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piccc of plasric
clay
in che hands of
che Master Potter.
We Are God's
Workmanship
Thc propher lsaiah explains chis
also: "Bur now, O Lord, thou are our
fa rher; we are rhe day, and thou our
poner; and we all are rhe work of rhy
hand" (Isa. 64:8).
And in calling us forrh from che
grave, in che resurrection, God is hav–
ing a
desire
to
finish
rhe work of His
hands. The model , from which rhe
finished spirirual produce is co be
molded, is material subsrance -
human clay.
In che creation of Genesis
1,
God
formed and shaped man physically,
inco God's image. But we do not, as
humans, have the spiritual CHARAC–
TER of rhe perfect God. During rhis
lifetime, for those whom God calls, if
rhey yield and respond, God begins ro
re-form and shape us spirirually, while
we become more and more like Him
in spiricual characrer.
For this grand and glorious pur–
pose, God has marked out a duracion
of seven rhousand years. Each 24-hour
day of che Genesis
1
crearion was a
rype of che seven millennial days of
che spi ritual crearion.
Except for rhose whom God spe–
cially and individually calls during
the firsr six millennial days, God
leaves man to write his lesson in
human experience. Man made the
CHOICE of relying on himself under
rhe sway and influence of Sarao. God
is allowing man tO DEMONSTRATE
be–
yond quesrion his helplessness -
wirhour God's Holy Spirit - ro live
in a way that produces peace, happi–
ness, and universal abundance.
Or, che parallel: God is allowing
Sacan che six millennial days for his
labor of deception and evil. And on
rhac sevench millennial day, he shall
nor be allowed ro do
any
of his evil
work. He sha11 be imprisoned, while
che living Christ brings TRUTH and
SALVATION ro the world.
16
What l s Redemption?
So now ler's look briefly ar re–
demprion. What is ir?
"By
grace
are ye saved rhrough
faith ... for we are his
workmamhip,
CREATED in Chrisr Jesus
unto
GOOD
WORKS, which God hath befare or–
dained that we should walk in rhem"
(Eph. 2:8-10). Norice, there are
good
works
ro salvarion.
The "we" in New Tesramenr lan–
guage always means Chrisrians -
rhose rruly converred. We, rhen, are
God's
workmanship.
Yes! ''Creared" -
now being
creared - ro what objecr ive
- ro what purpose? Note it
1
"Unto
good works"! Unto perfecr spirirual
character!
Now Paul here is nor speaking of
Adam's crearion, six rhousand years
ago. He is speaking of Chrisüans,
NO\XI,
being created - unto good works.
We are His workmanship - che Cre–
ator is
still creating.
He is molding,
fashioning, ch angi ng us, trans–
forming us ro His own noble, righ–
ceous, holy, spiri cual
character.
Yes,
crearing
in us
chis perfect
character.
Salvarion, rhen,
is a process.
1
The Purpose of
Our Living
But how "rhe god of chis world"
(II Cor. 4:4) would blind your eyes
ro rhar
1
He tries ro deceive you inro
rhinking aJl rhere is co ir is jusr "ac–
cepting Chrisc" - with "no works"
- and presro-chango, you're pro–
nounced "saved."
Bur rhe Bible reveals rhar: "He
rhar shall endure unto the end, rhe
same
sha/1 be
saved" (Mace. 24:13).
"Therefore if any man be in Chrisr,
he
is a new crearure" (II Cor. 5:17).
Yes, a
NEW
CREATION!
"And be
renwed
in rhe spirit of
your MINO; and thar ye put on the
new man, which afcer Goo
JS
[being]
CREATED in
righteousness
and
true holi–
ness"
(Eph. 4:23-24) .
Ir all begins in the mind. Repenr–
ance, che firsr srep in salvarion, is a
change of mind. We believe
in
che
mind. The receiving and indwelling
of rhe Holy Spirit is a
renewing ofthe
mind.
Gradually, rhrough Bible study,
learning ro live by "every Word of
God," bcing conrinually correcced .
keeping in constanr prayer, che very
mind of God is placed wichin the
yielded man. And rhus rhe new man
- a holy, spirirual character - is
being created
in righreousness and 1n
rrue holiness.
Boro Again ... HOW?
In this new creacion God works in
man, the man musr be "born again."
God made Adam solely ou t of
matrer. Jesus said ro Nicodemus,
"That which is bom of che Aesh
rs
llesh"! Then He explained we muse
be born
again
ro enrer inro the King–
dom of God, noeagain of the flesh -
nor enrering our morher's womb, as
Nicodemus rhoughr He meanr - bur
born of che
Spirit
-
bom of God.
As
we were born of che flesh from a
fleshl y human farher, so now we muse
be born of the Spirit by God, che
heavenly spirirual Farher.
(For a more derailed and rechnical
exposicion of this process, write for
our free booklet
just What Do You
Mean
-
Bom Again?)
And chis process is brought abour,
in God's great purpose, by a man firsr
coming ro
see
how wrong are rhe
ways of morral humans, thinking and
living conrrary ro rhe revealed laws of
God. The first stage is repenrance.
Surrender
ro Almighry God!
But we now are the "clay models,"
in che hands of rhe Master Pocrer.
If
in rhis life our thinking, our
ways, are changed until we really do
become - in spirirual characrer -
new crealures
in Chrisr Jesus, con–
formed ro His will, then that clay
model, worked over, fashioned and
sbapcd as God would have ic, is
fi –
nally rurned inro rhe finished spirirual
creation.
Begins and Eods in Christ
This entire crearion begins 1n
Chrisr, and is finished by Him.
God creaced al! rhings
by
Jesus
Christ (Eph. 3:9). Jesus was che work-
PlAIN TRUTH August 1972