You Are God’s Mona Lisa! | Ephesians 2:1-10

Takeaway Verse: Ephesians 2:10

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.

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Transcription:

Welcome to The Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica Parkerson. This is the place where we meet up to read half a chapter of God’s word together, and remember how loved we are. Jesus extends an amazing invitation to us in the Bible. He says, come to me and I WILL give you rest. This is us RSVPing: Yes!! to that invitation. So take a deep breath and let’s get started.

Oh, it’s gonna be a good day. Today’s episode is called, “You Are God’s Mona Lisa”. Oh, I would love to see the real Mona Lisa in person. Wouldn’t that be fabulous. So glad you’re here today. We’re about to dive into Paul’s letter to the Ephesians chapter two, and it has one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible, It’s gonna be our takeaway verse today, and we’ll get to that in moments, but first, would you join me in a word of prayer. Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus. I can’t believe the way you see us. You see us through the eyes of love, through the sacrifice of your son, Jesus. And we are so thankful that you look at us in such a loving way. We give you thanks and praise that we get to be your kids, that you adopted us into your family. We are in awe. And we are grateful. Would you open our eyes and our hearts today to see and understand what you would have us to see and understand in your word? In Jesus Christ’s holy and matchless name, we pray. Amen. 

Okay. Let’s dive into Ephesians chapter two. This is Paul writing to the church in Ephesus, but he might as well have written a letter to us and dropped it in our mailboxes because the word of God is alive and active and it’s for you, and it’s for me today, as much as it was for the Ephesians. Okay. Here we go, you can tell I’m excited today. “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil, the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work, in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.” Woo. “All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature, we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much.” 

Can we stop just right there for one second? He loved us so much. You are so loved that, “Even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead, it is only by God’s grace that you have been saved. For he raised us from the dead, along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” Isn’t that remarkable? “So, God can point to us in all future ages, as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this, it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done. So, none of us can boast about it. 

Here comes our takeaway verse and one of my top favorite verses in the entire Bible. Are you ready for this? This includes you, “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.”

Listen, you were thought up. God thought you up, and he knit you together in your mama’s womb with so much love. I want you to picture somebody you care about who uses their hands to make beautiful things. My friend, Donna, crochets beautiful, fun, cute things. And I love to picture her sitting there watching her British TV shows and knitting something with love. God made you with love in mind. He loved you so much. You are his child, and he is not finished with you. 

At the beginning of this episode, I was telling you, you are God’s Mona Lisa, you are his masterpiece. I learned something about the Mona Lisa recently, and that is that there is evidence to suggest that she was unfinished. I never noticed this in all of the years I’ve spent looking at the Mona Lisa online or in pictures that other people have taken. I’ve never noticed she has no eyebrows. And you know, so the artist’s hand was paralyzed in 1517 when he was painting her, so he may have left her unfinished. But I love that because we are not finished yet. God is still refining us, and yet we are still his masterpiece. You can be a masterpiece and a work in progress at the same time. He created you, thought you up with love, and he refines you with love as well. You are God’s Mona Lisa. It’s incredible. I love it. All right, tomorrow, we’re gonna dive into Ephesians chapter two, part two. Can’t wait till then. 

Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.