«WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP»
«We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them» (Ephesians 2:10).
IRENAEUS OF LYON is one of the leading figures of Post-apostolic Christianity. As a theologian and minister he was greatly concerned about heretical teachings that attempted to contaminate sound Christian doctrine. Trying to safeguard the church, he wrote his most famous work: Against Heresies. One of the most important statements in Against Heresies is found in the fourth book. Trying to explain to the church about what the Scriptures teach regarding the sublime value of human beings, Irenaeus declared, «The glory of God is a living man.»
If anyone thinks Irenaeus was overestimating humankind, then we should remember what the psalmist had already said in one of his most beautiful poems:
«When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place— what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor» (Psalm 8:3-5, NLT).
In Psalm 19, the psalmist says that «the heavens proclaim the glory of God» (verse 1, NLT); however, the poem in Psalm 8 says the Creator has crowned us with glory and honor. God doesn’t view us as filthy little worms teeming in a rebellious planet; when He looks at us, He sees in us the greatest depiction of His glory in the entire universe. He describes us with the dignity we have received, by His grace, as His representatives.
How do we view each other? The Letter to the Ephesians declares that «we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them» (Ephesians 2:10). It is striking that the Greek word translated as «workmanship» in this verse is poiema, from which our term «poem» derives.
We are God’s poem, a pure expression of the art of His hands and His creativity. And what God has done with us in Christ makes us the most perfect work of His hands. Let no one convince you otherwise.
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2023
“I AM WITH YOU”
From: J. VLADIMIR POLANCO
Collaborators: Lorina Maya & Angelica Cuate