This week we continue our study with Ephesians 2:10
The first point in this text is that we are God’s workmanship, not our own. In the world, "self-made" men and women are esteemed, but not so in Christ. Our goal is to submit to His workmanship, to become what He wants us to be. How do we do this?
First, we must understand that nothing happens in our life that is not allowed by God for our perfecting. He is the Potter, and we are the clay. We are spinning on the potter’s wheel of life and the events of our life are His hands that are shaping us. Our goal must be to become easy for Him to work with by not resisting His dealings in our life, but to allow ourselves to be shaped by them.
This is seldom easy, and sometimes can be quite confusing. We want to submit to God, but we are called to resist the devil. Some of the events in our life are from the devil, so how do we distinguish them? Also, some of the dealings of God in our life are to mature us, which includes letting the devil test us. Do we submit to these too?
It might be easier if there were simple answers to these questions, but if there were, we would not have to seek the Lord and His wisdom as we do now. There are answers to situations that can be complex, requiring wisdom from above to understand. Basically, the way through every situation and trial in our life is to follow Christ. As we are told in II Corinthians 2:14, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place."
He leads us in His triumph, which means that we must follow Him. To follow Him, we must seek Him, see Him, and keep our attention on Him. This is the purpose of almost every trial in our life, and the finished work of every trial is for us to be closer to Him. The quicker we give ourselves to finding Him, and the more resolute we are to follow Him through a trial, the quicker we will usually get out of it. However, to follow Him will always lead to the cross. His triumph was the cross, and ours is too. That is why He said in Matthew 16:25, "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it." If we are in Christ we are to be dead to this world. It is impossible to offend a dead person. It is impossible for a dead person to feel rejected or abused. If this is true, we can respond to any situation with God’s love. It is in this way that with our triumph over every trial that He "manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place" (II Corinthians 2:14).
So to simplify our situation we might ask, "Is my response to this trial manifesting Christ? If not, how must I change my response to this situation so I can manifest Him? As we do this, we will be conformed to His image, becoming His workmanship that is manifest to this world.
As Ephesians 2:10 also states, we were created in Him "for good works." This is a primary theme of the book of James, as we read in James 2:18-24:
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God.
You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.
James was protesting the very delusion that multitudes of Christians today fall to—presuming that by just believing in the Lord’s existence is enough to get them "saved." As James explained, the demons believe in the Lord, knowing His power and authority probably much more than most Christians. If we really believe the Lord, we will live for Him, obey Him, and do the works that He created us for.