What does the word ‘workmanship’ conjure up in your thinking? Ephesians 2:10 in the King James states that followers of Jesus are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus. That statement comes on the heels of the tremendous cost of man’s redemption displayed via the grace of God. Have you ever heard of the Sydney Opera House on this theme of extraordinary grace? What was once termed Australia’s most significant “mistakes” was later hailed as its greatest—although costly—masterpiece of workmanship. This is the Sydney Opera House. The original cost estimate announced in 1957 was $7.2 million. The final cost in 1973 reached $110 million. Concerning this unique structure, the state premier of New South Wales said: “The cost has become a secondary consideration to the perfection of the achievement.” ¹ The point? The creation of a masterpiece is never a cheap affair. They are costly, precious, and treasured. Why It’s Vital to See Yourself as God’s High-Powered Creative Workmanship, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

Commit yourself today to excellence in your workmanship. Whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability. Start this year out with that resolve.

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome via the witness of our lips (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
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Question: What other areas have you found which helped you to become more open to the will of God? Please share this in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

You can find additional information on the subject of the will of God in the resources listed below.

1. How Do I Find My Place in God?

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 35 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

You Are God’s Workmanship

Ephesians 2:8–10 (ESV) — 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

• The word that we need to focus on in this passage is ‘workmanship,’ and with that thought, here’s the Definition of the Day.
• The word ‘workmanship’ means that which is made, work, creation, only of the works of divine creation²
• Let me ask you something: Do you take pride in your work?
• Are you one of those who strive for and enjoy ‘things that are done well?’
• Your heavenly Father is that way.
• Do you remember the Creation account in Genesis one?
• After six days of work, this is what the Lord’s response was.

Genesis 1:31 (ESV) — 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

• God looked back on His ‘workmanship’ and said, ‘You know what, this is exceptionally good – this is a good job.’
• It is okay to examine your work for signs of excellence. — it’s even right to do –
• There is something about excellence that thrills the heart.
• People enjoy being around excellent organizations.
• They like to engage excellent people.
• What makes for excellence?
• How do we know when we have arrived at that attractive condition?
• Excellence is a definable commodity.
• According to Wikipedia, it is a talent or quality that is unusually good and surpasses ordinary standards.
• It is a continuously moving target that can be pursued through integrity, uninterrupted learning, and improvement.
• God’s workmanship is of excellent quality.
• Excellence is doing things well.
• One person said it is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.
• Excellence is best described as doing the right things right
• It’s selecting the most important things to be done and then accomplishing them 100 percent correctly.
• It is the opposite of doing mediocre things.
• When the Lord redeemed you from your ginormous mess created by Adam’s transgression, He did so in an excellent fashion.
• God displaying His grace by sending Jesus was a masterstroke of exceptional planning.
• Aristotle, who lived 300 years before Jesus walked the earth and was a teacher of Alexander the Great, said the following, and with that thought, here is the Quote of the Day.

Excellence is an art won by training and habit… We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

• But in one sense, and we do mean any disrespect to Aristotle, God has something to say about excellence.
• Who is better qualified than God to speak to this issue?

God’s Workmanship Is Excellent.

Exodus 15:7 (ESV) — 7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. God used His power in an excellent fashion overthrowing the Egyptians in the Red Sea.

• If you don’t think God’s power was excellent, ask Charlton Heston, he was there!
• I mean, when you think of the splitting of the Red Sea, do you marvel at that?
• Don’t you think God did that well?
• Do you think that His power displayed in this case was exceptional work?
• People still talk about what God did to Pharaoh’s army to this very day.

Job 37:23 (ESV) — 23 The Almighty—we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.

• His power is of excellent workmanship; when He uses it, He uses it well.
• His judgment and consequent justice are of the same caliber – simply marvelous.
• Everything God does, He does well.
• He does it the best, the absolute best that a thing can be done.
• Think of the Bible in the same way.
• The Lord inspired the Word.
• Did He do excellent work when He brought the scriptures into written form?
• Holy men of God wrote as the Spirit of God moved upon them.

2 Peter 1:21 (ESV) — 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

• There is nothing that God said in the Bible, the way He said it, that can be improved upon.
• No one can say a thing better, more precisely, more accurately than the way God says a thing.
• Listen to what God said about your health.

1 Peter 2:24 (ESV) — 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

• You can’t say it any better than that.
• No one can provide healing for the body better than the Creator of the body.
• God’s workmanship of bringing healing to man is matchless.
• It cannot be improved on.

The Exaltation of the Name of Jesus

• The exaltation of the Name of Jesus is yet another marvelous display of God’s workmanship.

Psalm 8:1 (KJV 1900) — 1 O Lord our Lord, How excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

• God gave us a Name that is above every name, and that name is of excellent quality.
• Jesus Name is the best Name, the Highest Name — it is the best Name there is.
• There is no other name that men can call upon to be saved.

Acts 4:12 (KJV 1900) — 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

• Listen to this same concept from the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 1:4 (KJV 1900) — 4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

• God’s workmanship in establishing the Name of Jesus was off the charts.
• As powerful as they are, Angels do not have a name that can compete.
• Now all of humankind should strive for a ‘good name.’

Proverbs 22:1 (ESV) — 1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

• Our name can be good, if — and it’s a big if — If you make good choices if you have integrity and honesty and are a person of your word if you keep your tongue straight.
• Your name can be good, but the Name of Jesus is not simply good; it is excellent.

The Workmanship of God’s Mercy is Excellent

Psalm 36:7 (ESV) — 7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

• The Hebrew word for ‘steadfast love’ is ‘hesed.’
• The KJV translates it as lovingkindness.
• The ESV says it better, steadfast love or covenant love is a superior translation.
• What is steadfast love or covenant love?
• It is the driving of compassion to give.
• The word appears over 240 times in its various English translations.
• The word appears as lovingkindness, steadfast love, grace, mercy, goodness, faithfulness, devotion, favor, and strength.
• No matter how you translate it, God’s ‘hesed’ is of excellent quality.

The Opposite of Excellent Workmanship: Mediocre Work

• The opposite of excellent workmanship is mediocrity.
• What is mediocre workmanship?
• An English definition helps us here.

Mediocrity is ordinariness because of being average and not outstanding.

• The word mediocre comes from two Latin words and means “halfway to the peak.”
• Mediocre means doing things halfway.
• Exodus nineteen is full of imagery along this line.
• Read the chapter — Picture it – see it with your eye.
• The scene occurs as God visits the children of Israel in the wilderness after He brings them out of Egypt.

Exodus 19:20 (ESV) — 20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

• If you would allow me to ask the question this way, where was God physically when He called to Moses?
• The answer? He was at the top of the mountain — at the peak.
• God called Moses to the top of the mountain to the peak where he was sitting.
• How would this story have been different if Moses only went halfway up the mountain?
• What if Moses only made a mediocre effort climbing the mountain?
• Where are you at in climbing the mountain of your calling?
• How is your workmanship?
• Are you pressing for the peak, or are you settling down at the halfway mark?
• Are you pressing for the peak in your prayer life, or are you settling for mediocrity?
• What about your time in the Word?
• Are your Bible study efforts – your workmanship in trying to understand the Word of the Lord – are you giving your best?
• Excellence means going to the top.
• The average only goes “halfway to the peak.”
• Having excellent workmanship means being way above average.
• Anyone can be average – anyone can be mediocre
• It is easy to be a mediocre person.
• All you must do is make no extra effort of any kind and drift through life, making no difference in the world, which will guarantee that you leave no legacy behind when you are gone.³
• The people that make the difference are the people who obey God and go to the top where He is.
• I would imagine that it gets more complicated the closer you get to the top.
• Mountain climbing is easy when you first start.
• It is much more complex, a lot more work, and a way greater demand the closer you get to the top.
• It is just a fact that it takes hard work to do anything that will be successful.
• Those who try to avoid going the extra mile in doing their work with excellence will never reach the pinnacle of success.
• Do you want to be super successful in life?
• When I say super successful, I mean according to God’s definition of success.
• God’s definition of success involves faithfulness to His call upon your life.
• Faith is part of faithfulness.
• There is an erroneous perception of faith.
• There is a thinking that faith means you don’t have to work hard — that God will somehow pull it all together.
• But that’s not scriptural at all.

James 2:17,26 (ESV) — 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead… 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

• Faith does not invalidate the challenging work that goes into any level of success.
• We absolutely must use our faith and trust God to help us fulfill His plan.
• We must go above and beyond.
• If you continually put in only the minimum amount of work and effort necessary, you’ll produce nothing more than the minimum with your life.
• Do you remember the Parable of Talents?

Matthew 25:14–19 (ESV) — 14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

• Now, suppose you continue reading another eleven verses down to verse thirty.
• You will see that the two men who were actively working on trading and increasing what they had were commended by their master and called profitable servants.
• And with the commendation came the reward of extra talents.
• But the third man who did little, who took His Masters one talent and did nothing more with it than hide it in the ground, was called a wicked and unprofitable servant.
• He ended up losing the one talent he had.

In order to achieve something spectacular, you have to do something spectacular and unique to make it happen.⁴

• If you want to be a person of excellence, you will have to be a hard worker.
• Mark it down – lazy people get very little from God.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 (ESV) — 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Henry Kissinger in his book “The White House Years” tells of a Harvard professor who had given an assignment and now was collecting the papers. He handed them back the next day with a note written at the bottom “Is this the best that you can do?”. The student thought no and re-did the paper. It was handed in and received the same comment. This went on ten times, until finally the student said, “Yes, this is the best that I can do.” The professor replied, “Fine, now I will read it”.

• There is no other way to reach your full potential than to work hard and do your best in everything you put your hand to.
• It’s part of what it takes.
• Do you think Jesus deserves your best effort?

God has an excellent plan in mind for our lives but a mediocre, lazy, compromising person will not live in the fulfillment of an excellent destiny.[Joyce Meyer 5]

• Again, we are talking about the word ‘workmanship.’

Passion Feeds Workmanship

• What is passion?
• Passion is a burning commitment.
• The verb in Greek means to devour, eat up or consume.
• The word contains high intensity and emotion.
• Passion causes your blood to boil and sets your being on fire.
• Passionate people eat, sleep, and drink their dreams and aspirations.
• The Bible has another word for passion — it’s called zeal.

Galatians 4:18 (ESV) — 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you,

• Passionate people are the achievers of this world.
• High-level workmanship involves discipline and tenacity of purpose.
• The lazy and uninspired know little of their successes.

Ecclesiastes 10:18 (ESV) — 18 Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.

• The prophet Daniel was this high-level workmanship class of person.

Daniel 6:3 (ESV) — 3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

• The same spirit that was in Daniel is in you.
• Excellence is a part of your nature and a part of your calling.
• Everything you do – all your workmanship — do it with your might – do it with excellence.
• If you cook – do it excellently
• If you clean – do it excellently
• If you handle money, mow the lawn, or work at a job, they should know you’re a Christian and not mind it because you are such an excellent worker, a hard worker.
• When you do something, do it all the way.
• Jesus deserves the absolute best from your life.
• When you pray, pray your best
• When you study, study your best
• When you give, give your best
• Whatever your hands find do, do your best.

#S3-011: What’s the Value of a Good Name? [Podcast]

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