God's Workmanship

One thing I relish is the completion of a job done well.  I have caught myself, on a number of occasions, going back to look over a project around the house that finally was finished.  I went out of my way to feast my eyes on my handiwork, drinking in the satisfaction of a completed work.  There were plenty of times I would rather not look at a finished job that was sub-standard.  "Don't look too hard," I've thought to myself or told others.  Sometimes it is better a task be finished than wait for perfection and never complete it.

I have found a similar inclination in myself when I have acquired something I considered valuable.  In preparation to propose to my future wife I bought a ring.  Occasionally I would open the box and look at the ring--as if I had forgotten what it looked like.  It was amazing to finally have the special item in my possession with a plan in mind to gift it to the woman I loved and wanted to marry.  After our marriage we had children together, and seeing our children born into the world was a delightful novelty.  We looked at one another and our children with wonder, grateful to God for making us parents.

When God created the heavens, the earth and all that is in them, God looked upon what He made and saw that it was good.  He did not bask in proud self-adulation but acknowledged everything He created was exactly as it should be.  He literally thought of everything and perfectly implemented His designs.  Man's sinful rebellion sullied God's beautiful world, yet God is a Redeemer and Saviour.  When it comes to being born again by faith in Jesus, I am reminded of 2 Corinthians 5:17:  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."  Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10 that we are God's workmanship, and we are made new through the Gospel.  He looks upon us with delight and joy like a father does his newborn baby--because He IS our heavenly Father.  Because God makes all things new and renews us day by day, this season of newness and novelty never wears off.

Paul also wrote in Philippians 1:6 of believers:  "...being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ..."  Some people are able to look at a rusted-out car and see it how it will look in a restored state, and the thought compels them to tirelessly labour toward that end.  Another person sees in a dilapidated, derelict house a dream home for themselves and their family.  Because God sees our lives from an eternal perspective, He views us as who we are in Christ:  we are complete in Him.  During our lives on earth, God continues to refine His beloved children in faith, wisdom and character to be like Jesus.  It is an amazing to consider God looks upon us with delight as a father over a newborn child and the satisfaction of a master builder drinking in the sight of a job well done.  We never grow old to Him because He makes all things new.