We are His workmanship.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

This is a very wonderful verse that is most often overshadowed by the two verses preceding it, and that is a shame. There are three wonderful points made in this one verse, (1.) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, (2.) created in Christ Jesus unto good works, (3.) which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. All three of these points have a very glorious sovereign grace message to them that certainly should not be over looked but rather studied very deeply.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” The two main words here are “workmanship” – which means thing that is made, and “created” – which means the idea of the proprietorship of the manufacturer. With this being said we could read this part of verse 10 this way “for we are His creation and we were manufactured by God through the redemption of Jesus Christ His beloved Son. The reason so many today choose to over look or improperly define this verse is because it gives God all credit in mans salvation, and that is where it belongs. God is the very one who caused us to come to know Jesus Christ as our Saviour and therefore as believers we are His creation and not a creation of our own. We did not choose or cause our salvation to come about because the scripture is clear that we are manufactured Christians by the power of God in His dear Son. Also we need to recognize that the old creature was not recycled but rather we were made new in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” God could not use the old nature because it was totally depraved therefore He blessed us with a new one created by Him just for us.

“Created in Christ Jesus unto good works,” God not only made us anew in Christ Jesus but also manufactured us unto good works or for a purpose. God saved us all for a purpose to be used at His pleasure. Please remember by being the manufacture we are His to do as He pleases. It reminds us of a fabricator who takes a sheet of metal and makes something wonderful that he may use for his own pleasure or sell it and make more, God certainly does not want to sell His creation but rather chooses to use them as He wills. I think this is a good example; God saved a sinner and calls him into the ministry and then chooses to call him to pastor a church, God has just manufactured a Christian and a pastor at His own pleasure. He man use another sinner that has been manufactured as a song leader, prayer warrior, or maybe a Deacon, but whatever he is he is a creation of God for His own will. Isaiah 43:21 “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.”

“Which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” The word “ordained” means to fit up in advance or to prepare afore. The word afore allows us to understand this was all done before, but before what? John 15:16 “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” We were created before the foundation of the world to be whatever God had chosen us to be. Only in due time was God’s will brought about and also by Him and not by our choosing.