For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.
25 sermons cite this verse
… First, he shaped you. Ephesians 2.10. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Circle that phrase, prepared in advance. Did you know that before you were born, God already decided your life purpose? He prepared in advance the things he wanted you to do with your life. One day, you're going to stand before God, and he's going to ask you two questions. The nice thing about God is he tells us what's on the final exam. And there are only two questions on the final exam. And since God wants you to succeed at it, he tells you the questions in advance. One day, you're going to die. One day, your heart's going to stop. That's going to be the end of your body, but it's not going to be the end of you, because you were made to last forever. You're going to live forever. One of two places. We were made for long-term relationship with God. …
… you and me. The only other time Paul uses this noun, translated here, things that have been made or creation, you could translate it, poiema, the only other time he uses it is in Ephesians 2.10, for we are his poiema, created in Christ Jesus for good works. There we are his workmanship. So Ephesians 2.10 is clearly about us. Might it be that in addition to the beauty of the rivers and the mountains and the streams and the eagles and flights and all the other beauties of creation, that Paul means to say, how was God's character meant to be clearly perceived in the things that had been made chiefly in the ones He made in His image? God made human beings to be the visible manifestation of his invisible nature. can you see the connection then? And I promise we won't spend as much time on the other occurrences. Can you see the connection between 123 and 323? It's nice that they're both 23s. 123 and 323, God made you, human being, to be glorious because you reflect God. You're supposed to. Sin results in the loss of glory, not only glory to God, exchanging the object of worship, but also the glory that is meant to be reflected in us. You're meant to see in the people around you. And don't you? With all the evil in the world still, you marvel at stories of creativity and genius and power and artistry and beauty and might and nobility and self-sacrifice. …
… It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship. His, the word is poem. He wrote us. He's writing the story, folks. created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Do you have a prophetic word in your life? These are things that are meaningful to me and I'm sharing them with you. Do you have a purpose? Christian, you should be able to write down what is your purpose given to you by God. Number two, what's the prophetic word in your life? The prophetic word meaning what is it that is the standard? It's the bar. For me, it's this. It's Jeremiah chapter 1, verses 4 through 9. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, by the way, I didn't make this up myself. Some men at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, back in the, I think 1980 it was, I didn't even know they were going to do this. …
… come on stand to your feet last scripture today ephesians chapter 2 ephesians chapter 2 verse number 10 for we are god's handiwork created in christ jesus to do good works which god prepared in advance for us to do you got something to do friend you got something to do elbow the person next to you tell them you got something to do come on tell somebody next to you, you got something to do. There's something for you to do. Elbow another person sitting behind you. Tell them you got something to do. Tell the person behind you, you got something to do. You got something to do. You got something to do. You got something to do. Say it with me. Say, I have something to do. God didn't set you free to be free. You think that you've been set free so you can just walk around be like, free he saves sanctifies sends you out sends you out purpose kingdom purpose and you're going to live in the frustration of freedom until you discover God's got a plan for my life he set me free so I can tell the world that I'm a nobody and he's a somebody and if God can do it for me I was stuck in my space. I was in shame and in bondage. I was bound and I was blind. I was as dead as nails. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I once was dead, but now I'm alive. I once was …
… before I get to the last one let me explain why I'm still excited about Sheerah in that one verse Sheerah is evidence of Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 that says that we are God's workmanship that We are God's masterpiece created in Christ so that we may do great works. Masterpiece. I may have shared it before. I don't know, but here we go again. Masterpiece. When I decided to look up the masterpiece, how do you even determine what a masterpiece is? I declare to you that when we see Shira and when we look at our own lives, Shira is a masterpiece. Why? Because when you look at determinations, professionals in the science and the art industry disagree necessarily on what they want to call a masterpiece. They disagree on it. But what they do agree on, that there are at least three things that must exist before you can call something a masterpiece. The first thing that they say you need to do in order to have a masterpiece is that the masterpiece overwhelms with awe. …
… yourselves it is the gift of god not by works so that no one can boast for we are god's handiwork created in christ jesus to do good works which god prepared in advance for us to do okay let's go back to this list is a list like this helpful to you on how to be a christian the fuller youth institute thinks that about 50 percent of youth they grow up in the church once they graduate high school about 50 percent stay with the church and about 50 percent leave and a lot of it is because they have been given a gospel that looks like this when i was in high school there was this hardcore band in my in my high school that's like the heavy metal with the screaming, and they were just super devout Christians. Their name of their band was called Paid in Blood, and they were, they loved a checklist like this. In fact, one day, the guitarist gave me and a friend a ride home. We went to different churches, and the guitarist said to this young woman, hey, are you going to youth group tonight? And she said, oh, I can't. …
… and uniquely appointed. God, the third thing with God's process is he creates us with intentionality. So I'm handcrafted by God. Ephesians 2.10. This is a verse to memorize this week. Ephesians 2.10. The Bible says that you and I, we are God's workmanship. We are his masterpiece created for good works in Christ Jesus. Now, what does this mean? The word that's used for masterpiece or workmanship is the word translated where we get poem. But it's not used in a literary sense here. It's used in the sense of fabric. And so as a person would design a piece of clothing, or as a person would design a couch and put fabric on it. This is how God designs you. So the next time somebody says something to you, remember Ephesians 2.10. Remember that God formed you. Remember that you are not a mistake. God was not surprised with your birth. God was not surprised with your calling. God was not surprised with you. the angel says to mary you are highly favored the lord is with you i want to encourage you with that today the lord is with you you are highly favored and then last but not least he works in you internally i am internally shaped before i am publicly sent i'm internally shaped i'm internally shaped john piper says says it like this that you and i we are glory bearers we bear the glory in the image of God images are created to image you ever look back on a photo from 10 years ago and you don't just see the photo what do you feel …
for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Lastly, John chapter 9 and verse 4, Jesus is speaking and he says, I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming when no man can work. Let's go to work. Father, we thank you so much for your word. It is a lamp unto our feet. It is a light into our path. In the beginning was your word, and your word was with you, and your word was you. God, we recognize that we don't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of your mouth. God, I thank you for the rich and radical love you have for your sons and daughters. God, those here present, those watching via live stream, those who will watch later. And I pray, God, that you would love your people through me, through the words that you give me to feed them. …
… slotting into what's your business? What's the good work that God has put before you? Ephesians 2.10 says that God has prepared good works in advance for us to walk into. That's the business that we ought to attend to. But on the flip side, let God do his business. So God is the one who's in the business of redeeming and reconciling the world to himself. He's the one who finally is the judge, and he's the one whom we can entrust our cares and concerns and anxieties to, rather than what we so often see in our world today, people taking to the Internet or even sadly taking into their communities, taking things into their own hands that are beyond their own business through anger and through frustration and even through violence, rather than saying, you know what? God has given me good work, good business to tend to myself. I'll let him take care of his own business. You see someone on the side of the road on your way to church, can you help? …
… that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light. Ephesians 2.10 says it like this, for we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. I got to know whose I am. I got to know I belong to God to be able to walk in the calling that he has for me. Amen. Come on, let's clap and thank the Lord for everything that he's spoken to us. So first I got to know whose I am, but then I got to realize, I got to realize to be able to discover my purpose, what opens that door is obedience. Obedience is the door to clarity. It is the door to which God speaks to you and identifies those things that he has called you to in your life. He says here in verse seven, go, he told him, wash in the pool of Siloam. This word means sent. …
… I'm so excited about it. This is that sanctification word created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. It is by grace you have been saved. That's why we're calling this collection Jesus Saves. every faith, every religion has somebody in it. And that somebody is most likely a moral teacher. a divine prophet, possibly a culture shifter, culture thinker, potentially a miracle worker, someone who points to the way every religion. You're going to find some central character who is known as or claims to be a moral teacher, divine prophet, a culture thinker. Maybe that movement has somebody who does miracles. I know mine does, Jesus. Someone who points to the way. Jesus was all those things. He was a moral teacher. He was a divine prophet. He shifted culture more than anybody. He was a miracle worker, and he was someone that pointed the way. And that's, a lot of religions have that. but there is one thing about Jesus that you will not find in any other religious system on earth and that is that he claimed to be a save your and no other story has a Savior in it but our story. …
… so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. So he does want us to live a great life, but you don't get saved by living a great life. You get saved through faith. It is a gift of God. I wonder today, is there anyone in this gathering that's seeing that? because if there is, God is extending right now the gift. The gift is Jesus, not just a historical figure. but the Son of God on earth, living out a perfect life, taking on the sin of all mankind, ultimately ending up where sin takes you. The wages of sin is death. That's why Jesus died. Not because of his sin's wages, but because of my sin's wages. The wages of my sin were his death. and that's how God reconciled me to himself because he took what he paid and canceled out what I owed and offered it to me as a gift. …
… for we're God's handiwork. created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. You might have to build a boat, but God will protect it in the waters for 40 days and 40 nights. This threat of grace, it does not run through any other religious system on earth. the followers of Jesus follow the thread of grace from beginning to end it is not by works it is not a system it is a savior it is grace his very throne is grace since then we have a great high priest who's ascended into heaven Jesus the son of God let us hold firmly to the faith we profess for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet he did not sin let us then hello approach God's throne this amazing throne of God. Oh, it says more about the throne. God's throne of, say it, with grace, with confidence, so that we may receive from this throne of grace, mercy, and find grace to help us in our time of need. The very throne of God is grace. Praise God. …
… God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 1 verse 10, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Just as much as God elected your justification, He elected your sanctification. You have been chosen and ordained to good works, and those good works were ordained before time began. God ordained that believers would be marked by righteousness and holiness. Go back to chapter 4 and verse 24, put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. All of these things describe what it means to be a child of God. We are beloved children. We are to walk worthy. We can walk worthy. We are to walk in love. We can do that. The Spirit of God dwells in us, in the inner man. Romans 5 says that the Spirit has literally shed abroad the love of God in our hearts. …
… the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God beforehand prepared so that we would walk in them." So there you have the connection back to what Jesus said in Matthew 7. We have been chosen for transformation. By grace you have been saved, and you have become His workmanship. That is, God has recreated you. You have been born again unto good works. You are now a good tree, producing good fruit. Paul in Romans 6 says, you were a slave of sin, now you're a slave of righteousness. So how do you tell a true believer? Not by a profession, but by the production of spiritual fruit. It could be attitude fruit, love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control, fruit of the Spirit. And the result of that controlling attitude fruit of the Spirit is the action fruit of righteous conduct. That's how you know a Christian, not by what they claim, but by how they live. …
… gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. And then verse 10, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. That is an absolute statement of fact, that if you have come to Christ for salvation, you have been created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Or in the language of chapter 4, verse 24, you have been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth in the likeness of God. In other words, you take on the character of God, you take on the character of Christ, which manifests itself in righteousness and holiness and truth and good works." Christians are known by the transformation of their lives. It was what Jesus intended when He said, by their fruits you shall know them. So we're learning here where the great transformation shows up. And we started with that in verse 25, and we saw a series of exchanges here, dramatic exchanges. …
… Old things have passed away, and new things have come. Or Ephesians 2.10, you are created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before ordained that you would walk in them. Paul says much the same in Romans 2.6-10 that the final judgment will be a judgment based on works, and the works of one who has been regenerated and given life and been transformed will manifest righteousness, and it is by those works that they will receive the resurrection of life." Again, this speaks to this important issue that salvation is not a matter of some experience at some point in your life, or some prayer, or some emotional connection with Jesus. You will be judged on your works. They don't save you, but they affirm the reality of your salvation. If you are truly transformed as a child of God, it shows. But just think of it. An hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice." The power to do that is stunning, incomprehensible. …
… of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Ten verses that describe the dramatic, permanent, eternal, comprehensive transformation that salvation makes in a person's life. Over in the fifth chapter, we have another section that looks at this transformation. Chapter 5, verse 5, For this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them, for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." The transformation is, as I said, everlasting, eternal, comprehensive. What does it mean to be a Christian? In the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. …
… This is the transformation of salvation. As a result of it, go down to verse 10, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. change from all those connotations and directly identified categories of sinfulness in verses 1 to 3. We pass into the section on salvation, and out of it we arrive at verse 10, and we have a new creation. This is God's masterpiece. That's what the word workmanship indicates. Created in Christ Jesus, the result is good works. This is a dramatic change. This is a miraculous change. And I told you last week, and I'll point at least to one text from the Old Testament, that this is the way salvation has always been described. Go back to Ezekiel 36. You can turn to it or you can just listen. Ezekiel 36 verses 25 to 27 is a statement about what happens to someone when God saves them because salvation was the same throughout all of human history and is described in terminology very much like Paul uses in Ephesians. …
… for we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do You know, like most passages in Paul's teaching, this passage we've been looking at, chapter 2, verses 1 to 10, is so full of profound theology, and yet it's really basically got a very simple objective. It's here to tell you, it's here to define what a Christian is. And we saw in the first seven verses, Paul is saying a Christian is someone who's gone through a momentous, cataclysmic change. Verses 1 to 3 is before the meeting with Christ, and verses 4, 5, 6, and 7 is what happens afterwards. We saw we've gone from death, spiritual death, to life. We've gone from bondage, slavery, the things that we desired had us by the throat, to a place of freedom, where the things that we desire can be used by us, but they don't use us anymore. We've gone from death to life, from slavery to freedom, from condemnation, being children of wrath, to being accepted, seated in the heavenly places. …
… which is a chapter we've been looking at for a while. And I'm going to read to you the latter section of this section of chapter 2. Ephesians 2, verse 4 to 10, it's printed in your bullet. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. This is God's word. We've said that chapter two is actually a before and after picture of the Christian. It shows us what our lives are like before we encounter the living Christ and after. …
… been seeing. So if you don't mind, I'm going to do a little bit of that as well as push forward our progress a bit. Ephesians 2, verses 1 through 10, is a before and after picture of a Christian. Ephesians 2, 1 to 10, is trying to show us the momentous change that Jesus makes when you have an encounter with him as a living person. I'm glad how many people are surprised and stunned and changed and helped by looking at this passage. Many of you see Christianity as being a kind of round of duties or a process, and you don't realize, until you look at this, that Paul expects that meeting Christ makes this momentous change, a watershed, a continental divide. Becoming a Christian, meeting Christ is sort of like Pike's Peak, because one inch to the west of Pike's Peak, little raindrop goes all the way to the Pacific Ocean. That's what they tell me when I go there. And one inch on the other side, that little drop of water goes all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. …
… it's the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. that's God's Word. Well, let's see what we can do. We said Ephesians chapter 2 is actually a before and after picture. It's a before and after an encounter of an individual with Christ. In verses 1, 2, and 3, which we didn't read tonight, but which we've looked at for a couple of weeks, you have the before picture. In verses 4 to 10, you have the after picture. Paul is trying to get through to us. He's trying to get across to us in the most vivid terms that the difference between being in Christ and being outside of Christ is a cataclysmic difference. In verse 1, he said, we were dead spiritually. In verse 4, it says, we're made alive spiritually. In verse 3, Paul says of chapter 2, he says, we lived gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature. We were in bondage. We weren't free. …
… for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. A treasure chest? Let's take a look. I'd like to just look at the first three verses. For you who were dead in transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air and the spirit who is now at work and those who are disobedient, all of us lived also among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. My, what a downer. That's the way Paul starts talking about salvation. He starts by saying, you were dead in sin. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. All I want to talk about tonight is what Paul means when he says, you are dead in sin. The reason that this sounds like a downer, but it's not, is this. You cannot understand, you cannot, let me put it this way, you can't be saved unless you realize you're in peril. …
… For we are what? His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Those are great verses. And there are three prepositions in those verses. And if you keep those three prepositions in your mind, you'll never get mixed up. You'll never get confused about how to be saved and the relationship of faith and works and see how God's grace is so wonderful, so amazing, and so magnificent. What are those three prepositions? For by grace. The first preposition is by. For by grace are you saved through faith. The second preposition is through. By grace, through faith. Now in verse 10, unto good works. Unto good works. All right, now here it is. Now watch it. By grace, through faith, unto good works. By, through, unto. By grace. Through faith. Unto good works. Now remember that God showed grace to Noah. So how was Noah saved? By grace. I mean, he was saved by grace. This ark shows us that salvation is by grace. …