I am not a creative person, nor am I artistic. As a result, I do not do woodworking nor attempt to draw or paint. However, one thing I did enjoy as a child was making model cars. Some of you would remember those molded plastic cars with parts attached to each other with plastic sticks. You had to trim the pieces off the sticks then clean up the excess plastic where the molds had been poured. You then had these tiny bottles of paint and a craft paint brush, and you would paint all the pieces. Once they dried, you used a strong glue that came in a tube to hold it all together.
Although these were fun to do, my lack of patience and skill meant they were not always the most attractive model cars ever created. I sometimes managed to glue my fingers together or glob the paint on spots it did not belong. But this did not stop me from displaying my creations in my bedroom. I was always excited to do the next one.
The reason I treasured these models, even though they were not perfect, is because they were a result of my work. I had made them with my own hands. This made them special.
As we continue in Ephesians chapters one and two, the next characteristic that we enjoy as part of our salvation is that we are God’s workmanship. After affirming our salvation is a gift of God’s grace, Ephesians 2:10 says, For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
You notice immediately the value of a skilled creator. My models were imperfect and messy, however, in his perfection, Jesus is unable to make anything that is less than perfect. In fact, the word translated as “workmanship” in the NIV, also has the meaning of “masterpiece”. Because of God’s grace made available to me through the death and resurrection of Jesus, I am seen by God as a priceless work of art. This has nothing to do with my past, which is gone. I am a new creation. When I doubt this, I am doubting the talent of Jesus to complete the work he has promised to do in me.
Workmanship refers to more than the product of creation; it also denotes the degree of skill with which the product is made. That degree of skill assigns value to the thing made. For example, we could say, “That vase is of excellent workmanship.” The vase itself is nice, but its value is derived from the talents of the one who designed and produced it. The emphasis is placed on the Creator rather than the creation.
We are God’s workmanship in that we were originally crafted by God in perfection. Genesis 1:27 reveals, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. The designation of having been created in the image of God is for people alone. Everything else was created to make the lives of people more comfortable and complete. We were the crown jewel of creation.
Satan marred the perfection of God’s creation by introducing sin. So, God, through the work of his Son, Jesus, recreated us and restored us to the place of perfection in his eyes. This is what it means to be born again.
The primary value of being the perfect workmanship of an almighty, loving God is seen in how God views us as his children. I will confess, I do not know what ever became of any of those model cars I made on our dining room table. I assume that Mom tossed them in the trash once I moved out. But while I was living at home, those cars remained special to me because they were the work of my hands.
Imagine how much more valuable we are to God as his workmanship. He not only created us in the first place but paid the highest price imaginable to recreate us after our fall into sin. Our value to God is unmeasurable because we are his masterpiece.