S6 E9: You Are His Masterpiece
That was a little clip from an art class I’m doing with my 2 oldest granddaughters this Spring. We were talking about how artists work on creating masterpieces and about how we are God’s masterpieces. I was having them repeat it back to me to help them remember and I’m glad I grabbed my phone and recorded it.
We get this truth from a book in the Bible called Ephesians and it’s found in the 10th verse of the 2nd chapter.
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Other translations read ‘ for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…
This greek word for workmanship is poiema (poy-ay-mah) which comes from the verb poieo “to make” and is compared to {poem + poetry}.
The word signifies something that is manufactured, a product, a design produced by an artisan. Poiema emphasizes God as the Master designer.
I love the notes in my bible around this scripture that talks about how…
Before our new life in Christ, our lives had no rhyme or reason.
Life in Christ brings balance, and order to our lives.
We are God’s poems, his work of art.
Hang with me if you’re listening and thinking I’m not a creative and ready to tune me out (which let me say I believe we are all creatives) because we were formed in the image of THE CREATOR. I think we get hung up on that word because we think that means visual or performing arts only. And that’s just not the case. I wanted to be clear on that point because I do want us to look at it from the viewpoint of an artist today because that’s the imagery and language used in this text in Ephesians.
So let’s look at that verse again…
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
We are God’s workmanship.
Our lives are the masterpiece he is working on.
I don’t know about you but that is a pretty humbling and incredible thought. And it’s not just a thought…it’s a truth.
I say it all the time that you were His idea 1 because it’s true and 2nd because I think we all need to be reminded of this truth often because people or life experiences can make us feel small and insignificant in this big ole world. And you, my friend, are never either of those things. The creator of all that is, is the one who formed you in your mother’s womb. He is the one who started the work in you and gave you life and he is the one that will finish the work that he started in you.
You are his idea.
So the word workmanship means to make.
He has done a work in our lives and he continues to work in our lives when we allow him to
And this process we surrender to is revealing the work of the master in our lives…a masterpiece.
This past fall I started working on a new art collection. It involved a new medium that I hadn’t worked with besides experimenting with it a little several years ago. So there’s definitely been a learning curve in creating what I’m going for.
At times that process is filled with passion and the feeling of satisfaction and joy and then there are many moments of doubt and feeling stuck and frustrated over not getting the result I’m working toward.
Those moments are the ones that make you question if you’re just wasting your time…maybe there’s nothing even to this whole thing…
I was surprised and relieved to find out from several artists that this is all part of the process. They shared openly about what I’d been experiencing …that it gets messy and you question everything and feel like quitting. You find yourself looking at this piece of art that you loved at the start and as you continue it appears you messed it up. You no longer see or even recognize the parts about it that you originally loved. You keep working, trying to make progress and it appears to just make things worse. You stop and have thoughts about stopping for good. But something keeps drawing you back in. So you start again, choosing to trust the process and move through the mess and you never know how long it will take but at some point, you start seeing something take on new life and you feel joy rising up and in time you find you’re on the other side.
I’m learning that nothing is wasted. Even if I end up totally painting over something and it appears to be totally starting over…it’s really not. I mean it is a new beginning of sorts but that new beginning is on the foundation on another layer. A layer that isn’t totally seen or maybe not at all visible to the eye but I know it’s there and it helped me get to where I am today in the process and the work.
This scripture in Ephesians has always spoken to me and it’s actually one of the focus verses in my SHE IS In Christ course. But it has taken on even more life for me these last several months as I’ve moved deeper into this area in my art.
Seeing with fresh eyes this idea of creating and designing that originated with our Creator and how this work he is doing within us is an ongoing process that at times appears messy and like mistakes when in the end it’s all perfecting the masterpiece he created and purposed us for.
So I don’t know where you find yourself today in the process of him working your life.
Maybe you’re feeling like a masterpiece hanging on a fancy gallery wall
Or maybe you feel like a messed-up canvas tossed to the side of a studio floor.
Wherever you find yourself, you will find your God.
He’s right there with you.
I have some journal prompts and questions to help us.
Journal prompts:
What areas of your life lack balance and order?
Where is an area in your life you see God at work?
Do you really believe God is working in your life?
You can go to susanbeth.com to download the journal prompts if you're not on my email list.
If you are on the email list you will be receiving the prompts in your inbox.
And I’ll also leave a link in the show notes to the course I mentioned earlier if that’s something you’d like to check out.
I’d love to offer up a prayer to close us out…
Dear Father,
Thank you for this time together. Thank you that your presence isn’t bound up by time or distance.
I pray today that every person listening would sense your presence. That faith would rise up in their spirit and they would have a fresh revelation that they were your idea and that they are your precious masterpiece.
We are so thankful for your never-ending commitment to finishing what you started in us. We are grateful.
We love you and we are looking to you…
always.
