| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net Are you a Masterpiece? If you are saved you are. If you have given Jesus pre-eminence in your life you are. If He is your Lord, and everything you participate in is viewed through that lens (what would Jesus have me do), you are. "But I don't feel like a masterpiece. I don't feel special at all. My parents certainly don't think I'm special. My few friends certainly don't. There is nothing particularly note-worthy about me at all." Maybe not by worldly standards, but how many of you realize that your feelings can lie to you? We must come to grips with the fact that we are what God says we are, w/out regard to what our peers or our feelings tell us. Let's just take two verses from Ephesians chapter 2; vs 7 and 10. In vs 10, we read: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." "Workmanship" is poema in the Greek, and translates -wait for it - Masterpiece. Before you recoil completely at this concept, let's look at vs 7. "That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Let's break this down a little. The word "show" might be better rendered "display" or better yet, "put on display". But what is He putting on display? "the exceeding riches of His Grace and His kindness toward (to the benefit of) us. There may well be a tour group strolling through Heaven say 60,000 years from now, in which I am standing there minding my own business and Jesus Himself brings some folks by and says something like this. "Here, look at Dan. You can't imagine the foul perverse things he was capable of thinking and doing. He was a selfish scoundrel. His thoughts were only of himself all the time. He didn't believe in Me at all, and was rude to my people and my Church. He was following the ways of the Devil, his own lusts, and the world at large, and was by his very nature an object of God's wrath. But, because of My great love wherewith I loved him, I quickened him; made him alive in Me. Seated him in heavenly places. Accepted him. Forgave him. Gave him a future and a hope. Just look at the depths of My love and grace poured out on one so undeserving as Dan." Ever think yourself unqualified? Ever think you are just too far gone for Jesus to do this for you? God chooses (seeks out) the "Foolish things of the world to confound (put to shame) the wise, and the weak things to confound the strong." He is looking for weak and foolish, and he found me. Alleluia, What a savior. You may be just what He's looking for. |
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