Sermon: Made in Christ

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. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

Ephesians 2:8-10

In the month of April, 1985, the Malaysian Government launched the first “Made in Malaysia” campaign. For everything that has the label “Made in Malaysia”, it has a purpose: to serve as a pride and identity for Malaysia that we are a country that is productive, creative and innovative. They were to send a message to all consumers and other nations about who we are as a nation. For everything that is made under the sun serves a purpose and it is for that purpose that they are made. A bread is made with the purpose to fill a hungry stomach and to provide energy for survival; a watch is made to tell time; a computer to compute; and even this box called “Useless Box” serves to entertain a bored mind and beyond that, to educate students about programming.

I titled today’s sermon “Made in Christ”. As we read Ephesians 2:8-10, we learn that we are called, saved and made in Christ for a purpose: a purpose prepared by God. To live out this purpose is to live out our identity as Christ’s handiworks, just like products that are given the brand “Made in Malaysia”.

1. Genuine salvation is new creation with a renewed purpose for good work.

Ephesians 2 begins with emphasizing the fallen state of man before salvation. V1-3 described us as dead in transgressions, disobedient and lustful. V4-7 added a twist to that story when God gets involved and extended His grace and mercy towards us by making us alive with Christ, raised us up and seated us with Christ. Once again, Paul emphasized on our “deadness”. Consequently, in V11-22, God’s saving grace transformed our former “deadness” into life, having the citizenship of God’s Kingdom, no longer a stranger or foreigner and sharing in the reward as God’s people.

Genuine salvation is a new creation with a renewed purpose for good work. A true Christian’s life should reflect a change in our lifestyle. Our former sinful life is no longer be our identity. We do not live our former life, where our purpose was to live in transgressions, disobedience and lust. We are a new creation, we are God’s handiwork, created and made in Christ, with a new purpose: to do good works. To be made in Christ has a purpose. Just like “Made in Malaysia” brand, it serves as our identity that we are no longer the same. 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 

2 Cor 5:17.

Teddy Hung of Hong Kong could never imagine the life he is having now. As head of world’s second largest triad, Mr. Teddy Hung was at the peak of his career. He made a great fortune from running gambling rooms, bars, casinos and many other vices. When a group of pastors and theologians came to his bar and interviewed him, he remarked “Don’t convert me! You don’t know how much income I’m earning. The god I am worshiping is better than Jesus.” As a leader with charisma, he would even beat up anyone who dare to mention the name of Jesus. He would say to anyone of his followers: “You are in the triad. Who are you to qualify into Heaven? Are you out of your mind?” Salvation just seem impossible to him. Today, Pr. Teddy Hung is pastoring Victory Church in Hong Kong, focusing his ministry on bringing triad members to faith. His life was completely transformed by God’s saving grace. From his former life, which he described that he destroyed people and shattered families, to a life that now build the kingdom of God and helping lost people back to God.

Pr. Teddy Hung is not an isolated case. As God’s handiwork, a Christian is a new creation with a new life and a new purpose and good work is evident in the life of a Christian who is genuinely saved. As James 2:14, a genuine saving faith manifests itself in good works and a transformed Christian life is accompanied by good works. James was not saying that work is a requirement for salvation, because that goes against everything that Paul was trying to teach us, but he was saying that if a person claims to have faith that does not result in good works, it is fair to suspect whether this person genuinely believes in Jesus.

Therefore, let us reflect our lives as Christians. Does our lives reflect a life of a true convert, the life of a new creation, made in Christ? Are we kind? Are we loving? Or our profession of our faith in Christ means nothing?

2. Our salvation is completely a result God’s work and a gift of grace.

Our new life in Christ results in good works, but never the other way round. V8-9 tells us that we have been saved by grace, through faith, not by work. Grace, is the reason why God saves. His love for us saves us. The initiative of salvation comes from Him and this act of grace begins with Him. Faith is the instrument in which we may receive them. Even such faith does not come from us. V9 reminded us that both salvation and faith comes not from us. God Himself completed the act of salvation, by sending Jesus, who is God Himself, allowed Himself to be crucified, and resurrected on the third day. All by the sovereign plans of God and He saw to it that it was done. The reason of salvation is never ourselves. Our work does not save us. In fact, in Isaiah 64:6, our righteous acts are regarded as filthy rag: worthless and dirty. 

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 

Isaiah 64:6

This is the error of the Pharisees and the pagans, to think that there is anything we can do to appeal to God and save ourselves. Eph 2:1 & 4 repeatedly told us that we are DEAD in our sins. What can a DEAD man do to save himself? No, only a living God can.

I remember when I was in Standard 6, preparing for my UPSR, my mother brought me to the Guan Di Temple at Jalan Tun H.S.Lee in KL. In order to appeal to the God of Public Exam, my mother made me kneel down before Wen Chang and prayed, who is the Southern China equivalent of Confucius. After that, she offered a sum of donation to have the temple management to keep a prayer oil lamp lit on my behalf for a year. A few weeks ago, while I was preparing this sermon, I called my mom to confirm some of the details of that memory. She remarked: “That God of Public Exam also didn’t protect you. Prayed to him and offered donation and still you didn’t get a Straight A for UPSR.” I laughed so hard and agreed with her. Well, I guess I didn’t get straight A because my mom didn’t do enough to please the God of Public Exam. Not my fault!

The point is, we have a tendency to find faith in the things we do. I’m pretty sure if I have gotten straight A that year is because I worked really hard to get such good result, or that my mom did really well to please the God of Public Exam. It is never a gift. But with God our Lord, everything we do is futile. No matter how hard we try, we can never measure up to His saving grace. With God, our salvation is a gift. It is a gift that we do not deserve, regardless of what we do. That is why we are saved by grace, because grace is about men getting what they do not deserve.

Therefore, in the story of our salvation, we take no credit. V9 says that there is no room for boasting for anyone. Imagine that shame when a certain lady get a huge sum of money she didn’t work for, buy a RM73m diamond ring, then claims that she afforded it by saving them up since she was young. If I get something I didn’t work for, my response would be gratitude, not boasting.

3. Pursue the will of God, not good works.

Keeping in mind, that we are saved, not by works, but for good works, we must remember that our purpose as Christians is not to do just ANY good works. V10 tells us that God has prepared the good works beforehand for us to do. God has saved us to do the good works that He wants us to do.

Therefore, as new creations in Christ, we must listen attentively to God, that we may hear His command loud and clear and do the works that He wants us to. Pursue the will of God, do not pursue to do good works. When we pursue the will of God, listening attentively to Him and obey Him, God is taking control of our lives and is in charge of us. If we pursue to do good works, we are taking the control of our lives and defeats the purpose of being saved by God’s grace.

We call God our Lord because we are servants and He has control over our lives. As servants, we don’t just do anything, we do what our Master wants us to do. When our Master tells us to sweep the floor, we sweep the floor at once; when our Master tells us to deliver a letter, we ride the fastest horse in the stable; when our Master does not tell us to do anything, we better stand close to Him, so that we may be ready when He calls us to service. We do not busy ourselves by mindlessly working on decorating the dessert for dinner when all our Master wanted from us was to prepare lunch for Him. If we do what our Master does not want us to do, we do them in vain.

Therefore, let us keep in mind that our purpose is to do good works, that are prepared beforehand by God. In other words, listen to God’s will, and because God is good, whatever He asks us to do, is good.

Conclusion: The Poem of God

The word “handiwork” is translated from the Greek Word ποίημα (poiéma), which is where the word “poem” came from. Like a beautiful poem, our life stories are wonderfully composed by God from beginning to the end. Even when we were dead and lifeless in our sins, God has made us a new creation in Christ. As new creations, our lives are transformed and our purpose renewed. This new life is a gift, not our own doings, but given to us by God’s grace and love for us. Eph 2:8-10 tells us that we are MADE IN CHRIST, so that we may do the good works that he prepared for us to do.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us reflect upon our salvation. Is my life transformed by God’s grace and salvation? Is good work evident in my life as proper reflection of this new and transformed life? If you are in doubt, this would be a great opportunity for you to pray to God and ask Him for a beginning. Let’s pray.

Love • Christ • Unity