Experiencing the Power of God
God’s Power is for God’s Purposes – Part V
Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:12-18
Key Verse: Philippians 2:13
for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
We are studying the power that God gives us to carry out His purposes.
Consider the definition of the word “purpose”: “the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists” (Oxford Languages).
This definition of “purpose” fits the biblical definition of our purpose:
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)
What is God’s purpose for creating us? Why did God give His only Son to this world? Ephesians 2:10 clearly gives us the answer: “so we can do the good things that He planned for us long ago.” Once we have accepted Jesus into our lives, God sees us as His masterpiece.
Ephesians 2:10 also tells us that God created us “anew” in Jesus.
Here is the definition of the word “anew”: “in a new or different and typically positive way” (Oxford Languages).
We were born with sin, so our nature is a tendency to sin rather than do good. But when we said “yes” to God’s plan of salvation, God eliminated our tendency to sin and created us anew in Christ Jesus.
Note the last phrase of Ephesians 2:10: “He planned for us long ago.”
When did God decide that a savior was necessary for humankind, and that Jesus would come to earth and die in our place? It was long ago, when humankind turned to their own selfish desires and brought sin into the world. Yes, the moment God saw that sin had entered the blood line of mankind, He knew the only cure would be the blood that Jesus shed on the cross!
Let’s return to the purpose of God’s power that He has made available to us. It is a purpose that has existed since Adam and Eve’s fall from grace.
God determined that His creation would do good things, not selfish and destructive things. It is not hard to see the selfish and destructive things that fallen humankind has created all around us.
Can you see how wonderful the power that Jesus has brought into your life, the power that causes you to do good things in your world?
It is true that we can, and too often do, return to our selfish ways. The difference is we no longer want to live that way and we feel bad when we act that way. We are God’s masterpiece in the making, new creatures in Christ Jesus, that He created to make our world better by the power that He has made available to us.
I want to encourage you to stop and praise our generous God for the day He drew you to Himself, offering you abundant life in Christ.
We are not all we want to be, but we are so much better than we ever could be without the grace of God working in us!
Father, thank You for your power and its purpose for my life. Continue to work in me, making me the masterpiece than only You could make. In Jesus’s Name, amen.