We Are God’s Workmanship | Ephesians 2:1-10

You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Hey, everybody, Merry Christmas, Christmas. We are super excited that we are actually filming a Bible Guys on Christmas Day. That's right. We left our families. Yes, we don't even know what they're doing right now. We left our families and we just shot over here so we can shoot this because this is the same outfit we were the last three days. This is live, folks. This is Christmas Morning. It's not no, it's not it's not no. In fact, this is what two weeks what's today Christmas? It is the eleventh right, Okay, I'm just letting people know, right, So we shoot a couple weeks in evand sometimes we shoot five or six weeks in the van. Sometimes it's sometimes yeah, really closer. But here we are. Yeah. So Merry Christmas, everybody, and thank you for listening. And today we are are going to get to Ephesians. But before we do, Desiree simply has written this Merry Christmas. Let's take some time this morning to share some of your favorite Christmas traditions or funny stories. Yes, and I can only imagine Chris with your wild brothers. Yes, some of the most amazing Christmas stories ever. Yeah. Well, I'd just share one with you and had you crying it was so funny. Yeah, but it's not a shareable story. It's not a shareable story. So my brothers were definitely wild. Yes, But how hard did you just laugh at that story? Yeah? Yeah, I just I was laughing as we were rolling into the story. Yeah. So I can't share that story, but I. Will stop Chris and the lobby and ask him to tell you the story. No, No, I cannot share it. It is a non shareable story. So hey, but I will say this. I remember my mom before I was born, sharing that Chris. On Christmas morning, my two oldest brothers, Chucky and Donnie, who were very young at the time up and they were probably like six and seven or eight eight seven or eight something like that, and they got up at like five in the morning, came down, looked at all their Christmas presents before my mom and dad woke up, and somehow they put on their goloshes because it was you know, like two feet of snow outside. And I don't know why, but for some reason, they went outside in their pajamas with their galoshes on, you know the boots that go over rubber boots, and they went inside the car and started beeping the horn. To wake everybody up. And they were trying to wake mom and dad up. But no, you know, but they were like waking up. Mister Missus Polaccas. Neighbor. Were your neighbors? Their last name was Pelaccus, mister and missus Placus. Yes, no way, yes, dude, you need to make a movie just of your family. I know, I know, but what a great movie neighbor name? Yes, yes, yes, that's great. But anyway, but that then, my mom was standing by the door and you know, she didn't have any boots or anything like that. So she's trying to yell at them and she's like, what's going on. It's five in the. Morning, and she goes get back in here and they were just hoodlies, She'll be like. And so she had to literally like go back in her room, find boots, run back out there, and her little you know whatever they call those things. My mom used to wear a lot of those. It's just like an overnight they call them something. Yeah moos, Yes, my mom had momoz and so she went out in her moo moove and grabbed Chucky and Donny and. Drug them back in the house. Yeah. Us, And that's just one of many stories, many crazy Christs. That was Christmas morning. Yeah wow? So uh, you guys really did? I mean, you've heard the joke before, but fun, you guys put the fun and dysfunctional. But I think that the Tzar Bab boys did. Yes, right, that's its next level insanity. Yes, in your house. Nobody can compete. I don't think anybody. I don't think anybody compete. I think that you know, Brian Reagan has the funny joke about you know, the fourteen men who walked on the moon. They win every party, yes, right, every time somebody starts telling the story. They just wait around until everybody's done bragging, and then they finally go I walk down the moon, right right right. And I think when it comes to dysfunctional families, I think you're the one that can just wait around, let everybody talk about how dysfunctional their family was and how insane their family was. Just tell you. Did I say I walked on the moon? Except you could do it with just the insane brothers. Your brothers were nuts, they were super Are they still kind of crazy? My? Uh? Yes? And no did they ever get house broken? The answers, no, they're not crazy. They don't do crazy things anymore, but they I think I think the legend lives on in my cut or my nephews and and things like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. In fact, the brothers were such a legacy, uh that. You know, they were famous also for getting in fights, which is not a good thing, right, But I remember my brother, uh, my brother, uh Donnie, who is very famous for you know, getting in bar fights and such. One day he got into a fight with some lawyer guy in a in a I think. It was that's always a good idea, Donny. I think it was a bar. But anyway, but my but his son, which was my nephew, uh jumped in and uh uh fought just because he wanted to live up to the to Donnie's name. And I'm not kidding when I say this. It made the front page of the Vindicator, of the of the paper and guess what. Guess what the headline said, like father like son, you're kidding no, And it had and it had a write up on little Donnie who got in this bar fight, who was like Donnie. Yeah. Wow, And that was the front page. Headline, like father, like son. It's nuts of the Vindicator. No, I could, I could be wrong, but I'm That's what I remember my mom telling me. I'm almost positive that's true. So I promise you, uh my, my Christmas memories are exactly the opposite. Wow, like my Christmas memories as a kid. You know, we didn't have a lot of money, but we had a big family. I've got six older sisters, I've got three younger brothers, aunts and uncles and all that stuff. Our house was eight hundred and forty square feet, the house I grew up in, and we would have everybody over at one time. Wow, everybody ever. Forty square feet is not. Yeah, and we would just everybody and it was just food and loud and you know, all that kind of stuff. But quaint story, no, no, no, none of those things. And then as as we grew up, you know, my mom and dad built another house, and so the family parties kind of centered around their other house and it was bigger, quite a bit bigger. And uh, after after dinner, after the presents are open and everybody's calmed down, usually my dad's watching football or something, you know. And then usually in the evening, then everybody gathers around the people that are you know, my mom doesn't make everybody do everything, but usually the ones that were up for it. Everybody's gonna play some board games or some table usually table games, and uh like a ultimate werewolf for one of those, and just uh, it's kind of loud and rowdy and laughing that kind of thing, but not insane. You guys are insane. We're just laughing and having fun. You guys were yeah yeah yeah. Well there's some outlandis burn down the village. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah crazy yeah yeah. Well well hey that that those are guys who're really living life. That's right. You were alive, but it wasn't the abundant life that Jesus talked about. Yes, And in Ephesians chapter two it talks about how we're made alive with Christ. Oh, that's where you were going. I sort of mixed the Bible verses in their reg threw you off. No, no, no, So in Ephesians chapter two, and that's where we're at today. We should move on. Before Chris tells us some really bad stories. It says this in Ephesians two. Verse one says, once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. Merry Christmas, by the way, Married Christmas. Right right? Yeah, Hey, don't you chooseays You used to live in sin? Is what it says. Merry Christmas. This say is just by just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil, the commander of the powers and the unseen world. He's the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. And all of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature, we are subject to God's anger just like everyone else. Merry Christmas once again. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. It's only by God's grace that you've been saved, for he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms. Because we are united with Christ Jesus, so God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed, and you can't take credit for this. It's a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we've done. So none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. Isn't that awesome? Yeah, it's great. And by the way, two podcasts ago, we sort of made the joke because we said we really didn't talk about the Philippians' main highlighted verse, He who has begun a good work in you is faithful to complete it. Right, We didn't even really talk about it. We talked about a lot of things, but we didn't really talk about that. So let's make sure that we actually we're going to get to it right here highlighted verse. We are God's masterpiece. Yes, we are God's masterpiece, for he has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us a long time ago. So means for the purpose of right, That's what that little Greek word means. So he's saying that he created us a new and he created as a masterpiece for the purpose of doing the good deeds that he had planned and set up for us a long time ago. So it's great. It's an indication of God's intentionality. Right. So God has made you as a masterpiece. It's a work of art. It literally means a work of art. So you know, we often look in the mirror and we see all of our flaws, right, We see, you know, our wrinkles, We see you know that our nose is too big, or our eyes are crooked, and you know, nobody else really sees that in us, but we see all of our worst parts of our crooked Yeah, everybody's eyes are crooked. Well mine, I broke my skull right here. Oh and so this eye is that. Like a boxing thing? No, it was I was horsing around, so I got like ten uh fractures in my head. But yeah, you see that. It doesn't really even even as you're saying, I don't really see it. This eye is substantially lower than this eye. Yeah let me okay, all right, I can I can maybe see it. Yeah, but I don't think anybody would ever notice. Well yeah, now they Yeah. But it happens, right, you notice your flaws? Yeah, you bro, you do. And I think that also happens when it comes to uh, like, you know, think about the best person that you can think of. Oh, this person is such a great person, They're such a great role model, they are just a genuinely great person. But walk up to that person and say, what do you think of yourself? They won't think that. They won't they'll think of their own flaws and they'll say, well, you don't really know me. And some of that is warranted, right, because you know, we have we have inner thoughts. We have you know, sometimes you know, sinful thoughts. We have things that we won't don't want to admit to people. So some of that's warranted. But for the most. Part, we don't see ourselves as God's masterpiece, is my point? Right. God creates us as a work of art, and he says, I made you beautifully. You say no, no, no, I'm made horribly. No you're not. You're made beautiful. God God designed you and more specifically, He designed you on purpose to use you to do all the great things that He wants to do in you and through you. Right, So it's part of God's intentionality to say he has placed you where you are at for a reason. Right. So we did a sermon a long time ago. Remember three years ago where you grabbed a bat and you smashed the mailbox. Yeah, remember that. Make a dent where you're sent. Make a dent where you're sent. And it's the idea is to make an impact where God has placed you. Right, make a dent where your sent means to make an impact, which means God has designed you, He's gifted you, He's created you to actually make an impact exactly where you are, whether you're a single mom and whether you're an influencer in the home, or whether you're in a cubicle somewhere right or maybe perhaps in the neighborhood having influence over your neighbors in a community, wherever it is. Just know that God created you as a masterpiece to do great things where He's placed you. If you've been created a new in Christ Jesus. Well as a Christian right rights in Christ. So we are not naturally on our own spectacular. We are spectacular in the fact that He made us new in Christ, because that's why he talks about the beginning. The beginning is you were dead in your sins, right and and death is not a masterpiece. Right. Death is the decay and destruction of everything happened to that, right is it's it's the it's the decay of everything that was good. And then he says, you were dead in your sins. And it's interesting because a lot of times we think all those good old days, those were wild days. I was just sowing my wild oats or whatever. And God goes, no, you were walking in death. That's that's what you're doing. And we need to in order to really appreciate the masterpiece God's creating, we need to just acknowledge that was a life of death. Maybe I have a few fond memories of it, but the reality is before Christ, I was just dead. And then Christ made me a new And so then the pivot is that he makes us new when we were reunited with Christ. And you're like, well, how does that happen? And then that's that verse eight, for God saved you by his grace when you believed God's graces, He gives you what you don't deserve. He saves you from this, this this existence of death when you believed. That's a faith moment, when you place your faith in him. God gives you what you don't deserve, and he resks, rescues you, and he says, and you can't take credit for this, it's a gift from God. Hey, we're giving gifts today, right, somebody probably gave you a gift today, or you gave a gift to somebody during this season. And God's whole plan has always been you can't earn it. Let me just give you this relationship with me, let me raise you from spiritual death, and let me turn you into a masterpiece. And that's just my gift to you. Right. It's God just being good to us. Yeah, he's giving us graces, He's giving us what we don't deserve. Yeah. And then also it says God's rich and mercy, which means the flip side of that coin is he's not giving us what we do deserve, right, which is judgment for our sins. That's right, right, it's punishment. So the verse four, God is so rich in mercy, yes, and he loves us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life. Yeah, it's and it's only by God's grace that you've been saved. So I always liked a couple those two. Right, So mercy saves us and spares us, and grace favors us. So Grace is giving us favor like it says that God views us as if we've never sinned. Now, I literally you mentioned something ag'ins your Rose Memorial and I told Dave Wilson last night about it, and I couldn't even say it without crying. It was so unbelievable. The word picture is so unbelievable. You had said, imagine you're in heaven, and you said your heavenly father is looking at Jesus, and. It's let me, let me, let me read it. Read it. Oh yeah, read it, dude, I'm telling you I was. I was trying to quote it and I started to cry, and then Wilson's like me, right. Yeah, so he's crying. So here we are both crying, and I haven't. Even told him what it is yet, right because it's just a beautiful picture. But it's exactly what this means. Right of this verse because God views you as if you have never sinned. That's what God's grace is. Grace is God's favor. It's unmerited favor with God. Right. So I heard Jim Bergen make a statement like this, and then I've just run with this and it's just and I heard him mention it rate before all this happened. Yeah, So it was like God, you know how sometimes God will give you a thing before you need the thing, you didn't realize it. So I heard Jim mention this idea briefly, like I'm saying, like three sentences, and then it just so. Imagine God the Father looking into the face of Jesus. This is the picture of grace, right that I want you to carry with you the rest of your life. Imagine God the looking into the face of Jesus. There's perfect love and perfect joy, perfect righteousness. There's no disappointment, no hesitation, no frustration, just pure delight in his son. And I said, this is the smile of Heaven. This is the pleasure of God in its fullest, purest expression. And now imagine, you know, God's looking at his son with just pure delight. And then imagine Jesus gently stepping to the side, and God turns his gaze toward you. And here's the miracle of the Gospel. His expression does not change, not even a little. It's the same delight, the same joy, the same love, the same approval he has for his own son he now has for you in Christ, not because you earned it, not because you lived flawlessly, not because you never struggled, but because when God looks at you, he sees you wrapped in the righteousness of Jesus. That's it. It is a. That is an emotional truth for a lot of people, and they find that hard. To believe about themselves. Right. I know plenty of people we don't feel like that would say that, would say not me right, right. And by the way, these people aren't bad people. They just would say, there's no way that could be true of me. And and I think that's human nature. I think that we all have those thoughts. You know, Do you ever make a promise and then fail on that promise? You know? I you know, I remember specifically a particular promise when I was young. I kept on saying to God, I promise, I promise, I promise, and I kept on breaking that promise over and over and over and over again, and after a while you're like, O wretched man that I am. Right, It's like, what kind of person am I here? And I think that some people they've struggled for sometimes decades, especially with things like addiction. Yeah right, you know, you know, I think of the people in celebrate recovery. I think of the people who who just just say I just can't seem to overcome. We're all recovering from something, right, It's just the people in recovery programs are being honest about it, that's right, right. We all have hurts or habits or hang ups, and so we feel guilty going there's no way I deserve it. And I think we all have this fear that when we stand in front of God, he's going to be embarrassed about us because we're embarrassed about us, right right, and he's not. He's not. So I just know that that is a truth that is true for every person who is in Christ. And just like you pointed out, it's the prerequisite, right, So those who are in Christ, just know that you're you're you know that which He has placed in you his spirit, his power that becomes alive when you trust Christ as your savior, right when you when you decide to cross over to the line of faith, when you when you become a child of God, when you become adopted into His family. Because what does Paul say, Nothing, there's nothing good in me outside of Christ. Right, Salvation is not a reward for the good things we've done. That's what none of us can boast about it. Yeah, for sure, So I think that it's just a great it's a great truth being made alive in Christ. That's the heading. What a gift? And so we gave gifts today? You know, we we think we give gifts because the wise men gave gifts, But we give gifts because God so loved the world that he gave. That's right. That's why we give. Right, is that we're reflecting the image and the generosity and the kindness of God just a little bit to our families. And so make sure that you talk to them. The reason why we give is because God gave. Hey, real quick, I know that we're approaching our time. Did I ever tell you that Billy Graham gave a whole forty five minutes sermon on one version on three sixteen? Did I ever tell you that I've heard HM preach on three sixteen before. Yeah, have you. So I went to the Georgia Dome, Georgia, Georgia, Atlanta Doome. What's it called, Georgia Dome. Yeah, Georgia do. It's like sixty thousand people. And I remember going there in nineteen ninety six and Eminem was the guest artist. And uh and uh, no, I'm sorry, d C Talk. I saw Eminem. I saw Eminem in that Georgia Dome. Oh, yeah, that's so funny. No, it was. It was. It was the talk and uh and it was Toby Mack and I remember Billy Graham gets up and I remember thinking, Oh, this is gonna be good. This is gonna be good. He gave one verse and he talked forty five minutes on it, and he said, for God, the greatest giver, so loved the greatest motivation the world, the greatest recipient or whatever us. And he said that he gave you know, the greatest most you know, the greatest notion. He gave his only son, the greatest gift, so that whosoever the greatest invitation believes the greatest. Active faith, you know. And he went and all he did was. Just break it down, verse by verse for God's word by word, you know. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And then it ended with the greatest reward, the greatest eternal benefits. Right, but he he talked about every verse being the supreme, greatest of all things, is the greatest verse in the Bible that carries with it the greatest promise, the greatest invitation, the greatest reward. And you know what we. Should we should we should rework that message. Oh dude, I still remember it. We should preach it in the state. I'm literally quoting it because I remembered it. It stuck out to me and I thought, wow, you know, people who say they have to have the people who say they have to have quantity of verses, it's not always true. That's great, ye. So anyway, hey, that seems to be our time. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. I gave you the gift of a new life, and you're his masterpiece. Right, He's not a shamed of you, He's thrilled by you. That's awesome. Uh, to do the great things that He has planned for you, So we will see you hopefully tomorrow post Christmas on the Bible, guys,