Eph 2:10 says, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”. Sometimes when you want to understand a verse, you can ask the five investigative questions. That’s how we’ll preach this verse.
Who – “we”. This verse applies to every saved person in this room. Eph 2:8-9. No saved person is excluded. Even if you’re not cooperating, God is trying to work on you. And if you don’t cooperate, he’ll work through chastening to get your attention so he can begin working on you.
What – “his workmanship”. What he makes us is his business. The struggle is often between getting the Lord to make you what you want to be and yielding, so that he can make you what he wants you to be. God is generally going to work with what you already have to make you into what he wants you to be.
When – “are”. His work on you is continual. He said “I am that I am”. And you ‘are’ his workmanship. You should never plateau. You should always be improving.
Where – “created in Christ Jesus”. He won’t do this work on a person who isn’t his. Once you are in Christ Jesus he goes to work on you. After all, you are bought with a price and you are his.
Why – “unto good works”. The purpose of his workmanship is so that we will do good works in which God has before ordained that we should walk. See “good works” in Titus.
Paul was one of those on whom God worked. The Lord had to do a lot of work on Paul. He saved him. Then Paul spent three years in the wilderness learning. Then God gave him the thorn in the flesh.
God took Saul in 1 Tim 1:13 and made him Paul in 1 Tim 2:7. Paul initially hated Christians. Then he loved even the ones who didn’t love him. On top of this, he learned contentment. And then he really got to know the Lord, Phil 3:10. Paul was the perfect person to carry on the gospel to the Gentiles.
Those of us, who started out in sin, are like a problem that must be solved. We’re like an impossibly tangled knot that has to be untied and retied properly. So, the Lord doesn’t destroy us or throw us away. He works on us. We are a challenge to fix.
Over the years, God has taken a piece of junk, like an old beat up car, and fixed us up like new. He seems to take pleasure in working on junk, like David Logan takes pleasure in working on old cars. The cars look horrible at first and come out looking like classics after refurbishing. So do we.
God is long-suffering, 1 Tim 1:16, partly because he knows what we can be, given enough time to fix us.
If you get saved in your youth, don’t stray into sin. You don’t have to ruin your life to have a good testimony. Yield yourself to God’s work at an early age. He can sculpt you like a sculptor, or paint your life like an artist paints beautifully on a blank canvas.
The Lord works on you so that he can work through you. And when he does, everyone who recognizes his workmanship glorifies the Father for the good works they see in you.