A Masterplan for His Masterpiece
As I write this, I’ve just finished my 4th cup of coffee for the day, and will shortly have my 3rd serving of tea. Yes, I am caffeine bingeing. It’s 21:51 and I’m literally halfway through the printing of the order of service for my father-in-law’s funeral.
Part of the role I play at our church as one of its leaders is that I occasionally give a Sunday talk as part of our weekly Main Event. This was the talk I gave to kick off our iFit series, based loosely on Eric Rees' book called SHAPE: Finding & Fulfilling your Unique Purpose in life. You can find the whole video below, the message part starts at around 32 minutes in.
Keep scrolling through if you have no patience to watch the whole video and just wanna read the transcript (complete with notes).
And here it goes:
Today I have the privilege of starting our journey on a new series of messages called iFit, where we will look at what the Bible tells us about our place, our function, our purpose in God's Kingdom. We will be looking at a model proposed by Eric Rees in his book SHAPE Finding & Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose for Life.
I miss going on holidays! We didn't really get to go on a proper holiday over the last year so I'll take you back to a holiday we took a few years ago (show picture of artist painting on Port Isaac). This was in Port Isaac, if you think it looks familiar, it's because Poldark was shot there, and this was also Doc Martin's Portwenn.
I have always been fascinated by art, though I have to be honest, I'm not cultured enough to appreciate abstract art. Learned folks have studied the great artists that we know of such as Van Gogh, DaVinci, Caravaggio, to name a few, they tell us that each artist holds a brush a certain way. Each flick of the artist's brush adds depth, another dimension, a layer of colour, and in the process reveals more of the beauty they see in their mind's eye. Charles Spurgeon once said, “what can he (artist) do with those ugly little daubs of paint on the palette? Go in & see the picture”.
For a work of art to be called a masterpiece, it has to be attributed to a master, an individual that has perfected their chosen craft. I like to think of God as the GOAT of artists (anyone know what that means?). He's the jack of all trades master of all! In fact, David described him as, depending on what version you have, the one who knit me (NIV) or wove me (NASB) in my mother's womb, in Ps. 139:13. Either method produces a thing of value & beauty from a non-assuming ball of wool or thread.
Let's jump to Eph 2:10, "for we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do". I took the title of today's message from this verse.
A Masterplan for His Masterpiece
The word for handiwork in the Greek text of Eph 2:10 is poiema, and it's also the etymology of poetry or poem. It means something crafted, by hand, a product, like a knitted or woven fabric perhaps, just like what David talked about in his Psalm. It's beautiful to look at the scriptures & realise how the language they use transcends time.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
This Psalm gives us an idea of how much work God invested in us. We weren't just lumps of clay that he picked up & fashioned into the shape of a human being. We were "woven together". Each tiny cell fashioned for a reason. We were not just a lucky coincidence or a beautiful accident of genetics, no, sorry, we are made in the likeness, made in the image of God- and his works are- WONDERFUL! But God did not stop at knitting & creating us. He also went on to write our story!
The days of our lives have already been mapped out ahead of us, and the work we are to do has been prepared in advance for us. We literally are the Master's living, breathing poiema- we are God's masterpiece, His living, breathing, poetry in motion.
But then, I wake up in the morning looking like this, and I wonder where is the beauty in that? I see my hands and think "these can't do anything remarkable," and if you're anything like me, I sometimes find a disconnect between what I see in the mirror and who the Bible tells me I am.
And therein lies the problem- where I, or we, look. If we keep looking in, or looking out, we end up taking on a whole host of insecurities and false identities, and stunt our growth in the process. Hebrews 12:2 reminds us to throw off everything that hinders us, and look where? To Jesus, the author and the finisher, the perfecter of our faith. And if that still doesn't convince you, read chapter 11 for a list of people flawed people just like you & me, that looked only to Jesus to see them through the rest of their days. As we spend time looking up to God, he reveals more & more of Himself to us. I think that's what David meant, when he finished Psalm 139 with a prayer: "search me o God, and know my heart; test me, and know my anxious thoughts. See if there's any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting", the very same way that God has planned for us to follow even before we were formed in our mothers' womb.
Ok JJ, we've established I'm God's masterpiece, and he already wrote my story. Great, I'II just sit, kick my heels up and drink my tea until my graduation to glory comes. Cool.
No. Not cool.
See, when He wrote your story, he gave you a purpose to follow, but He is not a God that forces you to do something just because. He not only has given us a promised end, he also equipped us with tools and resources to use, and most importantly, he also gave us a family, a community to belong to while we go on the journey.
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,
To another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
To another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink...
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.”
As well as creating us fit for purpose, God already has a masterplan set in place for us. What He's got is not just a 5-year plan, but a lifetime plan complete with risk assessments, SWOT analyses, and a detailed outline for growth & development. Each of us has what Eric Rees describes as a "special commissioning from God to make a significant difference on earth". This is your Kingdom Purpose, a specific & one-of-a-kind contribution that only YOU can make.
Our Kingdom Purpose is never in competition with, but rather is complementary of others'. We are part of one body, but we can't all be the biggest, the strongest or the largest. Someone's got to play the part of the smallest bone in the body (stapes). If at any point we find ourselves envious of others' giftings, we need to ask ourselves one question : Are we living our lives' purpose according to recent trends, what we're told, or by the truth?
If we base it on trends, then my friend, you're just following what's popular. If your purpose is based on what someone else told you, then you're just fitting in. But if you are basing your purpose on truth, then faithful child, you will find fulfilment. Living without discovering our uniqueness is not living at all.
What we want to see, after going through this series of messages, is freedom in our lives as we live it as God intends us to. What God made you to be determines what he intends for you to do. Your ministry therefore is determined by your make up.
Over the next few weeks, we will look at our Spiritual Gifts, examine what moves our Heart, find out more about our Abilities, Personality & Experiences, and figure out how they can help us step out from our comfort zones and into the bigger jacket that God has prepared for Us.
During this time, I challenge you to be a contributor, not just a consumer. Yes, the Christian life is a bed of roses, complete with thorns. But it's high time we do away with the lie that life after salvation is as peachy as peachy can be because it's not. What makes it better is the hope that we have in life eternal. Our salvation IS free, a once done deal, but maturity isn't. We get stretched, challenged, tested and tried if we let God do His work.
Today, I hoped to have been able to paint a a picture of God as the master craftsman. Isaiah 64:8 tells us he is the potter, we are the clay formed by his hand. How he moulds & shapes me is different from how he designs & fashions you. Each one of us is intentionally designed to fulfil God's will an earth. keep looking up to your creator, not at those around you, because He's got a masterplan for his masterpiece!
