I am fascinated with the Mona Lisa. I have had the opportunity to see her twice in person. Each time I stood in line at the Louvre, I was jumpy with anticipation. She’s a masterpiece, and she’s so mysterious. Who was she? Why did Da Vinci choose her as his subject?
Ephesians 2:10 tells us of a much more significant work of art, though. It says,
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
According to God, we are that work of art – His workmanship. In the Greek language, the term “workmanship” always refers to a created work, and it has an exalted meaning. We’re not just any workmanship or handiwork but a magnificent one. For example, think of a poem. Here’s one that my sister used to say to me when we were children: “Pink. Pink. You stink.” That’s a poem – not a very good (or nice one!) – but it’s a poem. Compare it to a Shakespearean sonnet. Both are poems, but only one is a masterpiece. We are His workmanship – not of the ordinary sort – but His masterpiece! We are that sort of created work because God’s handwork is seen in what He did for us “in Christ Jesus.” We are chosen, adopted, redeemed, forgiven. We were once dead but now live – that’s God’s workmanship in us!
Look back at the verse again. Read the rest of it. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” What did God create us to do? To do the good works that He planned before the creation of the world that they would become our way of life. Why? It gives Him glory (read Ephesians 1). People see what He is like.
Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 5:16,“…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” The good He has designed for us to do is meant to show people who He is. For example, Jesus also tells us in Luke 6 that when we’re kind, forgiving, and merciful, we show ourselves to be children of the Most High. Doing the good work God wants us to do is the way of the disciple-maker. We show people what Jesus is like. Invite them to follow Him. And, once they do, show them how in such a way that they do that for someone else—Created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life (NRSV).
We don’t know who the Mona Lisa is. We know who we are, though. We don’t know Da Vinci or why he created her. But, we know God and what He created us to do. Let’s do it together.