Christian Men God's Workmanship.
I. The special infirmities of men vary. The fault of our nature assumes a thousand forms, but no one is free from it. I look back to the ancient moralists, to Plato, and to Seneca, and to Marcus Antoninus, and I find that they are my brethren in calamity. The circumstances of man have changed, but man remains the same. How are we to escape from the general, the universal, doom? We want to remain ourselves and yet to live a life which seems impossible unless we can cease to be ourselves. It is a dreadful paradox, but some of us know that this is the exact expression of a dumb discontent which lies at the very heart of our moral being. Is there any solution? Paul tells us what the solution is: Christian men are "God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus."
II. "We are God's workmanship." The branch is in the vine, though as yet the leaf has hardly escaped from its sheath, and the flower is only timidly opening itself to the sun and air. The Divine idea is moving towards its crowning perfection. Never let us forget that the life which has come to us is an immortal life. At best we are but seedlings on this side of death. We are not yet planted out under the open heavens and in the soil which is to be our eternal home. Here in this world the life we have received in our new creation has neither time nor space to reveal the infinite wealth of its resources; you must wait for the world to come to see the noble trees of righteousness fling out their mighty branches to the sky and clothe themselves in the glorious beauty of their immortal foliage. And yet the history of Christendom contains the proof that even here a new and alien life has begun to show itself among mankind. A new type of character has been created. Christ lives on in those whose lives are rooted in Him.
R. W. Dale, Lectures on the Ephesians,p. 185.
The Heavenly Workman.
"We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." It is true that we do not improve ourselves; it is all of grace; yet good works are binding upon us all the more. On the other hand, let us not take credit to ourselves. We should never have come into the workshop but for the heavenly Artist.
I. A great difference in the material. It is useless to say that all men are equal. We are not all born alike. From the fault or misfortune of our progenitors, we may start in the race with heavy burdens that we cannot shake off. Besides, we differ in both physical and mental constitution. Let it be understood that the Great Workman does not expect the same results from every kind of material. There is one thing He expects from all and something He has a right to expect, and that is what all can do: we must love God. Let us be charitable with each other, for all the material in God's workshop comes there to be beautiful. This thought will help me to bear with my fellow-Christian, because I know that he will be improved before he leaves, and it will teach me to be modest, inasmuch as I should not be there if I were perfect. God is the almighty Artist. Other artists are limited, if in nothing else, certainly in time, but not so with Him who is at work upon us; and whatever God touches He ennobles.
II. It is well for us to have confidence in the Workman. God means to make us that which He can contemplate with delight, and we may be sure that every improvement in us brings Him enjoyment. "He taketh pleasure in the work of His hands." Confidence in the Workman will give us patience when He seems long.
III. We must not forget that the Workman has a plan. God knows all, and knows the precise bearing of each event on our lives. If we look back, we may often see that God has been working all along in harmony with one idea. (1) The variety of tools. What are the so-called means of grace but tools in the hand of the Great Workman? What are preachers but God's chisels and hammers? Books, too, are tools. How much the Great Workman has accomplished by the press. The finest work is often done by those sharp-edged chisels called Pain and Bereavement. How many of us are to be made perfect by suffering. (2) Will the work ever be completed? Not in this world, certainly. One thing is apparent: we shall begin in heaven where we leave off in this world.
T. Champness, New Coins from Old Gold,p. 79.
References: Ephesians 2:10. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxxi., No. 1829; C. Marshall, Church of England Pulpit,vol. v., p. 65; J. Vaughan, Sermons,6th series, p. 125; E. M. Goulburn, Thoughts on Personal Religion,p. 181.