How can I persuade you and persuade
myself to give ourselves utterly to our God, to live for our Redeemer, to
seek God's glory in all things and above all things, to seek
all the days of our lives to serve our master, his people,
and his cause in this world. A nobler ambition doesn't exist
than to live for God. But how can I persuade you and
persuade myself that we're debtors not to the flesh to live after
the flesh, but debtors to our Redeemer? We're not our own. We're bought with a price. and
it is ours to glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which
are God's. That's our business in this world.
Turn to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10. Ephesians chapter 2
and verse 10. Through the first two chapters
of this blessed book, the Apostle Paul, writing by divine inspiration,
has been dealing with salvation by God's free grace. He has told
us in chapter one how that we are saved by God's grace in his
eternal purpose in Christ Jesus. Saved by divine election and
predestination and sovereign everlasting love. Saved by the
blood atonement of our Lord Jesus, saved by the sacrifice of Christ,
having redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of
sins. The apostle has declared how
that we are saved by God in providence, arranging all things according
to his own eternal purpose for the salvation of his people and
the glory of Christ, that we might trust in Christ, whom he
first trusted as our substitute and surety. And he declares how
that we're saved by the working of God, the Holy Spirit in us,
giving us faith in Jesus Christ in divine regeneration and effectual
calling. Then in the second chapter, he
speaks of our experience of grace and declares to us that we're
saved by grace. In this sense, we were dead in
trespasses and sins, and God has quickened us together with
Christ. By grace, you're saved. By grace,
you're saved. By grace, you're saved. Now,
look at chapter 2 and verse 10, and hear what the apostle says
next. For we, you who believe, if you believe now on the Son
of God, you believe because we are His workmanship, His masterpieces,
created in Christ Jesus, unto good works which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. We are His workmanship. That's my subject this evening.
We are His workmanship. We are so completely the workmanship
of Jehovah that we are called His creation, created in Christ
Jesus. Now surely no one would be so
foolish as to claim to be his own creator. Only a fool would
suppose that something created itself. That says a lot about
the science of our day, doesn't it? Only a fool, only a fool
would suppose that something called itself into being. So
much for evolution, so much for Theories with regard to how this
world came into being and how you came into being such a supposition
is Absurd on its face and it would be a misuse of language
to speak of anything creating itself Whatever therefore we
are in Christ Jesus It is the result not of what we have done,
not the result of what we are doing, and certainly not the
result of what we shall do. It is the result of God's creative
power. We are His workmanship created
by divine power in Christ Jesus. Our text gives another argument
in this regard. Our good works, be they what
they may. are the subjects of God's eternal
decree, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. Yes, every believer purposes
to live for God. Every believer does. I have no
question about that. Every believer wills to honor
God. The desire of our hearts is,
Father, glorify thy name. That's true of every believer. But long before it was your purpose,
it was God's purpose. He purposed that we, living in
this world, being the creatures of God in grace, would live before
God, walking in good works to his honor. If good works are
ordained of God, as well as the salvation of which they are the
result, then the whole matter is the result of God's sovereign,
predestinating, effectual grace. And there is no room to leave
any boasting in flesh. No room to leave any boasting
in man. No room for boasting in us for
anything. The tree is not the result of
its fruit. The fruit is the result of the
tree. And the tree was created to bring forth the fruit. And
believers were created by God in Christ Jesus in the new creation
of grace to walk in good works for the glory of God. Now let's
look at this verse of Scripture. And I want to show you three
things in this passage of Scripture as I attempt to expound to you
what the Holy Spirit tells us here. First, understand this. We are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. That describes every believer's
origin. This is the singular origin of
all who believe. All Christians are the workmanship
of God, whether Jew or Gentile, male or female, bond or free,
learned or unlearned. We owe our being entirely to
God's work. whether we're named among the
strongest and most useful, or whether we're named among the
weakest and most insignificant, all believers are God's workmanship
created in Christ Jesus, members of the family of God, sons of
God, and heirs of God. The origin of our being, not
only as men, but as Christians, As believers, as men and women
who believe God, the origin of our being is God. God. Almost all conservative
religious people argue vehemently against what's called evolution
with regard to the world. They get upset if you talk about
man coming from a monkey or man coming from a Big Bang or man
coming from something else. They get upset with that. Oh,
no, no, no, no. We believe in divine creation. We don't believe
in evolution. But those very same people argue
vehemently for a spiritual evolution. They will tell you that salvation
begins with man. Salvation begins with man moving
toward God. Man willing to be a child of
God. Man willing to believe. The fact
is the book of God declares we are God's creation. And there's
nothing evolutionary in a spiritual sense about the life of a believer. As we live in this world, the
longer we live in this world, the more fully, the more acutely,
the more painfully we understand that the older this nature gets,
the more corrupt it gets. Even as believers, nothing about
this flesh improves. As Ruth was saying a moment ago,
Oh, Lord Jesus, undertake for me. Undertake for me. I pray constantly. Lord, take
up my calls. Undertake for me, because I recognize
more today than I have ever recognized the corruption of my flesh and
the weakness of my faith. The corruption of my flesh and
the weakness of my love for my Redeemer. The corruption of my
flesh and the weakness of my devotion to God. On one occasion, Mr. Whitfield
brought a lot of scorn upon himself by making this statement. He
said, man is half beast and half devil. And I apologize to the
beast. The fact is, even after we're
born again, the old man within us is as evil as ever. And it is an utter impossibility
to suppose that this life began with something in us. It's an
utter impossibility for a reasonable man to suppose that something
dead initiates life. Nothing produces nothing. Flesh
produces flesh. Death may produce corruption,
but it will never produce life. Hell horrible as that place is,
I am certain has one thing more evil than anything else in it,
and that's fallen humanity. For man just continues, even
in his everlasting destruction, to be corrupt and corrupting. Developed manhood is but developed
sin. The Bible knows nothing, then,
of any idea that somehow either our beginning, our origin, or
our progress in grace is determined by us or depends on us. The flesh
is nothing but decay, degeneration, and depravity. And when lust
hath conceded, it brings forth sin, and sin, when it's finished,
brings forth death. Darkness never produces light. Filth never produces purity. Hell never brings forth heaven. And depravity will never produce
grace. If we're believers, we're believers
because we are God's workmanship. His workmanship we are from the
very beginning. It is not God who waits on us,
but we who must wait on God. It is God who marks out the stone
that he will have while it's yet in the quarry. God cuts the
stone from the mountain. God hues it, squares it, polishes
it, refines it, makes it his own jewel, and sets it in its
place in his kingdom. We might use David's language,
thine eyes did see my substance. when yet being unperfect, and
in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance
were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. What are you
saying, pastor? God chose us. The Lord God redeemed
us by his grace. We are preserved in Christ Jesus
unto the day of our calling. And the Lord God came to us.
He showed us our needs. He taught us to know our need
and taught us to pray. He graciously, sweetly gave us
our first sensibility and fear of Him and our first sensibility
and fear of sin. It is He who gave us our first
desires toward Him. It is He who wrought conviction
in us, who gave us faith in Christ and gave us spiritual life. It
is God who brought us to Himself. We didn't bring ourselves to
God. God spoke peace to the pardon soul and spoke forgiveness to
our hearts We're his workmanship and we're his workmanship now
There's much within us That is not yet. Perfect. The fact is
there's nothing in us. That's perfect Except the new
man he's put in us That new man which is created in righteousness
and true holiness. That new man which is Christ
in you, the hope of glory. That new man which is born of
God and cannot sin. But everything about our nature
is just as corrupt as it was before. And while we live in
this world, the Lord God is continually working in us to will and do
of His good pleasure until He is at last finished with us,
all the while conforming us to the image of His dear Son. Isn't
that amazing? Oh, that I may know Him in the
fellowship of His sufferings, in the power of His resurrection,
being made conformable unto His death. What is that? What is
that? To be conformed to His death.
Our Lord Jesus lived in this world with such utter devotion
to God for the glory of God in the saving of His people that
He willingly, He willingly gave himself up to die, the painful,
shameful, ignominious death of the cross. That, Mark Daniel,
is the conformity I seek. Oh, to live like that until I
cease to live on this earth, in utter conformity to Christ. But that will never happen, except
as God, by his grace, works in me to will and do of his good
pleasure. He chips off the rough places,
sands down the coarse edges, and refines the work according
to his own will, like a potter does the clay. He strengthens
our faith, and he does that wisely with trials, working patience.
He increases our patience with afflictions. He draws forth love
to him and love to his people by his providence. He teaches us to pray, forcing
us to know our need of his grace. He subdues our sin by his loving
chastisement. And we will be God's workmanship
in the end. Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. When I get concerned about one
I esteem as a brother and a friend in Christ who has erred from
the way and he will not hear reproof and he will not be corrected
by his friends and he seems determined to destroy himself. This is my
blessing consolation. Eric Wall, you got a lot to face
in the next few years, buddy. You got a lot to face. You haven't
even gotten married yet. You got a lot to face. A lot
of trials and difficulties and temptations and liabilities and
falls and rising again. And this I know, if you're gods,
God will take care of you. You got that? If you're gods,
God will take care of you. One way or the other, God will
take care of you. I'm confident that he which hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ. God knows how to take care of
his own infinitely better than we can imagine. So rest assured,
my brother, my sister. If you're God's, God will complete
what God has begun. He will finish the work which
he began in you. He won't allow any other hand
to put even one finishing touch upon his masterpiece, not even
your own. All of this is comforting to
remember. It ought to stir up our hearts
to magnify the Lord. Remember his skill and wisdom
and magnify his name. Remember his power and magnify
his name. Remember his loving patience
and magnify his name. Our text also shows us the peculiar
manner of God's work where his workmanship created in Christ
Jesus. Our new life is the creation
of God. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. The creation of God in Christ
Jesus, just as God created the heavens and the earth out of
nothing. So the Lord God created you and
me out of nothing. We were without form and void,
but the Spirit of God moved upon us. We were darkness, but God
gave us light. We were dead, but God gave us
life. In the first creation, God made
all things by his word. The heavens were framed by the
word of God. And in the new creation, God
makes all things by his word. God's son came and spoke life
to our souls, he who is the living word. God sent his servant to
preach the gospel to us, and by the word of his grace, he
created life in us. In this work of creation, God
works altogether unaided. Altogether unaided. I just read
an article by Brother Darwin. He asked the question, why is
it that a man preaches his preaching reaches the hearts of men and
his preaching is effectual to the hearts of men and he preaches
again and nothing happens he goes to another place and preaches
and one person hears and believes and another doesn't and the answer
is that the preacher must be sent sent of God and God must
speak through him his word the work is not the preacher's The
work is God's. We are born of God, new creatures
in Christ Jesus. First we were created in our
father Adam, but before we were created in our father Adam, we
had our being in Christ and in the new birth created a new in
Christ Jesus in him who is the last Adam created in him from
everlasting and created a new in him by divine power. Now. I've said all that to say this.
That means there's hope for you. There's hope for you. Look at
the first creation. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. And something happened. And the
earth became without form and darkness was upon the face of
the deep. Does that mean everything is hopeless? Oh, no. This, too,
is by divine purpose. And God creates everything new
in the creation. And so, too, with you and I,
here we are in our hopeless, helpless, mad, corrupt darkness
and depravity. But none is beyond the reach of omnipotent mercy. None beyond
the reach of God's hand of grace. None beyond the reach of God's
creative power. There's hope for sinners only
because salvation is by the creative power of God alone. Look to Him and plead with Him
that He may indeed make you His own new creation in Christ Jesus. Now, second, I want you to look
for a moment at the blessed object of God in this new creation of
grace. What's the purpose or object
of our creation? We are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them, not created by good works, created
unto good works. When God created Adam in the
garden, he created the human race so that God by man might
be glorified. And he put Adam in the garden
and he gave him all that was in the garden, except that one
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, by which he established
his declaration that he is God. And he said, Adam, you tend the
garden, you tend the garden. Adam and Eve walked with God
in the garden and tended the garden God had made. In the new
creation, God has created us anew in Christ Jesus. And he's
set us in his church called his garden. And it is our business
to tend the garden for the glory of God. This was Adam's purpose
in creation, and this is our purpose in the new creation.
We are placed in the garden of the Lord to dress it and keep
it. The Lord God says to Bobby Estes. Some years ago now, he picked
you up, put you in his garden. He said, son, go work in my vineyard. He picked me up. nearly 50 years
ago from the depths of hell and said, son, go today and work
in my vineyard. That's our business as believers. We're to perform works of faith. Faith, working in our homes. Faith, working in the shop. Faith,
working in the sick room. Faith working as we travel. Paul
put it this way. Whether therefore you eat or
drink, or whatsoever you do, do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus. What a word. Whatever you do,
whatever, when you get up tomorrow morning, go to school, get up
tomorrow morning, go to work, get up tomorrow morning, start to
fix your family's breakfast. Whatever you do, do all to the glory of
God. Whatsoever is not of faith, that
is, whatsoever is not done for the glory of God, that's sin. Whatever is not done for the
glory of God, whatever is not of faith, that's sin. A good
work is a work of faith done for Christ, motivated by love
for Christ, a work involving faith and gratitude. I'll give
you two examples. Our Lord Jesus said, if a man
offers so much as a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple,
he'll not lose his reward. What's that mean? What on earth
does that mean? Living for Christ as you seek
to help others. That's not limited. helping others in a spiritual
way. You stop and help somebody get out of the ditch. Or you
stop and give somebody a cup of cold water. Or you bring them
in your house and entertain them for the evening. Whatever you
do for the benefit of men, God says that's good. That's good. Particularly as you give a cup
of cold water to one of the Lord's own. The master says it's as
if you've given it to me. That's not what he said. He said,
you've given it to me. You do this. You do this to my
brother. You do this to my sister. You
just do this to me. Whatever it is. And then there
was a woman. In Mark chapter 14, who was a
woman of ill repute before God saved her. Everybody knew who
this woman was. And the Pharisee Simon the leper.
He looked with disdain upon this woman who came in and washed
the master's feet and said if he'd really been a prophet he'd
know that gal and she shouldn't be in here. And the Lord Jesus
just sat there while that woman took an alabaster box of ointment,
spiked it, very precious. We read in the other Gospels
it was worth 300 pence. You know what that was, Merle?
That was a year's wages. That was a year's wages. In the
parable in Matthew 20, the Lord said, go and pay every penny
a day, a penny a day. So what she's got is what she
had been holding up for herself all her life long. And she came and broke the box
open. Just for Christ. anointing him for his burial
in anticipation of that which he would accomplish for her.
And Judas said, why this waste? We could have taken that, sold
it for 300 pence and given the money to the poor. And all the
other disciples followed Judas's lead. But the master said, you
leave this lady alone. And he said something about what
she did. that he never said about anything done by any other man
anywhere in the world. She has wrought a good work on
me. What did she do? She did something
that required faith. She took everything she had and
gave it to the Savior. She did something rising from
gratitude and deep love for the Savior because he is about to
die to redeem her and she understood that. She says here I give myself
and everything I have to him and I hereby anoint him as head
of all and best of all, Lord of all, Savior of all. This woman
came in an act of devotion and faith and gratitude at great
personal cost and gave everything to the Savior and washed his
feet with her tears, wiped them with the hairs of her head and
kissed his feet. And the master said, wherever
men go until time shall be no more, they're going to tell the
story about this woman. She hath wrought a good work
on me. What did she do? She honored
the Savior with what she had, where she could, when she could. That's what I'm talking about.
Honor the Savior with what you have, with all you are, where
you are, when you can. The night comes when no man can
work. And this, this good work to which
we have been created is by the ordination of God which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them. Godliness is the
purpose and design of divine predestination and of the redemptive
work of Christ. Christ has redeemed us to himself
a peculiar people, zealous of good works, zealous of good works,
so that believers are men, women born of God and taught of God
to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world
for the glory of God, seeking God's glory. Seeking God's glory. That's our business. That's our
responsibility. That's our privilege. But back
in chapter 2 and verse 7. This word workmanship in verse
10. Is masterpieces. We are his masterpieces. God's masterpieces. I don't have any idea how to
explain that. God's masterpieces. Look up here. You're looking
at the very best work God ever did. You're looking at God's signature
work. God's masterpieces. How can you
say that? He took this man who is nothing but sin and made
him perfect in Christ Jesus put away all my sin gave me a
perfect righteous nature in the new birth and in this world is this beyond the scope of imagination
God is using me according to His purpose for
His glory. I want that. Oh, I want that. Far more than I want another
breath. And I have this assurance. I'm God's. He created me in Christ
Jesus for His glory. And somehow or another, though
I can't see it, I can't even imagine it. God
is using this earthen vessel with the treasure of His grace
for His glory. And what I've just said of myself,
God says of you, who are he is. And when he gets done, when he
gets done, he'll stand us before wandering worlds and say, let
me show you what I've done. Look at Ephesians 2 verse 7,
that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Oh, may God be pleased to make
you His workmanship. To create you new in Christ Jesus
unto good works for the glory of God according to his own everlasting
purpose of grace. Amen.