I Am Not My Own

THE MAKER’S MASTERPIECE

We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10)

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker (Ps. 95:6).

Everyone, everywhere, from every time is made by God. And because of this reality, we bear a kind of glory and dignity that is irrevocable. Even in our fallenness, this remains true. Being made in the imago dei means we have been fearfully and wonderfully made. This really does mean that all people, regardless of their race, religion, sexuality, socio-economic status, or gender, are worthy of being treated with dignity and honor. And yet for followers of Jesus, there is more.

The word “workmanship” in the verse above, is the word “poiema,” from which we get the word poem. So anyone, whether they are a Christian or not, is made by God. But for those whom God has called to be His own, we have been made again with a kind of salvation-glory unique to the children of God. We have been remade and are being remade into the glorious likeness of Jesus Christ, the most fully and successfully human person who has ever lived. These truths of created glory and our recreated beauty from the Holy Scripture counteract the shame and self-contempt that so many people, even born-again believers, live in. Being the workmanship of God means that we can be confident in who He has made and remade us to be and live our lives in freedom.

THE HOLINESS I HOLD

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, whom you have from God…” 1 Corinthians 6:19

Not only have we been and are being remade into Christ’s likeness, but we have been inhabited by God’s very Spirit. He has come to take up residence within us to convict us of sin and righteousness, to point us to Jesus our Redeemer, and to glorify Him. The Holy Spirit has become God with(in) us so that we, little by little, walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel, bearing the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. In being filled with and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, we have become and are becoming a new Holy of Holies. 

THE NAME HE GAVE

“But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. … [And we] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Revelation 2:17 says, “To him who overcomes… I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” The ones who overcome are those who continue on in faithfulness to Jesus to the very end. And the ones who continue on in faithfulness to Jesus to the very end are those who have been justified freely by the love and grace that is in Jesus Christ and who have been filled with the Holy Spirit who enables their endurance.

The love of God is the motivation for His electing, saving, sustaining grace according to Ephesians 1. And this means that what Solomon’s Song says can be what we say, “He has brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me is love.” We are the righteous, justified, beloved of God who, from this steady identity can live with hope and joy and life amidst our continuing struggles with sin and suffering. Our weaknesses, our failures, define us no more. 

I BELONG TO THE LORD

“You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:20

As masterpieces of God our Maker, that have become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit of God, carrying the new identity that God has given, having been bought with the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, are called to glorify God not just with our thoughts and emotions, but with our physical bodies. God has saved and empowered us to live lives of holiness that testify to the mighty power of God who takes mighty messy people like us and makes them signposts to His glory and power. What you eat, what you say, what you drink, what you do in romantic relationships, all of it is now meant to honor our Lord.

In a culture prone to simultaneous licentiousness and legalism, the words of this song, mined from the treasure trove of God’s word, help us to remember that love is what has saved us, love is what sustains us, love is what constrains us, and love is what fuels our righteous living. So as you sing, you can pray for God to help “all that you do be done in love.” 

We belong to Him. We have been bought with a price. We are not our own. And this is very good news.