For we are God’s masterpiece not God’s failure (Ephesians)

Introduction

God created you in His own image. You probably know that already, but do you really believe it? Knowing it with your mind and saying it with your mouth is easier than believing it with your heart. Yet God wants you to believe, by faith, that He created you in His image—God’s perfect image. He did not create you randomly, erroneously, or by chance. No. You are His handiwork, God’s masterpiece.

No matter your background, no matter the circumstances of your birth, or even the conditions in which you were conceived, you are His perfect handiwork.

Often, we don’t really believe that we are His masterwork and can’t confidently say, “I am God’s masterpiece”, or, “I am a masterpiece created by God”.

We know the Bible verse that says we are God’s masterpiece, but negative experiences throughout our lives have clouded our minds. Repetitive negative experiences in our childhood, teenage years, as an adolescent, or even during our adulthood, cause us to feel inferior and have a low self-esteem. This blocks us from truly believing we are God’s work of art.

What does the Bible say about being God’s masterpiece?

In Ephesians 2:10 the apostle Paul tells us we are God’s masterpiece–God’s handiwork. This means WE are His masterpiece, and we are perfect. Being perfect means you are God’s greatest masterpiece. Based on Ephesians, we can say we who God says I am

A masterpiece is a work accomplished with extraordinary and outstanding skills. The Bible does not just say you are a masterpiece. No. God’s Word says you are God’s masterpiece. Being a masterpiece is already great, but being God’s masterpiece makes you perfect. There is none like God and there is none above God. He is The Master of the whole universe, The Creator of everything. And you are created in His own image!

You are created by The Master Himself as His masterpiece! Can you imagine? Being God’s masterpiece makes you perfect.

You are His masterwork, designed under His Masterplan. You are not God’s failure, you are not made based on a second-class plan, and there is absolutely no way that you could be inferior. Don’t ever think you are imperfect and cannot be used by God!

You are not made by mistake. You are made on purpose and for a purpose: to do that which God has prepared beforehand.

What does Ephesians 2 10 masterpiece mean?

The bible says in Ephesians 2:10 (New Living Translation) that as God’s masterpiece, we are the product of Christ Jesus to do good things according to His plan. We are created to do His good works:

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (NLT)

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (NKJV)

So, what is the message of Ephesians 2 verse 10? It means God did not create us for inferior works. He created us to do good works. If we wonder what to do in order to do good works, we only need to rely on the Scriptures. The Bible verse in Ephesians confirms that God afore planned these good things in Christ Jesus. All we need to do is to walk in it. That is the core meaning of the message in Ephesians 2 verse 10.

Since these works are already prepared (ready) and good, all we need to do is walk in it and our works will be good. As it is no longer us but Christ in us. If you ever doubt your own capabilities, you can remember this scripture and rely on God’s truth. God’s Word is higher than our thoughts and higher than our doubts. And He is the One who made us perfect in the image of God.

‘Masterpiece’ is our identity in Christ Jesus

As God’s masterwork, it is crucial to know who God says you are, to know your identity in Christ. It is the only way to restore your life and the only way to deal with feeling unworthy, inferior, and a failure. By knowing our identity in Christ (God’s definition of us) we can face our challenges, feelings, and negative self-image.

When we know who we are in Christ, we get strength from God and not from ourselves. We don’t need to be the perfect person. But by receiving strength from God, we will walk in victory, knowing that we are His perfect masterpiece and not a failure. With this attitude, we will succeed in life, because we are perfect in Him.

“but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.”

Daniel 11:32b (NKJV)

To understand you are God’s masterpiece, you must learn to define yourself based on your identity in Christ. When you do a Bible study of Ephesians, you’ll get a very good idea of what your identity in Christ is.

As God’s greatest masterpiece, we can do good works

As Christians, the Spirit of God lives in us. His perfect Spirit lives in us, and we live through Him. Because of this, we can do good works. Moreover, we can do all things. Because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). We can do these good things because of the goodness of God, not because of our own merits.

The verse says ALL things. Not some things, not inferior things, not things we believe we can do, not things others say we can do. We can’t achieve that in our own strength, but by God’s strength in us. Not by our power, but by God’s power. Not by our capabilities, but by God’s capability. By relying on Christ in us, we can do all things.

At the back of your mind, you may hear a whisper, “but what if it is not true?”. God is not a man, that He should lie. There is no shadow of doubt with God and He doesn’t change. This means He will not start lying now. We can trust God on His word; and He is the one who said that we can do all things through Him. So, we can trust that it is true.

YOU are God’s masterpiece!

How can I become God’s masterpiece?

Do we need to do anything to become God’s masterpiece? What is the truth when it comes down to defining yourself? Who or what may define you? You? Your parents? Your neighbor? Your boss? Your spouse? Your friends? Your enemies? Your circumstances?

No! None of these truly define you. You are created in His own image—you are God’s masterpiece. He knew you before you were born and you don’t need to do anything to become His masterpiece. Because God made you in His image, You are God’s handiwork. No human being on planet earth can re-define you, neither can any condition or circumstance.

The truth is: God defines you, and no-one or nothing else. His opinion about you matters and nothing else. He created you. He knew you before you were born and His plans for you are good. As if this is not enough, He also paid the highest price for you: He bought you with the blood of Jesus Christ, His only Son, and made you His own. You are His; you belong to Him. That defines who you are.

God’s definition of you is more important than any other definition of yourself, even if it is your own definition. You must let go of your past and your own thoughts in order to accept God’s definition of you and make it your own. God’s Word prevails over you. It prevails over your own word and any word spoken by anyone else ever, whether in the past, present, or in days to come.

How can we believe we are God’s masterpiece?

Even though the Bible tells us we are God’s greatest masterpiece, we can struggle to truly believe that.

Experiences in our past, things people said to us, the way people treated us, can make us feel inferior, ending up with a low self-esteem. When we always feel inferior, we think we cannot achieve anything and are basically worthless.

The source of this feeling could be because that is what people have told us all our lives. When we hear negative comments over and over, it negatively impacts our self-esteem. Or nobody has ever told us anything to let us feel like a failure, yet we have this strong feeling of incompetency and being unable to accomplish anything. And when we have faced setbacks and made mistakes, it can us give a general feeling of inadequacy.

These feelings can block us from truly believing we are God’s masterwork, His perfect workmanship in Christ. Whenever we find it difficult to believe God’s truth over ourselves, we can remind ourselves that our view and our thoughts are not God’s view and God’s thoughts. And we can read encouraging Bible verses for low self esteem.

God’s view of us and His thoughts about us are higher. When He looks at us, He sees His perfect handiwork. He sees His masterpiece, and not His failure. Even if we see ourselves as failures, God sees perfection.

The proof that you are God’s masterpiece

God created us in His own image, we are God’s greatest masterpiece. Because we are created in the likeness of God, with God’s own hands, God is the best to define our identity. God’s definition of us describes all the facets of His masterful creativity. He blessed us with qualities, strengths, abilities, and gifts. These together makes us His perfect masterpiece.

There are many Bible verses that show the work of beauty we are :

You are blessed (Deuteronomy 28: 3-6; Galatians 3: 9; Ephesians 1: 3)

You are favored (Psalm 5: 12)

You are precious (Isaiah 43: 4; 1 Peter 2: 4)

You are honored (Isaiah 43: 4)

You are wonderfully made (Psalm 139: 14)

You are created in God’s image (Genesis 1: 27)

You are righteous; (Romans 10: 10; II Corinthians 5: 21)

You are a new creation (II Corinthians 5: 17)

You are more than a conqueror (Romans 8: 37)

You are valuable (Matthew 6: 26)

You are treasured (Exodus 19: 5; Deuteronomy 7:6 & 14: 2)

You are precious (Isaiah 43: 4)

You are chosen (Deuteronomy 7:6 & 14: 2; Colossians 3: 12; Ephesians 1: 4, 11; 1 Peter 2: 4)

You are loved (Colossians 3: 12; Galatians 2: 20)

You are accepted (John 6: 37; Ephesians 1: 6)

You are holy (Deuteronomy 7: 6 & 14: 2; Colossians 3: 12)

You can do all things (Philippians 4: 13)

You are a fruit-bearer (John 15: 5)

You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people (1 Peter 2: 9)

You are engrafted into the palm of His hand (Isaiah 49: 16)

You are the head and not the tail (Deuteronomy 28: 13)

You are above and not beneath (Deuteronomy 28: 13)

You are God’s child (Romans 8: 16; Psalm 82: 6; Galatians 3: 26; Galatians 4: 7; 1 John 3: 1-2)

You are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2: 10)

You are the temple of God (I Corinthians 6: 19)

You are complete (Colossians 2: 10)

You are free (John 8: 36; Galatians 3: 13; 5: 1)

You are justified (Romans 5: 1; 8: 1 & 30)

You are free from sin (Romans 6: 6, 22; 8: 2; Acts 13: 39)

You are forgiven (Ephesians 1: 7 & 4: 32a)

God’s marvelous workmanship

Psalms 139, verses 13 to 16, describes perfectly how we were created by a perfect God as His masterpiece. This Bible verse describes how we are a work of beauty, the work of God’s hands.

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

Prayer to embrace being God’s greatest masterpiece

Thank You, Lord, for creating me perfectly, as Your masterpiece. By God’s grace, I am a gift of God. I know I am a child of God and loved by You. You created my inward parts with so much care and love.

I am the work of Your hand, God’s workmanship, and I am Yours. Help me do the good works and good things You prepared for me afore.

Forgive me, Lord, that I have looked down on myself and did not accept my true beauty in You. Purify my heart and my mind, Lord, and let me see who I am in You—a beautiful new creation. Holy Spirit, open my eyes and let me walk in my true identity as God’s masterpiece.

Give me the boldness to reach out to others to tell them, “You are God’s perfect masterpiece, created in God’s own image”. Let me be Your vessel of love and encouragement to the people around me.

In Jesus’ Name. Amen.