Handiwork

             For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

 

            But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (II Corinthians 12:9)

 

            The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. (Deuteronomy 7:7)

 

           The rest of the passages in the New Testament dealing with the kingdom of God seem to repeat the ideas of those we have considered, so today I’m using Biblegateway.com’s verse of the day as the lead in today’s meditation. Sometimes, when we read or recite this verse from Ephesians, we elevate handiwork to the level of a masterpiece. I checked the Greek word we translate handiwork and it can be used in terms of God’s creation or miracles. But it can also be used as the normal growth of a plant or the outcome of an assembly line. My Greek interlinear translation uses the term “product.” While we can point to this verse and claim to be a miracle or a masterpiece, the term equally refers to stuff of a less impressive nature.

            I know someone who complained to me about the Jews, wanting to know what was so special about them that God chose them. Why couldn’t He have chosen some other group, like the Brits? I pointed out that if He had chosen the Brits, they would have become the Jews. It wasn’t that there was anything special about them. They became special because He picked them. It’s the same with us. He didn’t choose us because we were shining examples of all things perfect. He chose us because we weren’t.  God made that clear all the way back in Deuteronomy. This is not to suggest that we do everything in our power to show what pitiful wretches we are, because that still puts the spotlight on ourselves.

            The ”great thing” that God calls us to do is trust Him and if you’ve tried, you know how hard that can be. We want to step in and fix things, to tell God what need to be done and how to do it. Someone who trusts God is a champion. Someone who does it himself, no matter how impressive the thing is, has failed. We are the handiwork by which He reveals Himself.