Reflections on Ephesians 2 - part 5 of 5

We have been on a journey through Ephesians 2, a powerful passage of Scripture.  Today I  want to finish up this collection of blogs.  I want to conclude by looking at verse 10; it states, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (New International Version).

The New Living Translation renders the first part of the verse, “For we are God’s masterpiece.”  Why?  Context is crucial here.  We were dead in sin, lost, and hopeless, but God changed everything.  Remember that the previous verses read, “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.  Not by works, so that no one can boast.” That’s why we are His masterpiece.  The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!”  The Christian is a glorious new creation; transformed by His grace.

The next phrase says we were, “created in Christ Jesus to do good works.”  Picture a ludicrous scene with me as an analogy: imagine if Super Bowl 54 MVP Patrick Mahomes, when he was first drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs, had said (either verbally or through his actions), “I’m glad the Chiefs picked me to be on their team, but I really just wanted the security of knowing I was on an NFL team.  I don’t want to contribute anything.”  Granted, my analogy breaks down.  If this were true, Mahomes obviously wouldn’t have been on the team very long.

Conversely, God will never cut us from His team, as it were.  I like how Paul Asay puts it in his book on Batman titled “God on the Streets of Gotham”.  He says, “Nothing can separate us from God’s love.  We’re on our way to heaven.  Our sins are forgiven.  We’re in the club, and no one can revoke our membership.”  But with that important fact in mind, we can’t miss the fact that the Christian is supposed to do good works.  Not out of fear or guilt, but out of gratitude and love.  Becoming a Christian isn’t the finish line; it’s actually just the beginning of the greatest adventure imaginable.

The last phrase says that God prepared these good works “in advance for us to do.”  It’s amazing to think about how God works all the details out, to get us right where He wants us, so that we can do the good works He planned for us all along.  Let me give you an example of this from my life:

My mother and I have always enjoyed a close relationship.  But no one, except for God, knew that my healthy father was going to suddenly pass away at the young age of 60.  In hindsight, I can see that God recognized someone was going to have to be there for my mother, day in and day out.  While I have no doubt that my brother would have taken care of Mom, if he needed to; with his wife and family to tend to, this would have been challenging.  I enthusiastically accepted this sacred calling, or this good work which God had been preparing me to do from the beginning.

Kevin