to do what? To remind us that doesn't fit what He sees. God is not opposed to fun and pleasure in life. He just doesn't want anything in the tapestry that's going to send a message about His ability and talents and skill to make you this magnificent person. He doesn't want anything in the tapestry, listen, that detracts from the Son of God and that is the character that He wants to portray in you.

So what happens? There's cleansing. Not only is there cleansing, but there's discipline. And that is if you and I are going to be extraordinary Christians, if you and I are going to be the persons that God wants us to be, if we're, listen, if this finished tapestry, if this finished portrait is going to be what God wants it to be, then He must discipline us. And discipline means that I take responsibility for the priorities in my life. I take responsibility for the schedule, responsibility for my health, responsibility for what I learn, responsibility for my, for my responsibilities in life that have been given to me. There's discipline. And then, listen, on this palette of colors, there is suffering, trials, difficulty, hardship, persecution, rejection, you name it, somebody says, well now wait a minute, if God wants to paint me beautiful, I can do it without that.

No, you can't. One thing that God hates is pride and arrogance, self-centeredness and all the rest. What is it? What is it that God uses to bring our pride to our attention and to bring our self-centeredness to our attention and our greed and our jealousy and all the rest? Difficulty, hardship, pain, what does He do? He brings suffering into our life to do what? To break us from this old mold that we keep holding on to, old chains of thought that have captured us and enslave us.

What He does, He brings us into such a relationship to Him that suffering and pain and hardship and rejection and all the rest become a part, what? That's part of the palette. That's part of the color. That's part of the thread and the tapestry. And so a person says, I don't want any of that in my life. I'll just take what I can get from God without any of that.

You know what? It's not going to be that way. He's not going to come up with any unfinished product. Job said, he was persuaded that nothing could thwart the purpose of God. You and I may think sometime we thwart it, He's going to have His way ultimately. Now here's what I want you to remember. Sometimes on the inside of you there's pain and turmoil and hurt and feelings of rejection. Sometimes there's, there are feelings inside of you, you think of hopelessness.

Oh God, where are you? Why don't you answer my prayer? All of these things that are churning inside of you, you know what all of that is? God has allowed that in your life. He is allowing that in your life.

To do what? To bring you to the end of yourself. He's allowing all of these things on the inside of you.

Watch this. When He's churning and moving and sculpturing and erasing and cleansing on the inside, you know what's happening? On the outside the Son of God is becoming more and more evident.

Now, we're not going to see the total picture until it's all over in this life. But just remember this, no matter what's going on inside of you, the Master Painter, He knows exactly why it's there. And you know what He says? He says, He causes all things that work together for good to those who love Him, to those who call according to His purpose. And if I respond to Him correctly, if I yield to Him, He can use this color of paint here and that color of paint there. I may not understand it, but I want to be sure He has absolute total access so that whatever He's got in mind, it's going to be the best God can do. He loves you just the way you are. So what we have to ask is, what is God's attitude? His attitude is love. It's love from the very beginning. And listen, in your most painful periods, remember this. He hasn't forgotten you.

You like the portrait sitting right in front of the artist. God's not over yonder somewhere. He hasn't laid the brushes down. He hasn't folded up because it isn't coming out right.

He's still working. And if He puts pain in my life, He knows I need it. If He puts rejection in my life, He knows I need it.

If He lets me hurt over something, He knows that is the part of the palette I may not like, but He knows it's essential. Here's what happens. Then we don't complain. Then we're not looking for somebody to blame.

People always want to find somebody to blame. Finally, sometimes they blame God. Well, God, if you were God, and if you were God of love, you wouldn't let this happen. And God's response though says, oh, yes, I would.

Yes, I would, because I know where, I know what you're going to look like. You're weeping over in your tears and your bitterness and your anxiety and you're frustrated and you're having a pity party. And I'm up here smiling because I'm saying, if you could just see what I see, you'd get up off your knees and put your handkerchief away and start smiling.

If you could see what I can see, and that's the issue. So, the next time you have one of those pity parties, what you need to do is ask yourself the question, now God, what are you up to? Now, let me give you a personal example at this point. When I first came to Atlanta, I was the associate pastor for a year. The pastor left and then it was me. And then there's some folks there who didn't like the way I preached and didn't like anything about me in particular. They just want to get rid of me. And they said they didn't like the subjects I preached on, salvation, the Holy Spirit, and the second coming of Christ just irritated them. And so, you know, I went through a very difficult time.

But when I get on my knees, it's like God would say to me, stop listening to that. Who called you? Who has equipped you? Would I call you here without equipping you?

Would I call you here to do this work if I'm not committed to helping you, enabling you to do it? No matter what they say, no matter what they do, you keep your focus on me. You look, you see yourself from my point of view. As a servant of God, sent to preach the gospel of God, you just keep looking at yourself the way I see you and watch what I do. If I had allowed their attitude and their actions toward me to cause me to see myself from their perspective, I'd have been gone a long time ago. I had to ask God to show me His perspective.

Here's what I want you to see. Don't listen to other people tell you what you can't do and what you ought to do and ought not to do. You need to remember who you are. You are a person of notable excellence in the eyes of God. You might not look like it, you may not, everything about you says, well, you know what, I don't know if that can be true. But you have to ask yourself the question, am I going to see myself from God's perspective?

Because you see, you don't know what your potential is. You know what God may have in mind. What God wants you to see is here's your position. Here's God's attitude. Here's God's Spirit toward you. Here's what God's up to in you.

You are not complete. All of us are still in the making. And as I recognize that I'm in the making and see what my position is, and also the fact that the suffering and difficulty and hardship and pain are part of the artist's palette, the divine artist's palette, all of that's part of it. All of that's making us the person He wants us to be. You know what all of a sudden? Things begin to change because then you get God's viewpoint of you.

And what is that? He created us in Christ Jesus. Listen, His workmanship, persons of notable excellence in the eyes of God, masterpieces, a work of God. Let me ask you this. Can you deny the fact that you are a work of God?

You cannot. And so what He's simply saying is this. Watch what I do to you spiritually. I'm going to make you like my son. All I want you to do is yield to the artist, the living God, and watch Him work. Thank you for listening to You Are God's Masterpiece. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.