For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 (ASV)
We are God’s workmanship. Whether we are white, brown, black, yellow or red – we are God’s workmanship. Whether we were born in a perfect body or an imperfect body, with a perfect mind or a mind that few can break through to, we are God’s workmanship. We were created for a purpose and a call within the specific parameters of our birth, we were not born by accident, we were not shaped by a curse, we are all God’s workmanship.
Psalm 139:13-14 states clearly: “For thou didst form my inward parts: Thou didst cover me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks unto thee; For I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.” God knew us before the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9). He knew the hour we would be born, the challenges we would face and the path that He set before us. He (God) created us in His image, male and female both (Genesis 1:27), no man can take away that image for it is God created (Genesis 9:6). He predestined us to be who we would be, foreordained to a call, conformed to the image of His Son (Acts 1:8). In fact in Romans 8:30 God states: “Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.”
So how can that be?? Can we believe that ALL are created in His image, regardless of physical and mental abilities? Are we to believe that all races and creeds and colors are made in His image? ALL? Romans 8:28 states: “And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to His purpose.” In 2 Timothy 1:9 it says that these perfect gifts were given to us “in Christ Jesus before times eternal.”
What is His Image? How can every person, every living human being, be made in His Image? The answers come in the scriptures themselves. The Image of God is not the outward appearance, it is the Spirit, the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). “The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7 KJV).
God formed Jesus and gave Him the looks of an average man for a reason. “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2). God did not want people to follow Jesus because of his outward appearance, for it is only temporal. God wanted people to feel the depth of Jesus through His Spirit, His Soul. He was of “no reputation” (Philippians 2:5-11). Paul states that we should not look on the “outward appearance” as we can be deceived by charismatic leaders. But we are to look for Christ’s attributes (2 Corinthians 10:7).
To be in God’s Image we must emulate His behaviors and patterns. Jesus stated that we will receive the “Power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,” then we would be able to take the gospel to the world (Acts 1:8). Once we have the “power,” we will be able to do “greater works” than Jesus did when He walked the earth (John 14:12). To get there Jesus shows us that we must learn to pray, pray until you hear from Father God (Romans 15:30; 1 Philippians 1:19; Colossians 1:3; Matthew 6:6; Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 18:1-8). We are to pray in groups for strength in prayers (Deuteronomy 26:7-8; Isaiah 56:7; II Chronicles 7:14), but there are also times that we are to pray in solitude, a simple time of relationship with Father God (Matthew 6:5; Matthew 14:23). The power through prayer is given to those who commit their lives to following Christ and receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, at that point their faith and their understanding begins to grown (Matthew 11:25-26).
To be seen in the Image of God, we must walk in the fruits of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25), we must walk in the fruits of His Righteousness (Ephesians 5:9; James 3:18; Philippians 1:11), we must walk in the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13), and in the Fruit of Holiness (Romans 6:22). Then we will honor God with the fruit of our lips (Hebrews 13:15), speaking to Him and listening to Him through the gift of relationship through prayer.
We walk daily in His Image. How clearly He is seen in us depends upon our decision to be more like Him. Jesus was “attractive” not because of His outward appearance, but because of the love, peace, gifts and fruits that shown through Him. The people could look into His eyes and see the Spirit of God. We are made in His image, but we make the decision on how much of God we want to look like. Hallelujah! Will you share “Christ in You, the Hope of Glory” (Colossians 1:27)? Will you humbly and powerfully show that you are made in the Image of God? Will you be an excellent example of the Workmanship of God?
**A Journey Through Ephesians – Chapter 2, Part 5
Written by Linda J. Humes
12-28-2014
Linda J. Humes 