Sermon Central
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You Are God's Masterpiece, His Signature Work
Contributed by Nate Herbst on Jan 11, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: Just like a Picasso is easily recognized as a Picasso because of the characteristics of the artist in his work so we too, as we allow Him to develop us as He desires will bear the noticeable characteristics of God Himself to all who see us.
God’s Signature Work
Eph. 2:10 - “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.”
The Author:
Heb.12:2 - “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...”
Some turns in the story are unexpected and unpleasant.
Trust Him and keep your eyes on Him, He knows what he is doing.
The Potter:
Is.64:8 - “Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Jer.18:3-6 - “So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD.”
Sometimes the potter’s work is uncomfortable for the pot.
Trust Him and keep your eyes on Him, He knows what He is doing.
The Architect:
1 Peter 2:5 - “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house...”
The architect is engineering your life with perfect precision.
The Jeweler:
Zec.13:9 - “I will refine them like silver and test them like gold.”
Dan.11:35 - Says He desires to refine, purge and make us pure.
The refining, purging and purifying process is not always fun.
Example of refining precious metals.
Trust Him and keep your eyes on Him, He knows what He is doing.
The authoring, sculpting, engineering and refining process hurts but that is how the masterpiece is crafted.
James 1:2-4 - “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Often we desire the end product, being His masterpiece, but usually we are unwilling to go through what it takes to bring us to that place.
How do you respond to adversity?
C.S. Lewis put it this way - “Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is.”
Let God use everything that is going on in your life to make you who He wants you to be.
Heb.12:7-11 - “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
You are His masterpiece and He has put His signature on you.
2 Cor.1:21-22 - “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
Eph.1:13 and 4:30 reiterate that!
Gal.5:22-23 - “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control.”
Jn.13:35 - “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
As He develops you and puts His signature on you, as His masterpiece, the whole world will know you are His.
Submit to the master as He makes you His masterpiece.
Rom.12:1-2 - “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Too often, instead of submitting to Him, we fight what He is doing in us.
Andrew Murray put it this way - “Many Christians fear and flee and seek deliverance from all that would humble them. At times they may pray for humility but in their heart of hearts they pray even more to be kept from the things that would bring them to that place.”
