November 16, 2007
I
was listening to another sister in Christ speak of her husband who is in the
process of starting a new business. He has been working for others and getting
paid little for his talents as a carpenter. She continued to say that he had
such a passion for his work and that he was very skilled and loved what he did.
He also had many pictures of his beautiful work displayed throughout the city.
She knew that God’s hand was in the timing of his losing his job, so he would
venture out on his own.
I
began thinking of Jesus and how he was born to a carpenter. God does nothing
without purpose. I began to meditate on the fact that it was not odd at all that
Jesus would be born to an earthly carpenter since his Heavenly Father is the
greatest carpenter in all the heavens and the earth. Just as a craftsman must
see his work finished before he begins, God saw the finished work of salvation
for man before the creation of the world. Once a carpenter can see the finished
work in his mind’s eye, he sets off to accomplish his work, so that all those
around can begin to see it unfold until the final product is completed.
And so it is with our Heavenly Father as well. From the beginning, God
has desired to dwell among His people and to be their God and for them to be His
people. God saw the finished work of His people fellowshipping with Him forever.
He set out to complete what He started in His mind.
So
begins the Bible, “In the beginning….” As the pages unfold, we are told of
the masterpiece of our Heavenly Father. He walked with Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden. It was beautiful. Man fell into sin and under the curse that
separated man from God. No surprise to God. He continued to carve out the
finished product. He built a model for man to give man a glimpse of his final
work through a man named Moses. He had him build a tabernacle and gave him
precise instructions, yet it was only temporary. Then Solomon’s temple was
built, but it too, was only a prototype, and people had to come from afar to
see. Then God sent His Son to give us a better picture of His final plan. As His
son finished His part on earth, He returned to Heaven. We now become the
pictures on earth to show others how God intends to dwell with man. We are the
temple of the living God. Pictures are nice, but there is nothing better than to
see the real finished product up close. God blessed John in Revelation 21:3 and
showed him the final work in heaven. And I heard a loud
voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he
will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them
and be their God.”
Are
you showing others the picture of God’s handiwork in you, so they can be part
of the finished creation God is working on?
Remember,
you too, are a work in progress, and God, the master carpenter, sees you as a
finished work!
He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phil 1:6
Janet F.