This message contains some parts of a sermon by Ed Young called, "God’s Masterpieces," but is primarily my own (80%). If this is a copyright infringement, please let me know. Thank you.)
NOTE: I downloaded the video from www.sermonspice.com called "The Last Painting" to correspond with the theme and the time of year (Easter).
Ephesians – Focusing on Truth
Lesson Thirteen: From Major Mess to a Masterpiece – part 2
We have been wandering through the book of Ephesians, and last week we focused on going from major messes to masterpieces. Look at Ephesians 2:10 (on screen) – let’s read it together.
We focused on declaring the truth about ourselves in the face of Satan who would lie to us and render us useless through our mindset. We even made a collage at the end to solidify our commitment to this piece of art called The Journey.
We made three declarations in our first message, and I want to give you four more today. WHAT IS A “DECLARATION”? It is when I act on my belief that what God says is true by speaking it out regardless of the circumstance – “saying it anyway!” Declarations are important for three reasons:
1) Declarations are exemplified in the life of Jesus – Matthew 4:1-11
2) Declarations build my faith. Romans 10:17 (on sheet) - Yet faith comes from listening to this message of good news--the Good News about Christ. We cannot build our faith unless we hear that Word. When we speak it, we are building our own faith.
3) Declarations help me resist the devil. Whenever we declare something we are drawing a line in the sand with the enemy because the enemy cannot read our thoughts. Resisting is part declaration – James 4:7 (on sheet) – “Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.”
Do you remember the three declarations we’ve already made that will help us go from major messes to masterpieces? I am priceless (expound), timeless (expound), and part of a greater picture (expound). Today you will get “the rest of the story.” We are clay in the hands of the Potter. I hope after today that you will use these declarations so that you will “never be the same again.” That is a declaration as well.
As we looked at two weeks ago, the Bible clearly points to God as Artist, Creator, and Master Craftsman, reflected in the first 5 words of the Bible, “In the beginning, God created!”. From the beginning of Genesis, we see that He produces beauty, and man is the crowning jewel of His creation. This is pointed out by David in Psalm 139:14, where he writes about God’s workmanship and attention to detail (on sheet), “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous--and how well I know it.”
Paul brings home this idea in Ephesians 2:10, the verse we just read together. We have focused on the truth in our Ephesians study, and the profound truth is that we are living, breathing pieces of art – created by God to live productive, meaning-filled lives. If I could “paint a picture for you,” it is basically this: God is standing in front of the canvas of our lives, wanting to make the canvas of our lives into a work of beauty. You and I hold the brushes. If we let him, if we give Him if we give Him the brush, the control of our lives, He can and will take our lives and turn them into masterpieces. We talked about this last time – we can be priceless pieces of art in the hand of the Master. Even though your life might be messed up right now, in the hand of the Artist, common, worthless materials are combined to make a masterpiece.
You know, it’s that time of year where spring cleaning takes place, and signs start popping up on the weekends for one of the greatest events known to mankind - the yard sale or tag sales. Aren’t they fun? There are two things that always intrigue me about garage sales. The first thing is that people will buy anything. I mean, they’ll buy spit in a bottle for the right price. And I’m thinking, “Who would pay for that?” But there’s another thing that intrigues me, and that is that an object is only worth as much as someone will pay for it.
There have been times in my life where I’ve felt like an item in a garage sale. Have you ever felt like that? Maybe there was a season in your life where you felt like you don’t really matter, that you were insignificant. You’re not insignificant, and God in the Bible goes to great lengths to prove that. You are priceless – “God’s masterpiece.”
So how much are you worth? If an item is worth the amount you pay for it, look at how much God paid for you in Romans 5:8 (show only part of this verse), “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us…” Now there are some of you sitting there thinking, well, he couldn’t have died for me. I have too much sin in my life. (put on screen the last part) “…while we were still sinners.” The price God paid was for our entire selves – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Even in our sin He valued.
So you are a priceless, timeless, work of God. Off of this springboard of our great value to God, let’s launch into our final four declarations.
Declaration #4: I am an original. Say that with me - “I am an original.” One of a kind, I am unique. An original is not some photocopy or a fake. These are fakes (point to artwork) – this isn’t a true Van Gogh, the original masterpiece. But you are the real deal!
The Bible tells us that one day, you and I will stand before God. And when we meet Him face to face, God is not going to look at you and say, “Hey, I wish you would have been more like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa” – aren’t you glad?! God’s not going to say that. But God is going to say, “I wish you had been more like what you were created to be.”
In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul writes about us being “original.” He wrote that we make a mockery of God’s brilliance and His creativity when we don’t understand how original we are, and when we compare and contrast ourselves with others. Look at what 2 Corinthians 10:12 says, “I wouldn’t dare say that I am as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, and measuring themselves by themselves. What foolishness!”
We are immersed in a culture that thrives on comparisons. We compare everything, figures, physiques, bank accounts, houses, cars, clothes. We even compare kids. We act like we don’t, but we do. People say, “MY kid would NEVER do that!” What I’ve discovered is that my kid not only would do it but probably has done it 100 times! When we compare ourselves with others, we are cheapening God’s masterpiece. It’s unfair to compare!
We are originals. THANK GOD for what He has made you. You are an original by God Himself, with His signature all over you. Do you realize that you are made in the very image of God, according to Genesis 1:27 (turn there – not on sheet or screen) – “So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.” We are original pieces of work, with the fingerprints of God all over us as created beings. We are called to duplicate each other, but rather to live as original pieces of art to be what God wants us to be.
I just blogged this past week about needing to duplicate myself a few times over to take care of my responsibilities, but some people want to copy and be other people. We watch E! and want to be famous, or we watch sports and want to hit a baseball like David Ortiz. We watch others at church or at work and wish we lived their lives or had their successes. The fact is, you weren’t made to be someone else, rather you were made to be you. YOU ARE AN ORIGINAL – start acting like one!
Declaration #5: I am lovable. Say that with me, “I am lovable.”
Krista and I met in our freshman year at college in Boston. Almost as soon as we started dating, I began traveling with the school’s traveling ensemble, every weekend being gone and traveling during the summer. And since this was back before email, the only way to communicate on the road was through letters. On occasion, I would receive a letter from her – she would spray her perfume on it – and it would be a 7 page essay on how incredible I was and how much she loved me and how I was the best thing to ever happen to her, etc. And when you are traveling, it can get lonely. So on occasion, I would be listening to my Sony walkman (remember those?!) and I had tapes of my favorite songs off the radio, and I would read the letters, and I would get teary-eyed – and then one of the guys I was traveling with would say very tenderly, “Hey, Willis, why don’t you read it out loud to everyone so we all could have a good cry?!” Of course, after I punched him, I would decline – it was my love letter written specifically for me and to me.
The Bible is a colossal collection of love letters from God to us. You need to read it. Do you realize how much you matter to God, how much you are loved? The Bible reminds us that we are the object of God’s love again and again. The most famous verse in the Bible tells us this - John 3:16, “For God so loved the world (who’s in the world?), that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him, should not perish but have eternal life.” You are loved by God – look at the person next to you and say, “You are loved by the Father.”
Isaiah 54:10 (on sheet) says, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken.” When I wake up in the morning, I don’t have to roll over and ask, “I wonder if God loves me today?” We have talked about grace – grace means that there is nothing you can do right now that will cause God to love you any more or any less. His love is unfailing and constant. I am lovable.
In the video, “The Last Painting,” we saw the last thing it said was “It is finished.” The work of Christ is finished – but His work in us is still a matter of time, which brings us to the 6th declaration:
Declaration #6: I am a work in progress. This declaration challenges us for two reasons, both of which I see exemplified in this church body on a weekly basis.
Impatience - we forget that we are works in progress and we expect/demand perfection from ourselves. We get impatient with how we are, still over-taken by sin. But there is a balance in the Christian life that we need to accept, and that balance lies in accepting that we are sinners and yet God in His goodness is working in us. Every last one of us sins. Look around – this is a church full of sinners.
But we are works in progress – look on the screen at Philippians 3:12-14 (read it – on screen). Paul recognized that He was a work in progress. It helped him cope with his own impatience to push God’s work. God is working at His pace, not ours.
The second challenge to this declaration is…
Criticism – we forget that others are works in progress and are critical.
There is an old saying that says, “Be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet.” The same work that God needed to do (or still needs to do) in you is the same kind of work He needs to do in others. We are way too quick to criticism. Look at me as I say this – when you and I are critical of other believers, we are critical of God’s work in their lives. We are equivalent to Peter when just two minutes after affirming that Jesus was God decided to be critical of Jesus’ plan to die on the cross! Jesus’ response was “Get behind me, Satan!” and when you criticize the work of God in others, the response should accurately be, “Get behind me, Satan!”
But there is one more declaration…
Declaration #7: I am fixable. We are timeless, priceless, part of a greater picture, original, lovable, and works in progress. But I believe this last declaration is the most significant one – I am fixable.
There is something about the work of an artist, that when they paint and they make a mistake, they either have to discard the art or work with the error. But God isn’t like that. When God looks at the canvas of your life, He sees the mistakes, sins, errors, blemishes. But rather than discard you or even try to gloss over the error, God does something with our mistakes that a regular artist could not do – He erases our mistakes. There are several verses that I could show you here, but look at Psalm 103:8-14 – let’s read it together (on screen).
He removes our sin from us – as far as the east is from the west – in other words, we are fixable – we are forgivable. There is an argument going on in some of your minds right now, and a voice is telling you that you have gone too far, that there is no turning back, that God’s mercy can’t possibly reach to you.
But do you comprehend how fixable you are? Look at some of the “canvases” that God had to fix:
Noah was a drunk that God used.
Abraham was a chronic liar and God used him.
Sarah was a liar and laughed at God’s promise, and God used her.
Jacob was a manipulator and liar and God used him.
Moses was a murderer and had a problem with anger, and God used him.
Rahab was a prostitute and a liar, and God used her.
Samson was in essence, a sex-addict and God still used him.
David was an adulterer, a murderer, a not-so-great father, and God used him.
Jonah was a reluctant servant who had bitterness issues and threw a temper tantrum but God still used him. And that’s just part of the OT!
So where does your life need fixing today? What have you done that you doubt God could fix? Is it something so terrible, so embarrassing, so shameful – that you aren’t sure God could forgive you or ever use you again? If God only ever used perfect people, there would be no Bible – no great stories of faith.
The canvas of your life is not yet finished. God has more work to do – will you let Him make you into a great piece of art, or will you not hand over the brush of your life, and paint things yourself? Will you stand in these declarations or will you walk in your own power?
