8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 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.
God’s Masterpiece
I wont focus in on the first part of this passage, since it was the primary topic in our look at Romans. Instead, I want to zero in on verse ten. We are God’s masterpiece.
How incredible is that? Notice it doesn’t say we are something God put together. We are something that God came up with during a weak moment. It doesn’t say, “God created this incredible planet, with all the beauty found within it, and then took whatever was remaining and created humanity.”
We’re his masterpiece.
I can still picture standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon as the sun set. It was one of the most incredible, beautiful images I’ve even taken in. Word simply do not do it justice. It was that stunningly beautiful. The setting sun cast incredible colours on the rock, and I watched as the shadows played with the view, causing the scene to change every minute. Every person standing there was in complete silence. When darkness finally came, we still stood in silence, in awe of what we had just witnessed.
Could anything be more incredible than that view?
Well, yes. You are. I am. We are. As amazing as a sunset at the Grand Canyon is, it’s not God’s masterpiece. We are.
According to the dictionary, a masterpiece is “a person’s greatest piece of work.” When you consider an artist, his masterpiece is that one thing that stands above everything else he’s created. And that is what we are. We, humanity, stand above all else that God has created.
Let that sink in. As I stood and watched the beauty of that sunset, I whispered to God, “Lord, it’s incredible.” My focus was on what I was seeing, but if I had been listening, I would have heard God respond, “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. But Rob, look around at the people who are watching it. They are my proudest creation. Do you see those people the way I see them?”
What if we started seeing others as God’s masterpiece. The politician you like to criticize, the guy who cut you off on the highway, the homeless person sitting on the sidewalk every day. What if you saw each of them as a masterpiece? Would you respond differently? What if you looked in the mirror, and instead of seeing everything you don’t like about the person looking back, you saw a masterpiece created by God?
It’s just a thought.
My prayer: Lord, I know that I don’t see myself the way you see me. I know I don’t see others the way you see them. Too often, I see the things I don’t like. I criticize. I get frustrated with others. Help me to see the masterpiece that you have created. Not so that we become proud or arrogant, after all, it’s the artist who takes credit for the way the artwork turns out. You are the one who can boast at your creation, not us. But still, help me see myself and others the way you do. Amen.
Until tomorrow.
