Ephesians chapter 2 and mainly verse 10 is what we're focusing on together this evening.
Ephesians 2 and at verse 10.
For we are as workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
On Friday evening we heard Ramborda Campbell preaching on Ephesians chapter 1
and he asked a question as he began his sermon that evening.
He asked a question, how are you?
And he was looking at the theme of how we are blessed in all the blessings that we have in Christ Jesus.
How are you? We are blessed.
This evening as we go into chapter 2 I want to pick up on another question that we can look at together this evening.
We've seen how are you? I want to think this evening of who are you?
Who are you?
There's a TV series on the number of series of it.
I think there's over 20 series of it.
That's called Who Do You Think You Are?
And in the programme there's mainly celebrities who trace back their family history.
They ask that question, who do you think you are?
Who do you think you belong to?
What's your background? Where do you come from?
And it's fascinating to see how their different lives can go back in different directions.
And very often directions they know nothing about.
They find out things that they never knew.
It can be a real joy for some to find out something joyous experienced in their past, in their family.
But for others it can be quite a devastating blow at times as they hear of maybe tragedies or difficulties in their family's history.
And it's always full of emotion.
There's always emotion involved in it.
You cannot but be caught up in the emotion.
And perhaps there's times in your own experience that you've looked into your own family background.
Or you've heard stories about your family, the history behind it.
And you've been moved by things that you find out.
Things that you maybe never knew growing up and now you find out.
And it can be times of joy or it can be times of sadness.
But behind it all is this question, who am I?
Where have I come from and for what purpose?
But when we think of that in terms of the Bible, it's a question we have to ask ourselves as well.
The more we learn about Jesus, the more we experience his love towards us, his grace towards us,
it does make us ask that question, who am I?
Who am I?
Psalm 8, as we sang together, echoes that question.
As the psalmist looks at the wonder of all creation,
the heavens declaring all the glory of God and the fingers traced across it all of God.
And the psalmist asks, you know, what is man?
Who am I in the midst of all of this that you should remember me, that you should care for me?
But we are told in that psalm that he has honoured his people with glory and with love.
We are his workmanship.
That's what we see in verse 10 here.
We're given this powerful reminder that we belong to God.
We are precious to God.
Who am I?
We have this answer in verse 10.
We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
And it's this I want to consider together, this verse, and three things from this verse.
As we think of that question, who am I?
I want to see that we are his workmanship.
Just taking the text as it is, we are his workmanship.
We are made for good works, created in Christ Jesus for good works.
And we are to walk in his ways, the ways that he has prepared for us.
So just these three things as we think of this question, who are you?
Well, first we see we are his workmanship.
We are his workmanship.
See, the more we see of Jesus, the more we see of the work that Jesus has done for us,
the more we see, as we did over the weekend, the love of God towards us that gave his Son,
who came into this world to die for his people,
to give his life, as it says, as a ransom for many.
What he has done for us, it all points towards his grace.
And in chapter 2, these verses 1 to 10, it's all about grace through faith
and what the grace of God has done for us.
Because you see in verse 1 to 4 that grace reached out to us.
You were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked.
You were dead, but grace reached out.
You see that powerful verse in verse 4, the grace that loved us.
But God being rich and mercy because of the great love with which he loved us,
the grace of his love towards us.
You see in verse 5, the grace that made us alive.
Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.
By grace, you have been saved.
And then you see that grace in verse 6 and 7 gives us a future.
It's 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 and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.
It gives us a future.
And it's grace that has secured our salvation.
By grace, in verse 8, you have been saved through faith.
The grace that saves.
And then when you come into verse 10, it closes off this little section
by reminding us that grace gives us meaning and purpose.
We are brought from death to life.
We are brought from that darkness into light.
And it's with a purpose.
That we belong to God.
And it almost begins just by looking at our origins, if you like.
Our beginning.
We are his workmanship.
It takes us right back to the beginning of the Bible.
It takes us back to Genesis chapter 1, where we are told in verse 27 that God created man in his own image.
In the image of God, he created him.
Male and female, he created them.
That in all of creation, in all the glory of creation, that we were made in his image.
That we are his workmanship.
It wasn't just Adam and Eve that were his workmanship.
We are all made in the image of God.
So it takes us right back.
We are his workmanship.
We are made in God's image.
All of us.
All that we see around us, we are all his workmanship.
Created in the image of God.
And so as Paul is writing to the Ephesians here, saying you are his workmanship, he is saying God is still working in you.
Because we know we're not perfect.
We know that we are a sinful people.
And yet God is still working.
Workmanship.
It's his ongoing process in us.
He speaks of here a workmanship that almost has a new beginning.
Like we see when we go back to verse 1.
You were dead in your trespasses and sins.
Verse 4.
God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, he made us alive together with Christ.
So you're brought from one place to another.
There's a new beginning.
And this is all by grace.
We are his workmanship.
And what workmanship means, another word that can be used in translating workmanship, is masterpiece.
You are his masterpiece.
Now, is that how you see yourself today?
As a masterpiece of God?
Paul, if you think of himself, how did he look on himself?
Did he see himself as a masterpiece of God?
God's workmanship, who God had worked powerfully in to bring from darkness to light.
How did he see himself?
Like many of us see ourselves.
He said in Romans chapter 7,
O wretched man that I am.
That's how he looked on himself.
Wretched man that I am.
But he didn't stop there.
He went on to say,
Who will deliver me from this body of death, this body of darkness that we're seeing here?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
There is deliverance.
There is being brought from death to life.
Being brought from wretch, being a wretch, to being God's masterpiece.
As John Newton, in that famous hymn, Amazing Grace, it was grace that saved a wretch like me.
And I'm sure many of us, all of us even, can think of that for ourselves.
We see ourselves, the wretched one that we are.
But when we see who we are in Christ, we are blessed, as Mordor reminded us.
And we are his workmanship.
It's ongoing.
Michelangelo, very famous for all his artistic talent.
He was once working on a large piece of rock.
It didn't look like anything.
It was just edges and chips and blemishes all over.
And yet here he was, starting to chip away at this rock.
And one person had said, passing by, he asked a question.
As he was chipping away at this rock, he was asking,
What are you doing?
What on earth are you doing?
Because the task just seemed so enormous that nothing could be done with this huge rock.
And yet Michelangelo replied, I am liberating an angel from this stone.
And sure enough, in the hands of a master craftsman like Michelangelo,
this rock that looked beyond anything was turned into a masterpiece.
And that's what God is doing with us.
We are, as described in the Old Testament, the potter and the clay.
We are just this lump of clay that he is working in to create a masterpiece.
We are in the hands of a great sculptor.
And we know sometimes what it's like just to be pressed by the hands of God.
There's so many ways that he gets rid of the blemishes and the faults within us.
He chips away and sometimes it's hard.
But yet we are his workmanship.
We are in his hands.
That is who we are.
We are his workmanship.
Just go back to Psalm 8.
Remember as a young boy, over on the west side where you actually see the sky so clearly,
looking up to the stars on a winter's night and just being amazed at it,
amazed at the clarity of the stars and of the moon was out,
just seeing the wonder of it at a very young age.
It spoke so powerfully.
There's got to be something behind that.
That's not just by chance.
There is a creator behind all of that.
And that's what the psalmist is saying there.
He's seeing all of this and he's asking,
who am I in the midst of this?
We are his workmanship.
We are his creation.
Even the wonder of all that we see in the skies,
we are his masterpiece too.
We are being made more and more into his image as we go on,
as he's making us imperfect as we are,
to one day to be perfect in glory with him.
So if you are saved,
if you know the Lord,
you are a testimony to the world.
Just like any artist would put their work on display
to show it to the watching world,
to show what can be created,
well, God puts us on display.
He uses us, imperfect as we are,
to be on display before others.
We are his workmanship.
And that leads us into the second thing.
We are his workmanship and we have a purpose
created in Christ Jesus for good works.
Going back to the programme,
Who Do You Think You Are?
And even if you look in your own life perhaps,
and you look back down through generations of your own family,
you often find that people go into a career
maybe thinking there's nothing behind it
and actually find out that there's a history in the family
of working in that line.
It may be teaching,
it may be seafarers,
it may be doctors or farmers or whatever it is,
fishermen,
all of these things,
and you think it's just something you've chosen.
But sometimes you look back and you find out
it's almost something that's been in the family.
It's come down through generations.
Well, what Paul tells the Ephesians Christians here is
that as they find their meaning,
their purpose in Christ,
they find too a path that leads them back
to something that has been in generations,
that we were made with a purpose.
Man's chief end is to glorify God
and to enjoy him forever.
It's been lost almost.
We don't see it in our life
until that point we are taken from death to life
by the grace of God
and then we begin to realise we have purpose.
We have a purpose.
We are God's workmanship.
We are his workmanship.
But we were created in Christ Jesus
for good works.
He gives us a life to live.
That's what verse 10 reminds us.
Now verse 9 reminds us
that our works are not what saves us.
Not a result of works
so that no one may boast.
It's not we do the works
so we can boast in our salvation.
No.
But it's a product of our salvation.
We are made for this purpose,
created in Christ Jesus
for good works.
And when you look at this word works,
it's linked to employment
as we would say today.
What is our work?
What is our employment?
Who am I in that?
We can say we've all got maybe different careers
and different works that we're involved in.
But yet here is our greatest work of all
for the good works
that we are created in Christ Jesus for.
We have our identity in him.
We have our purpose in him.
We are blessed in him
for this purpose of who we are.
Again, Paul writing to the church in Corinth
in 1 Corinthians 10
reminds us that whatever we are doing,
we are to do it for the glory of God.
Whether you eat or drink,
whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God.
And so whatever work,
whatever way we spend our time,
that's what it's referring to,
how we spend our time,
what we are doing with ourselves,
we are to be involved in good works.
And that doesn't just mean
setting a time aside
to do the good works that we see,
maybe of helping or visiting.
It's everything that we do.
When you think of putting our time
into compartments, if you like,
how much time do you spend in church?
You might spend two or three hours a week
gathered together as church in this way.
But how much time do you spend
actively working in other ways?
You could be in your work,
working a 35-hour week,
but then you're doing other things
outside of that as well,
involved in sports or activities,
involved in clubs,
involved in family,
involved in so many different things.
You can be 80, 90 hours a week
just going about your daily business,
and that is your work.
Whatever you are doing,
you are to do for the glory of God.
God.
Paul reminds us of that so often
through his letters,
that we see ourselves as we are in Christ,
and then there's a practical outworking,
as we heard over the weekend.
Ephesians is almost split in two,
learning what is behind our faith,
and then applying our faith
to our day-to-day lives.
We are to be bearing fruit
in every good work,
as Paul says to the Colossians.
Whatever we do,
we do for the glory of God.
Martin Luther understood what this meant
when he said,
the maid who sweeps her kitchen
is doing the will of God
just as much as the monk who prays.
Not because she may sing
a Christian hymn as she sweeps,
but because God loves clean floors.
The Christian shoemaker
does his Christian duty,
not by putting little crosses
on the shoes,
but by making good shoes.
Because God is interested
in good craftsmanship.
He's interested in our giving our best
in everything that we do.
And so apply that
to your life on a day-to-day basis.
Your good works
is not just being in church.
Your good works
is not just having your quiet time at home
where you read God's word and pray.
Your good works
is how you behave among others,
in the workplace,
in the school,
away from here,
everywhere we go,
whatever we do,
it's all part of our good works.
Who I am is seen
in what I do
and how I do it.
Who are we?
We are his workmanship
and we are created in Christ Jesus
for good works.
When we belong to him,
we honour him
in all that we do.
And the third thing that we see
from this verse
is these last words,
which God has prepared beforehand
that you should walk in them.
God has prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them.
There's two aspects
to this last part as well.
We think first of all
of the walking in them.
It's the last bit
we were thinking of at first here.
Walking in them.
Walking in them means direction.
It means it's our aim,
it's our goal
to keep going
in this way.
Last Wednesday,
we had Colin McLeod
preaching to us
on Psalm 86
and one of the vowsers there says,
teach me, Lord, your way.
And again,
it's a recurring theme
that you find
throughout Scripture.
Teach me, Lord,
your way.
And here we have it again.
Walking in the way,
if you like,
the way of good works.
It's almost like
we make sure
that the Lord
has a hold of us.
That we're not trying
to go our own way
and just give time to Him
for a short while
and then do our own thing.
That's not what it's about.
It's about walking with Him
day by day.
It's not a switch
we turn on and off.
It's not saying,
well, I'll give six months
to the Lord
and then I'll take time off
for myself.
It's not the kind of job
where you go away
and do two weeks on
and then you come home
for two weeks off.
That's not what being
a Christian is about at all.
It's about living
God's way
day by day.
He's working in us
because we are His workmanship.
He is giving us good works
that we should do them
for His glory
and we are to walk
in them.
We are to keep going
in them.
And again,
you think of how
God's people,
how are we to walk?
The scriptures show us
again and again
we are to walk
in obedience
to Him.
We are to walk
in faithfulness.
We are to walk
in love.
We are to walk
in holiness.
It goes on.
The list goes on.
But we are to walk
in these ways.
And so we are walking
with God.
But that reminds us
that we have a companion.
We're not walking
alone.
He is walking
with us.
We are still
His workmanship.
He doesn't leave us.
He is with us.
And so there is
this reminder
again we are not
perfect.
Immediately we are
saved.
We are not this
perfect person.
We don't need
the Lord now.
We are changed.
But we are being
changed
all the time
as we go on.
There was a little
boy in Sunday
school
misbehaving
and his teacher
was getting
much
more and more
frustrated with him
to the point
where she got
to speak to him
and say
why do you act
like that?
Do you not know
who made you?
And the little boy
replied quite quickly
yes I know
God made me
but he hasn't
finished with me yet.
It's a smart reply.
We could all
say that word
as well.
It's not an excuse
but we're not
finished yet.
There's truth
in that
and that we are
still a work
in progress.
But we have
good authority
in God's word
that where
he has began
a work
he will bring
it to completion.
We are walking
in these works
but we are not
walking alone.
We are walking
with him.
But then you see
too
that it's
the works
which God
prepared
beforehand.
Prepared
beforehand.
And this
reminds us
that God
has always
had a plan
for your life.
Who are we?
We are his
workmanship.
We are created
in Christ Jesus
for good works.
We are to walk
in them.
But God
has a plan
in it all
prepared
beforehand.
And again
that's a theme
you see
throughout the
scriptures
over and over.
You read
we saw it in
Psalm 139
even as God
was forming
us in the womb
he had ordained
the days
that were before us
they were written
in his book.
It was all
there his plan
and his purpose.
You think of
the prophet
Jeremiah
in the Old
Testament
he was asking
who am I?
Well in
verse 5
of chapter 1
the Lord
is saying
before I formed
you in the womb
I knew you.
Even before
you were in the womb
I knew you.
Before you were
born
I consecrated you
I set you
apart
I appointed
you a prophet
to the nations.
God had a plan
and a purpose
for Jeremiah
from the very
beginning.
And if Jeremiah
was asked
who am I
he could answer
I have been
created
by God
and created
with a purpose.
And the same
is true
for you and me.
We are created
for the works
that God
prepared
beforehand
that he has
a plan
and a purpose
for us.
Psalm 37
verse 23
the steps
of a man
are established
by the Lord
when he delights
in his way.
There's a plan
and a purpose.
And so we are
to give ourselves
over
to the Lord.
Proverbs
the book of wisdom
the heart of man
plans his way
but the Lord
establishes
his steps.
The Lord
has a plan
and a purpose.
And so our duty
is to glorify him
and to enjoy him
in looking
to him
as his workmanship
created in Christ
Jesus for good works
for the works
that God
prepared
beforehand
to walk
in them.
Martin Luther
he said
faith is a living
busy
active
powerful thing.
it is impossible
for it not
to do us good
continually.
It never asks
whether good works
are to be done
but has done them
before there is time
to ask the question
and it is always
doing them.
we don't sit
here tonight
asking
I wonder
if there is a good work
for God
for me
to do
for God.
God has prepared
them beforehand
we
are to walk
in them.
His word reveals
to us
again and again
how
we are to live.
so we don't
just sit back
and say
Lord
what will you
have me to do?
Listen
to him
love him
with all your heart
serve him
with all your heart
love
the Lord
with all your heart
and love your
neighbour
as yourself.
There are so many
things
that we could
apply
to this
the works
that God
has prepared
beforehand
that we are
to walk in
they are all
before us
and by faith
we don't ask
whether there are
good works
to be done
we do them.
We do them
before there is
time
to ask the question
and we are
always
doing them.
So who do you
think
you are?
How are you?
You are blessed.
Who are you?
You are God's
workmanship
you are God's
masterpiece
created in
Christ Jesus
brought from
death to
life by his
grace
for good
works
that God
has planned
and had a
purpose for
beforehand
from the very
beginning of
time
that you
should walk
in them.
That is who
we are.
The song of
Solomon says
I am my
beloved's
and my
beloved
is mine
and when we
know the
Lord
we know we
are loved
by him
and we
look to him
as his
workmanship
created for
good works
prepared
beforehand
and we
seek
to walk
in them.
May God
bless
his word
to us.
We're
going to
conclude by
singing to
God's
prayer.