Struggle & Triumph | What God Says I HaveSample

I Have Been Created For Good Works

“For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

Sports operate as a meritocracy — playing time only comes with good performance. Athletes must earn the right to time on the field or the court. But in God’s kingdom we don’t earn our position; it is given to us based on what Jesus did for us. So why should we do good things?

God created each person to uniquely reflect aspects of His character. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them.” When Adam and Eve chose to turn away from God and sin entered the world, that Imago Dei (image of God) was marred, but not completely destroyed. At the moment of our repentance and surrender to Jesus, He re-created us. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Through the Holy Spirit living within us and giving us strength, we are now free to “do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

God did not plan good things for us to do in order for us to earn salvation or even God’s favor. Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.” We do not do good in order to be accepted by God. We are free to do good out of gratitude to the One who loved us enough to take on our guilt and shame so He could purchase our freedom. He is about restoring good, and we have the exciting privilege of being part of the good things God is doing in the world. We don’t do them because we have to; we do them because we can offer them as acts of worship and gratitude to God.

Application: Ephesians 2:10 says that God has already planned good things for you to do. Are you looking around to see what those good things might be? He is always at work. Where can you join Him?