When I was growing up in Florida, we moved to a new neighborhood of lower-middle-class houses. The builders laid the foundations of many of the houses, but had to stop building. Two foundations remained with pipes protruding, but no walls or roofs.
It reminds me of Jesus “Count the Cost” admonition in Luke 14:28-30, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
Unfinished work unsettles us. We leave projects half-done. We abandon resolutions. We stall in growth.
But here is the promise of Philippians 1:6:
“He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
God does not leave His work exposed to the weather.
The Sculptor’s Philosophy — Michelangelo
Michelangelo believed that every block of marble contained a figure within it. His task, he said, was not to create the form but to remove what did not belong. His biographer Giorgio Vasari recorded that Michelangelo saw sculpture as the art of uncovering what was already there.
Look at his unfinished “Prisoners.” The figures appear to be straining to emerge from stone.
That image is powerful.
But here’s where we must be careful. Michelangelo believed the form already existed perfectly inside the marble. Biblically speaking, Christlikeness does not naturally lie dormant within fallen humanity. It is God’s transforming work by grace.
Yet the process imagery is useful.
• God removes what does not belong.
• He chisels away pride.
• He sands down impatience.
• He fractures self-reliance.
• The blows may sting — but they are precise.
I. The Author of the Work — “He Who Began”
A. Salvation originates with God. When Jesus dealt with Zacchaeus in Luke 19:9-10, He said to him (and the onlookers), “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
1. Like a newborn child contributes nothing to its birth, we did not initiate spiritual life. God awakened us.
2. Application:
• Gratitude replaces pride.
• Confidence rests in His initiative, not ours.
B. Reflect:
1. When did God begin chiseling in your life?
2. Through what conviction? What season?
II. The Means of Completion — How God Uses the Chisel
A. God does not complete His work randomly.
1. Scripture
a. [Here is where Michelangelo’s philosophy sharpens our approach.
A sculptor does not force marble into a shape he prefers. He studies it carefully and removes only what does not belong. Michelangelo himself wrote in a poem: “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there — I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.”
b. But when we approach Scripture, we often reverse the process:
• We bring our assumptions.
• We bring our politics.
• We bring our preferences.
• And instead of drawing out what the Word contains, we try to carve it into our shape.
• The faithful approach to Scripture is like faithful sculpture:
• We are not to impose meaning. We uncover meaning. We let the text speak.
c. Ask yourself:
• Do I approach the Bible to confirm what I already believe?
• Or to be reshaped by what God says?
2. Suffering
a. Trials are not vandalism. They are tools.
Fire refines gold. Pressure exposes impurities.
b. When difficulty comes:
• Do I resist?
• Or do I ask, “What is God removing?”
3. Fellowship
a. Other believers are sometimes the sandpaper God uses.
b. Friction refines us. Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
[Jews study in pairs
c. Isolation slows transformation.
4. Obedience
a. Growth accelerates when we obey what we already understand.
b. Information alone produces pride.
c. Obedience produces maturity.
III. Measuring Progress — Introspective Examination
A. We are not called to obsession, but to examination.
B. Here are practical measures:
1. Reaction Test: Do I respond with more patience than I did five years ago?
2. Repentance Speed: Do I confess sin and make changes more quickly?
3. Desire Shift Do I crave holiness more than applause?
4. Scripture Posture Do I approach the Bible as a critic — or as clay?
C. Spiritual growth is measured less by knowledge accumulated and more by character formed.
IV. From Information to Transformation
A. Information says, “God completes what He starts.”
B. Application asks:
• Am I cooperating with the chiseling?
• Am I resisting conviction?
• Am I forcing Scripture to bend to me instead of allowing it to shape me?
C. Transformation happens when:
• We submit to the Word.
• We endure suffering without bitterness.
• We pursue accountability.
• We practice obedience quickly.
V. Final Image — The Day of Completion
[Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures depict figures partially trapped in stone. But Philippians 1:6 promises something different.
A. We are not destined to remain half-emerged.
B. There is a Day coming — the Day of Jesus Christ — when the scaffolding comes down.
1. Sin will be fully removed.
2. Transformation will be complete.
3. The Master’s work will stand finished.
1. Until then:
Do not resent the chisel.
Do not flee the pressure.
Do not silence the Word.
2. Because the One who began the work is still shaping.
[Disney stories:
• Pinocchio – Rough Wood to Real Life
• Beauty and the Beast – Character Transformation
• The Lion King – Becoming Who You Were Meant to Be
3. God always finishes what He starts. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24:
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
4. Let’s cooperate with Him!
