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MASTERPIECE |
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Good morning!
This is Michelangelo’s David.
It is a masterpiece of Renaissance
sculpture. And the way Michelangelo went
about creating David is worth noting: he worked with the idea that the
image of
David was already in the blocks of stone that he was working on; he
just had to
chisel away until he revealed it. Michelangelo considered sculpture to be the
highest form of
art because it so closely resembles the Divine creator and how he works
on us. We are like blocks of stone.
And God works with the idea that His image is already in
these blocks of
stone that he is working on; he just has to chisel away until he
reveals it. When other people look at us, they might see
an ugly block
of stone. When God looks at us, he sees
a masterpiece. Question: do you see yourself as a block of
stone? Or do you see yourself as God’s
masterpiece? Too often we start to think of ourselves as
forever blocks
of stone. We don’t recognize how special
we are. We don’t live like we are the
masterpiece of God. This morning we are looking at one verse:
Ephesians 2:10. As we look at this verse,
we will hopefully
gain a better understanding of what it means to be the masterpiece of
God. We read: For we are
God's
masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do
the good
things he planned for us long ago. What does this mean? Let’s
focus on the first part of this verse: For we
are God's masterpiece. What does it mean to be a masterpiece? A masterpiece is a special creation of the
creator. The word that is translated
here as ‘masterpiece’ is in other versions translated as ‘workmanship.’ We are God’s workmanship.
The Greek word here is “poema.” Ever
wonder
where we got the word “Poem”? The
Greek word “Poema” simply means “that
which is made… or creation.” It means
“work of art.” What does all of this mean?
We are God’s creation. You are God’s creation. God didn’t mess up. He
doesn’t make mistakes. He made you just the way you are. How does that make you feel? Are we willing to trust that God knew what
he was doing when
he made us? Take a moment, right now, to thank God for
making you just
the way you are. And notice something else: Scripture does
not say “you
(singular) are God’s masterpiece.” I
can’t get all conceited and start thinking that I personally am the
pinnacle of
God’s creation. What does it say? It
says: We (plural) are God’s masterpiece (singular). We… the Church. We,
Christians,
are
his Masterpiece. We need
each other. We are a part of each
other. Together we are God’s
Masterpiece. Together we are becoming
what he created us to be. Together we
are becoming God’s precious work of art. God is working on us… chiseling away…
forming us into his
masterpiece. You know what is kind of
sad? We too often resist.
Instead of working with him, and yielding to
his chisel, we whine and cry. The chisel sometimes hurts.
It is not fun. But the result
is
amazing. Do you trust that what God
wants to make you into is worth it? Do
you trust His love for you? Life gets hard. Bad
things
happen. Is God chiseling? Question: what are you doing these days to
work with God in
the chiseling process? Are you in the
Word? Are you asking God to change you
and make you more like himself? Are you
begging Jesus to be formed in you? Are
you spending time in prayer pleading with God to show you your sin and
make you
holy? When is the last time you really did
business with God and
said to him: “God, you
love me. I
know it. I give my life completely to
you. I trust you. Do with me as you want. Please,
God, make me holy. I want to obey you in everything. God,
the chisel hurts, but I want it.” Time to watch our video… (Masterpiece, The Skit Guys) Do you know that you are God’s masterpiece? Did you catch that prayer of his from his
journal? Have you ever given over
everything to God? Do you need to do it
again? Maybe you might want to take a moment right
now and express
that to God. Let’s pray this to God? Dear God, today I’m
turning everything over to you. I am not
going to hold onto anything anymore. Your
Word says that you will make me your masterpiece and
use me to
great things. I don’t see how that’s
possible; but I want that with all that I am. So
please do whatever it takes to do with me what you want.
I love you. Let’s keep moving through Ephesians The Greek verb here “created” is only used
of God and speaks
of the creative energy only He can exert. What
does it mean to be ‘created anew’ by God in Christ? The first thing I think of is this: Love. When God created me anew, he gave me a heart
that loves
Him. And he gave me a new heart of love
for others. Question: how are you experiencing these
days a growing new
love for God? Take a few moments to answer
this question for yourself. And a similar question: how are you
experiencing a growing
love for other people these days? Take a moment, even right now, to thank
Jesus for creating
in you a new heart… for giving you a love for Himself.
Thank him for giving you a love for others. And take a moment to plead with Him to give
you more… more
love for Him! And more love for others. And now let’s look at the next part of this
verse. We read: so
that
we can do the
good things God created us for a purpose.
He saved us for a purpose. He
made us new for a purpose. Why? So we could do good things. What are ‘the good things?’ What are the good things that God has for
you to do? I think of Jesus’ command in Matthew
28:19: “Therefore go and make
disciples.” Are you loving other people in the name of
Jesus? Are you pouring your life into
others,
encouraging them and helping them to know Jesus and grow in Jesus? Are you actively making disciples? Several of our girls from 1)
Tell
us, what does it mean to make disciples? 2)
How
do you find people to disciple? 3)
How
many students are you meeting with now to disciple? 4)
How
often do you meet? 5)
What
do you do when you meet? 6)
What
are your primary goals for those you are discipling? 7)
How
are you growing/experiencing God in the process? 8)
Is
there anything else you’d like to tell us? Thanks for sharing! Now for those of you who are not students,
you may be
thinking how awesome it is that our students are doing this… but you
may be
wondering, how in the world could I do something like this? Here are a few thoughts: 1)
Commit yourself to being in the Word 2)
Tell God that you want to be
discipled. 3)
Tell God that you want to make
disciples. I assume you’ve noticed… God is doing great
things among us
and through us here at Creekside. There
are people in our own Church who are active in discipleship… be on the
lookout
for opportunities, they are here and more are coming! Let’s now look at the last part of this
verse. Paul tells us something about these
“good
things”: What does it mean that he planned for us
long ago to do
these good things? One thing it certainly does mean is this: the road is already built.
We just need to walk down the road. God isn’t making your life up on the spot. God is not surprised by your choices. God is not scrambling to find some use for
you! God created you for a purpose.
And he has known that purpose since the
foundation of the world. God has plans
for you. Your life is not an accident. Question: that
God
has a purpose for you… how does that change the way you live? What are you doing these days to make sure
you live out the
purpose for which you were created by God? Think
about that for a minute. What is one thing you are going to do
differently this week
to make sure you live out the purpose for which God created you? Michelangelo created David for a purpose. It is standing there at the Academia Gallery
in God created us for a purpose.
We are alive today… here and now… in We are God’s masterpiece.
Yes, we are his masterpiece. Let’s
live like it! Let’s pray… Father, thank you for
being so creative! Thank you for making
us just the way we are. Keep working on
us, we pray. Keep chiseling.
Thank you for creating us anew in
Christ. Thank you for the life we are
experiencing in you! Thank you for
creating us to do good things. Keep
moving us forward… use us to build your Kingdom. Give
us
an increasing joy as we seek to make
disciples. And thank you that you have a
road planned out for us. Thank you for
purpose. Help us to live in it. Keep us close to you so that we’d walk the
road you have laid out for us. Jesus,
thank you for loving us. Thank you for
calling us your Masterpiece. Amen. |