For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. — Eph 2:10 (NIV)

Our workmanship takes many forms, from awe-inspiring buildings to individually made Pinewood Derby cars, carefully constructed for the day of the big race.

In today’s verse we read about God’s workmanship, which is us, the church! Unlike human workmanship, God’s is always perfect. I like the New Living Translation, which calls us “God’s masterpiece”. If you read from the beginning of Ephesians you’ll see all the wonderful things God has done in us to create His masterpiece.

When my son completed his Pinewood Derby car recently, that was just the beginning. He built it for a purpose and he wanted to see it ‘in action’. God’s purpose for His workmanship, the church, is that we do good works. He has broken the power of cancelled sin in our lives by making us new creations in Jesus. Now we’re able to do His good works in the power of His Spirit and He wants to see us ‘in action’!

In His complete provision for us, God has already prepared the good works He wants us to do. As we go through our day today He’ll give us opportunities to do them. For example, maybe He’ll send us someone to comfort or encourage with His love or someone whose practical need we can meet.

One of the challenges for us is that although God knows what good works He’s prepared for us, we don’t. Some of the opportunities He brings us may catch us unawares in a moment of weakness. We may “pass by on the other side”, because we feel too busy or too tired to get involved.

Yet, if we will make ourselves available and respond whenever God calls us to do a good work, we’ll have the joy of bearing fruit that lasts, for His glory.

Heavenly Father, thank You for making such complete provision for us to do good works for you. Please do whatever it takes to get Your workmanship ‘in action’ today. Open our eyes to see what you want us to do and our hearts so we’re willing to do it. We ask this in Jesus’ name and for His sake. Amen.

For Further Thought:

1. From Ephesians 2:1-10, what does Paul mean by calling us God’s workmanship?
2. When God shows you a good work He’s prepared for you to do today, how will you respond?

This month I’ve been taking a course offered at Unity Temple called “Jesus for Unitarian Universalists and other Modern Persons”. I’m not a Unitarian so I guess I must be a Modern Person, whatever that is. It sounds flattering, anyway.

I actually belong to a very conservative Church in Oak Park where a few people have expressed a combination of shock and concern that I am attending such a course. Perhaps the rest of them are blissfully unaware that I am. Certainly the initial reactions didn’t encourage me to be especially open about it. To be fair, I know the reactions are out of concern that it will not be ‘good’ for me spiritually, to subject myself to the teachings of this course. And I do appreciate that concern.

I really don’t want to think I’m going just to get a reaction out of conservative Christians; I hope that’s not why. I think I’m going because I genuinely want to know more about what some other people are saying about Jesus.

The particular views shared in this course are those of the Jesus Seminar members – a group of academics whose studies, speculation and yes, perhaps also personal biases, have led them to certain conclusions. They believe that there is a core of historical truth in the New Testament gospels but much of what is contained in them is myth and legend that developed around Jesus after he died, rather than being descriptions of the actual events of his life and his actual words.

The most frustrating thing to me about a course like this is that there’s little time to present much more than the conclusions of the Jesus Seminar. I’m the sort of Modern Person who always wants to know how and why people come to the conclusions they do. I don’t know how to begin to assess their validity otherwise. I suppose one answer is to read the source books for the course and I am doing some of that. Another is to read the conservative Christian books that tell me how tenuous what the Jesus Seminar says, is. They will find every loophole there is. But when it comes to personal bias I don’t believe the conservative Christian writers are any better than the Jesus Seminar at being objective. It’s hard to step outside one’s own belief system – it’s hard to even see a reason to, in fact.

And trying to walk through what the Jesus Seminar says, for many conservative Christians, is probably a bit like being invited to the post-mortem dissection of your best friend. It won’t change the friendship you had and it’s certainly not how you would want to remember them. Although that analogy falls very short since conservative Christians believe Jesus is very much alive, even though he is not present in a physically material sense. Anyway, that’s probably why I’m the only conservative Christian taking this course – to my knowledge – and I wouldn’t expect others to rush into it.

I think my church would argue strongly against the idea that Jesus (as taught about and worshiped there) is not for Modern Persons. After all, do we not have contemporary worship music and powerpoint? But more importantly, don’t people have the same basic needs and problems that they always had? Has the solution for those changed? Do we need a different Jesus today from the one proclaimed by the church since the writers of the ancient creeds took their stand on who Jesus is? Does the underlying message of traditional Christianity really need ‘updating’?

My church would say, in the strongest possible terms, definitely not! But the Jesus Seminar would deny that they are going forward from what traditional Christianity teaches into something new. They would say they are rather going back to look at who Jesus the person ‘really’ was, before the beliefs developed that coalesced by late into the first century, into Christianity.

Their search is for Jesus’ original teachings, they might say. They are impressed enough with their picture of Jesus that many of them call themselves Christians, although many conservative Christians find that claim absurd. Anyone can say they are a Christian but according to conservative Christians you aren’t really one unless you believe Jesus is God, his death was for you personally, his resurrection really happened and he’s the only way you can have a relationship with God. And you are going to hell if you aren’t really one – hence the vital importance of teaching ‘the truth’ about Jesus and not the ideas of some group of people whose starting premise is that the Bible is full of made-up stories.

It seems fascinating and ironic to me that both my church and this course want to ‘set people free’ by teaching them ‘the truth about Jesus’. My church offers God’s forgiveness, salvation and eternal life through a right understanding of Jesus (and acceptance of him as Lord and Savior). One main goal of the course at Unity Temple is to encourage people who had dismissed Jesus when they decided Christianity was not for them, to take another look at him. To ‘give him his due’, as it were, as a great and influential person who is worth studying.

I don’t feel comfortable saying to other people “you’re wrong!” when it comes to things I can’t prove either way. That doesn’t mean that I never comment or ask questions. In fact it’s possible that my comments/questions during this course might have revealed a little skepticism about some of the content.

But I also ask questions or comment at my own church, regularly. Trying to do it with appropriate ‘gentleness and respect’, since that is one Biblical admonition about how Christians are to interact. I would hope that asking questions and commenting at least shows I am listening to what I hear and thinking about it. It seems to me that that’s the most likely way for me to find ‘the truth’, whatever (or Whoever) that may be.

And besides, isn’t that exactly what a Modern Person like me ought to be doing?

The big-picture theme of a ‘predestined’ child is very…Christian, I’d say.

Harry has a growing awareness that he is ‘famous’, ‘different’ (not because of anything he did; this is something about him that he neither chose nor requested…). As Harry goes from not knowing who he is, to knowing, he finds the acclaim embarrassing rather than something to be gloried in. He never presumes upon it overtly; the things he does can all be understood as the behavior of a ‘normal kid’ (with big dreams .

Twice, the desire to ‘lay down one’s life for a loved one’ is upheld as a laudable intent…in fact the carrying out of that, is cited as something which bestows incredible power of good, on the one [voluntarily] sacrificed for.

As Harry is about to face a difficult situation alone, there is a short ‘mutual affirmation’ sort of exchange where he praises someone else’s knowledge/intellect and they say ‘no but bravery and friendship mean the most…’

The people in the story are flexible in understanding that there may come a time when even the best intended rules have to be broken, to do what is right. There are times when ‘law’ fails. It is never an end in itself…and so in those cases the usual punishment for lawbreaking is adjusted to fit the situation…grace is shown.

Loyalty and a true concern for others is upheld when children go to help another child they have mixed feelings about…

The concept that ‘there is no good or evil, only power’ is presented as a very evil one.

Selfishness and self-serving motives are consistently presented as a bad thing.

Implicitly it is shown that appearances can be very deceiving, about people. To be ‘scary’ is not necessarily to be evil. To be harmless is not necessarily to be good.

There is not that ‘mixing’ of good and evil in character which is often used to rationalize that.

Unlike a lot of ‘school’ stories, most of the adults who are in charge are kind and fair and care about the children. They are not all-knowing (therefore they make mistakes) but…what human is?

Motives are all-important.

And in the movie I think that the ‘magic’ theme seems more minor than ever, as something to worry about…movies often have magic in…it’s just a plot device, folks…the more you make of it the more you will incite curiosity about real witchcraft/sorcery..like I said elsewhere on my site, do you worry about children opening doors in every wardrobe looking for other worlds, because they’ve read C.S. Lewis’s book “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”? (Well, if you do then worry about this movie, I guess…)

Ok, that’s all I can think of for now….

But one day God turned his world upside down. This man found out that his right was God’s wrong and that he’d actually been opposing God when he opposed those he thought were God’s enemies.

To his credit, he immediately did a 180 degrees about turn and changed his message totally. What changed this man so much? Meeting Jesus.

This is what this man wrote about himself

In the past I spoke against Christ and persecuted him and did all kinds of things to hurt him. But God showed mercy to me because I did not know what I was doing. I did those things when I did not believe. But the grace of our Lord was fully given to me. And with that grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. What I say is true, and you should fully accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the worst of those sinners. But I was given mercy. I was given mercy so that in me Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. And he showed his patience with me, the worst of all sinners. Christ wanted me to be an example for those who would believe in him and have life forever. Honor and glory to the King that rules forever! He cannot be destroyed and cannot be seen. Honor and glory forever and ever to the only God. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:13-17 International Children’s Version)

Also, he wrote:

…we do not trust in ourselves or anything we can do. Even if I am able to trust in myself, still I do not. If anyone thinks that he has a reason to trust in himself, he should know that I have greater reason for trusting in myself. I was circumcised eight days after my birth. I am from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew, and my parents were Hebrews. The law of Moses was very important to me. That is why I became a Pharisee. I was so enthusiastic that I tried to hurt the church. No one could find fault with the way I obeyed the law of Moses.

At one time all these things were important to me. But now I think those things are worth nothing because of Christ. Not only those things, but I think that all things are worth nothing compared with the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Christ, I have lost all those things. And now I know that all those things are worthless trash. This allows me to have Christ and to belong to him. Now that I belong to Christ, I am right with God and this being right does not come from my following the law. It comes from God through faith. God uses my faith in Christ to make me right with him. (Philippians 3:-9 International Children’s Version)

And this is what his friend wrote:

In Jerusalem Saul was still trying to frighten the followers of the Lord by saying he would kill them. So he went to the high priest and asked him to write letters to the synagogues in the city of Damascus. Saul wanted the high priest to give him the authority to find people in Damascus who were followers of Christ’s Way. If he found any there, men or women, he would arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem.

So Saul went to Damascus. As he came near the city, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. Saul fell to the ground. He heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why are you doing things against me?” Saul said, “Who are you, Lord?” The voice answered, “I am Jesus. I am the One you are trying to hurt. Get up now and go into the city. Someone there will tell you what you must do.”

The men traveling with Saul stood there, but they said nothing. They heard the voice, but they saw no one. Saul got up from the ground. He opened his eyes, but he could not see. So the men with Saul took his hand and led him into Damascus. For three days Saul could not see, and he did not eat or drink.

There was a follower of Jesus in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to Ananias in a vision, “Ananias!” Ananias answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight Street. Find the house of Judas. {Judas This is not either of the apostles named Judas.} Ask for a man named Saul from the city of Tarsus. He is there now, praying. Saul has seen a vision. In it a man named Ananias comes to him and lays his hands on him. Then he sees again.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and the terrible things he did to your people in Jerusalem. Now he has come here to Damascus. The leading priests have given him the power to arrest everyone who worships you.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! I have chosen Saul for an important work. He must tell about me to non-Jews, to kings, and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

So Ananias went to the house of Judas. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus sent me. He is the one you saw on the road on your way here. He sent me so that you can see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something that looked like fish scales fell from Saul’s eyes. He was able to see again! Then Saul got up and was baptized. After eating some food, his strength returned. Saul stayed with the followers of Jesus in Damascus for a few days.

Soon he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “Jesus is the Son of God!” All the people who heard him were amazed. They said, “This is the man who was in Jerusalem. He was trying to destroy those who trust in this name! He came here to do the same thing. He came here to arrest the followers of Jesus and take them back to the leading priests.” But Saul became more and more powerful. His proofs that Jesus is the Christ were so strong that the Jews in Damascus could not argue with him. (Acts 9:1-23, International Children’s Version)

What made the difference for this man? Personally encountering the Lord Jesus Christ. It is very important whether Jesus knows us personally:

Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:23 NIV)

“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. `Sir! Sir!’ they said. `Open the door for us!’ “But he replied, `I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.‘ (Matthew 25:10-12 NIV)

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me–(John 10:14 NIV)

Please make sure that the Lord Jesus Christ knows you. It doesn’t matter how much you think you love God or how obedient you believe you are to Him. If He doesn’t know you you are not His.

If you want Jesus to know you and He doesn’t yet, then read the sermon series by my Pastor entitled “How To Be Right With God“. It will show you, through Bible verses, everything you need to know to enter into a relationship with Jesus where He knows you personally.

Please would you read the following verses and send comments to me if I have erred in what I have written, because I know I am fallible in my own understanding of the Word of God and it is my sincere prayer that I would not promote an erroneous understanding of God’s Word.

To me, these verses show Jesus is Jehovah – and why it matters whether we will say He is, or not.

The name “Jehovah” comes from this verse:

Exodus 3:13-14 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, `What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: `I AM has sent me to you.’”

God tells Moses that His name is “I AM”. “. Literally in Ancient Hebrew this is YHWH. Some people bring that into English as Yahweh, or Jehovah. These are both English derivations from the actual Hebrew letters. In our current English Bible versions YHWH is usually translated LORD with capital letters. This distinguishes it from “Lord” which is a different Old Testament word for God. When the New Testament quotes an Old Testament passage including this word YHWH=LORD=Jehovah, it uses the Greek word “kurios” which in our English translations is “Lord”.

In the New Testament we see Jesus identified with YHWH=LORD=Jehovah in various ways.

Firstly, Jesus Himself in several places in John’s gospel makes this identification! See for example John 8:58 where Jesus says “Before Abraham was, I am!” Now I am going to give a human opinion, nevertheless there is wisdom in many counselors, Proverbs says: the commentators are unanimous in saying that here and elsewhere where Jesus says “I am” in John’s gospel, Jesus is deliberately ascribing the name “I AM”, in other words, “Jehovah” to Himself.

Secondly, there are places in the New Testament where an Old Testament passage about the LORD=Jehovah, is quoted referring to Jesus. Such as Hebrews 1:8-12:

But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” {[9] Psalm 45:6,7} He also says, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” {[12] Psalm 102:25-27}

Thirdly, and building on the second reason, I would say it is a reason to believe Jesus is Jehovah, that the same word “Lord” (in Greek, kurios) in the New Testament is used of Jesus and YHWH=Jehovah: Romans 10:9-13 says:

…if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” {Isaiah 28:16} For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” {Joel 2:32}

Suppose we substitute “Jehovah” for all the references to “Lord” in this passage. We know we can do that with the OT passages quoted so why not in verse 9? Then we get: “…if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Jehovah,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. If this is a valid substitution, then this means that whether we will confess “Jesus is Jehovah” or not is extremely important. You may think I have twisted Scripture but if so, please write back and tell me where I did so, so that I may learn and grow in my knowledge of what the Bible teaches.

I have written this for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Christ,

Helen Mildenhall