Daily Power #81

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. (Eph. 2:10 NLT)

The Mona Lisa. Michelangelo’s David. The Last Supper. If you imagine the greatest works of art in human history, even these have flaws. A human artist strives to create work that captures the essence of her subject as close as possible to perfection. Regardless of the art form or medium, the artist attempting to reflect certain facets of his image or theme as precisely as possible will never reach perfection.

However, when we consider that we are God’s work of art in progress, we discover that we are already his perfect workmanship in Christ Jesus—we don’t have to try harder to earn it. It doesn’t matter how hard you try, how religious you act. You can’t earn your way to salvation. You can’t save yourself. There’s a crucial distinction here about who we are and how we are to live. We are not saved by good works. We are saved for good works.

Specifically, we’re not saved by the good things that we have done, but we are saved to do good things on behalf of the one who saved us. And the good that we do is not for us to brag about. He saves us so we can make a difference in this world and bring glory to him.

Now that’s a true work of art.

Power Lift

Dear God, you are the potter who shapes the clay of my life into your perfect masterpiece. Today I thank you for using even my mistakes to transform me for your purposes.