“We are God’s Workmanship”

1. Brothers and sisters in Christ, “because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy … [made us His] workmanship” (4-10). We are God’s workmanship. No time is that more apparent in our world than today. On the church calendar, today is the day where we celebrate God’s gift of St. Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist. In the Gospel reading, the Pharisees took offense to Jesus eating with tax collectors and “sinners”. Jesus rebuked them, saying, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). Jesus came to call sinners and remold them. They were molded once in the womb as the prophet Jeremiah reminds us (1:5). But they had the same problem we do—they were molded out of sinful clay. God, as He is the master craftsman of mankind, has molded us in the womb with the same nature that our parents have. Each of us has the same sinful nature. There hasn’t been a time where we’ve not had it. It’s been there since our mothers conceived us. But Jesus came to call sinners. Jesus came so that we might be transformed from sinners into saints. He came to remold us with the original mold—the image of God that was lost in the Garden. He makes us His workmanship. How does He do this? Three ways: He makes us alive, He raises us up and He creates us for good works.

2. God has “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (5). St. Paul echoes this to the church in Rome, “God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8). St. Paul tells the Ephesians, “it is by grace you have been saved” (5). We have been made alive by grace. It was nothing we have done. We were dead in our transgressions. Dead men can’t do anything. We are completely remade by Christ. He takes our dead souls and makes them alive through His grace. We are His workmanship. If He can make despicable wretches like tax collectors and “sinners” alive in His grace, He can make even us alive in His grace. We are God’s workmanship. As God’s workmanship being made alive with Christ, we should do the works of the Spirit. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9). Put into practice the teachings of Christ. That’s the work of the Spirit. We’ll never be perfect. Our sinful nature is still present with its “evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:19). St. Paul talks about this struggle in Romans 7: “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (19). Each of us has this struggle throughout our Christian lives. That’s why those who have been made alive with Christ will “Be joyful always; pray continually; [and] give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18a). This is God’s will for His workmanship that He has made alive in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18b).

3. God has “raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (6). Not only has He made us alive, He has raised us up. He became poor so that He could raise us up (2 Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 2:5-8). He not only raises us up. He sits us at His side in Heaven. As He promised His disciples, “when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). As His saints who have been raised up and seated with Him in judgment, we continue His work in the Great Commission. We are watchmen sent by God to warn this world about their sins (Ezekiel 33:7-9). We proclaim the Word of God to sinners so that they may receive God’s gracious gift of eternal life in Heaven. It is through this Word that sinners are transformed into God’s workmanship. It is this Word which raises us up with Christ. The proclamation of the Law to those who are in need of repentance. The proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for us for those who have been crushed by their sins. The Gospel of Jesus Christ raises us from the pit of our sins and seats us in God’s presence as He comes to His workmanship in Word and Sacrament.

4. God has “created [us] in Christ Jesus to do good works” (10). How has God the master craftsman created us? By grace through faith in Christ Jesus. It is through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus that we receive the forgiveness of our sins. Through our Baptism into Christ’s sacrifice, we have been transformed into God’s workmanship. We have been re-created with the image that man lost in the Garden. We have been created to do good works. By ourselves, there is nothing we can do that is good. It is the Holy Spirit working through us that makes anything we do good. St. Paul, in speaking about the internal war between the flesh and the Spirit, says, “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” because “nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” (Romans 7:18). The Holy Spirit creates that “desire to do what is right”. He also gives us the “ability to carry it out.” This ability is given to us through the Holy Spirit working through us. It is nothing that we generate within ourselves. It may be our talents that are used, but it is the Holy Spirit using them to the glory of God through Christ Jesus. Everything we do should be done to the glory of God because He has made us His workmanship by creating us in Christ Jesus to do good works.

5. Did you notice the major theme in each statement? He makes us alive. He raises us up. He creates us. We’re the OBJECTS of the verbs. God is the subject. Nothing that has been done for us is related to anything we have done. Everything is related to what Christ has done for us. St. Paul expressly forbids any type of boasting in our own work when he tells the Philippians: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift from God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (8-9). We have done nothing to become God’s workmanship. He has done everything for us by grace. We are merely the recipients of that grace through the faith in His Son Jesus Christ who has made us God’s workmanship through His sacrifice on the Cross for our sins. Amen.