Saved to Serve

Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:10, Is A Fascinating Passage on Christian Service!

Salvation is not from man or by our efforts. Why? The answer is, because salvation is God’s “workmanship;” It is not our performance that will earn us salvation as a reward. Furthermore, the word “workmanship” refers to a work of art or a masterpiece. Believers are God’s masterpieces because we have been created in Christ Jesus for the purpose of doing good works. God’s workmanship is not achieved by our good works, but it is to result in good works (Titus 2:14; 3:8).

Also notice that God prepared beforehand certain works for each of us to “walk in them.” The purpose of these prepared-in-advance works is not “to work in them” but “to walk in them.” In other words, God has prepared a path of beneficial services for believers which He will perform in and through us as we walk by faith. This is not referring to doing a work for God; instead, it is God performing His work in and through believers (Phil. 2:13). This path of good works is detailed in the practical part of Ephesians (chapters 4-6).

So, Why did God Save Us?

God Saves Us To Become Servants Like Jesus 

Ephes. 2:10, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The foremost characteristic of the life of Jesus Christ was and is service. We are most like Him when we are truly servants at heart. The Lord Jesus in John 15:16, said, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

A.     GOD SAVED EACH OF US TO SERVE HIM IN SOME SPECIFIC CAPACITY! (Eph. 2:10)

1. One Reason God Saved Us Is For “Good Works.”

While it is true that we are not saved by good works, it is equally true that we are saved for good works. Good works are not the root but the fruit. We do not work in order to be saved, but because we are saved (James 2:14–26). We are not saved by faith plus works, but by the kind of faith that results in a life of good works. Works prove the reality of our faith. Good works are not incidental to God’s plan; they are instead an essential part of His redemptive plan for every believer without a single exception. Good works are demonstrated in gratitude, character, and actions.

We are “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.”

God’s order then is this: Faith—Salvation—Good Works—Rewards

 Faith leads to salvation. Salvation results in good works. Good works will be rewarded by Him.

2. But The Question Arises: What Kind Of Good Works Am I Expected To Do?

The answer is those good works God prepared beforehand for us to walk in (Eph. 10b). In other words, God has a blueprint for your life as with every Christian’s life. Before our conversion He mapped out a spiritual career for us. Our responsibility is to find His will for us and then obey it. We do not have to work out a plan for our lives, but only accept the plan which He has drawn up for us. This delivers us from fret and frenzy, and insures that our lives will be of maximum glory to Him, of most blessing to others, and of greatest reward to ourselves.

The following are some considerations:

            a. Sharing the gospel regularly and consistently

            b. Serving through your church  

            c. Feeding a homeless person

            d. Fighting pornography

            e. Tutoring a child

            f. Fighting human trafficking

3. In Order To Find Out The Good Works God Has Planned For Each of Our Lives, We Should:

            a. Confess and forsake sin as soon as we are conscious of it in our lives;

            b. Be continually and unconditionally yielded to Him;

            c. Study the Word of God to discern His will, and then do whatever He tells us to do;

            d. Spend time in prayer each day;

            e. Seize opportunities of service as they arise;

            f. Cultivate the fellowship and counsel of other Christians.

“God prepares us for good works. He prepares good works for us to perform. Then He rewards us when we perform them. Such is His grace!” –MacDonald, William: Believer’s Bible Commentary 

B.     WE ARE NOT LIKE THE LORD JESUS MERELY BECAUSE WE SERVE.

    1.  Many Seem to Think That a Person Is Most like Jesus When He Preaches like Jesus Preached, and Teaches like Jesus Taught.  

         a. Jesus Does Not Require That We Preach or Teach Exactly As He Did—His Style.  

         b. In Christian Service, Be the Unique Vessel That God is Building for a Special Purpose and Ministry.   

     2.  Some Think That They Are Most like the Lord Jesus When they Heal like Jesus Healed, or Performs Miracles like Jesus Performed Miracles. There are no promises in the Scriptures that performing miracles by individuals would be the norm throughout the Christian age!

     3.  Some Look Primarily at the Outward Manifestations of a Person’s Witness and Ministry as Key Indicators of Effectiveness.  They are careful to count the number of souls saved, baptized, church’s numerical growth, number in the Sunday school, number of Bible study units/groups ect.  Many feel that these outward “signs” indicate spiritual maturity, godliness, and acceptable service to God. While measurable numerical growth is a metric in the book of Acts, it is the same bragging point of secular and religious organizations alike. You do not need God or His blessings on a ministry to have great attendance or numerical growth! I know this may sound uncomfortable and maybe even counter intuitive, but I ask you to remember the Mormons, Buddhists, Catholics, Muslims, Atheist, and Jehovah’s Witnesses have results and impressive size followings. So, the question is does numerical growth necessarily mean the evangelist, church or pastor is a good servant in God’s eyes?

C.     WE ARE TO BE MOST LIKE THE LORD JESUS IN THE MOTIVES OF OUR SERVICE.

Mark 10:44-45, And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. [45] For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Philip. 2:5-7, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: [6] Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: [7] But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

These incredible passages place tremendous value on possessing the heart and spirit of a genuine servant of God! Jesus was and is a Servant of the highest order!

     1.  We Need to Look Beyond the Outer Manifestation to the Motivation for Jesus’ Life (Mark 10:44-45). That motivation was always service. Christ was essentially a “minister” and “servant” of God! As such he gave voluntary and sacrificial service to the glory of God!

        a. Jesus Preached, Taught, Healed, and Performed Miracles in Order to Help Others, Never to Call Attention to Himself. Time and again, Jesus said to those He had healed or helped, “Don't tell anyone what has happened.” The reason for this was that Jesus didn’t want others to respond to Him as an earthly political savior. He didn’t want them to focus on His potential to rule over them, but, rather, to focus on our loving heavenly Father and on Jesus’ role to serve humanity as Savior, Deliverer, and Redeemer.

        b. He Poured out His Very Life So That Others Might Be Saved, Never Thinking for a Moment to Save Himself. For Jesus service involved selfless, sacrificial, sustained, voluntary efforts to improve the welfare and wellbeing of others (Mark 10:44-45).

    2.  The Critical Point for Us to Recognize is: God Has Called You to Serve Him and Others Just as Jesus Served God and Others. He didn’t save you or call you to service so that you might be exalted, praised, glorified, or put on a pedestal. He saved you so that you might serve others and in so doing, bring praise and honor to God’s holy name (2Cor. 1:2-10; 4:5-16).  

  

    3.  The Good News Is That Any Person Who Is Saved Can Serve God and Bring Glory to Him. The nature of the ministry task or calling is not the only important factor; what is also important is the motivation behind our service. God loved us so that we might love others. That’s what the Christian life is all about.

Conclusion:

Philip. 2:5-7, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: [6] Who, being in the form of God … took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

God wants us to have a heart for service like the Lord Jesus. Adopt this attitude of Christ; become a genuine Servant of God with a Heart to serve voluntarily and sacrificially. Let this mind be in you! Live like our Savior motivated by voluntary and sacrificial service to God’s glory. God was motivated to save us because He loves us and as we develop into faithful servants we will glorify Him. Oh God, give us a servant’s heart!

Why not ask God today for a servant’s heart? God, please give me a heart to love others voluntarily and sacrificially as Jesus did. Father, give me an inner yearning to see you glorified by your work in and through me. God I realize this is why you saved me—this is my purpose and the meaning of my life—to glorify you.

God Loves Forever!

There are two great truths you must understand about God’s incredible love. His love is unconditional and everlasting. Conversely, when it comes to loving people, we often love those we feel deserve our love, those who have a natural or biological connection to us, and those whose performance pleases us or offers us certain benefits. Yes, it can be reasonably argued that this really is not love at all. Often this is how love is portrayed and perceived though!

So, this works itself out with people earning love based on performance and losing love for the same reason. As long as folks can perceive we have something valuable to offer, then they will love or share love. Unfortunately, as soon as our usefulness to them is diminished then so is their love for us. In this scenario love is very conditional, utility, and performance based. Such “love” gives rise to fears, spawns manipulations, feeds desperations, inspires worry, fuels anxiety, and breeds multiple twisted forms of insecurity. It is actually a form of torment and emotional suffering.    

In contrast, let me share with you two great truths about God’s love for you and me:

GOD LOVES EACH ONE OF US UNCONDITIONALLY AND COMPLETELY

That is correct. His love is absolute, unqualified, boundless, and real.

  

God's Love Is Absolute! It Does Not Change over Time or According to Your and my Behavior. His great love is not influenced or swayed by circumstances or situations. It cannot be lessened or weakened. God can never love you more than He loves you today, and neither can He love you less. His love is perfect! He loves you because He created you, and He chooses to love you—now and every moment of your life. He is motivated to love us because of who He is and not what we do or do not do.

Nothing That You Do, or That Happens to You, Can Separate You from God’s Love. Read very thoughtfully the words the Apostle Paul penned regarding the security and constancy of God’s incredible love. In Romans 8:35-39, he says, 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? [36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. [37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. [38] For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, [39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This staggering list of experiences and supernatural personalities cannot separate the believer from God’s love in Christ! These statements are emphatic and absolute! There are zero situations where His comprehensive love begins to break down or weaken. There is no scenario you and I can dream up that would negate or cancel His profound love for us. The great Apostle Paul was not merely theorizing about abstract ideas. He had been through many of these experiences and lived to tell us about them because of the unfailing love of God! This servant of Christ had directly survived assaults from these entities and emerged triumphant by the grace of God. God’s love was tangible and real to Paul as it should be to each of us. Do not miss the all important point here...nothing can sever God’s love from us!

              — Not the thrashing flogs of tribulation

              — Nor the constant hammering of distress

              — Not the cruelty of persecution

              — Nor can the emaciated threat of famine

              — Nor can the poverty and exposure of nakedness

              — Not the looming hazards of danger

              — Nor can the piercing of the sword!

His love may not prevent these threatening developments, but He will never abandon us as we face them. His love affords us spiritual security in spite of the challenges and pains we will face. That is correct; God will not shield us from all pains and sorrows. He will; however, accompany us through everyone of them. 

In this frightful list we find every adverse circumstance that can effectively separate people from each other.  But, not one single condition can separate us from the love of God. Instead of driving us away from God’s love, these things can potentially draw us closer to Him. It is not simply that we triumph over these formidable forces, but that in doing so we bring glory to God, blessing to others, and good to ourselves. We can actually make slaves out of our enemies and stepping stones out of our road blocks. All of this is not in our own strength but, through Him that loved us (Rom. 8:37). 

Beloved, only the power of Christ’s love can bring:

                 — sweetness out of bitterness,

                 — strength out of weakness,

                 — triumph out of tragedy, and

                 — blessing out of heartbreak

GOD TOOK THE INITIATIVE TO LOVE US FIRST AND FOREVER (ROM. 8:35)

Not only is God's love absolute--unconditional and complete, but it also precedes our love for Him and will lasts forever. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” the great apostle inquires. This is a rhetorical question designed to punctuate the truth that God’s love is complete and permanent. He also loved you and me first; that is, before we loved Him. God does not wait for us to come to Him with an expression of love before He extends love to us. To the contrary! Notice “the love of Christ” in Romans 8:35.  

It is not our love for Christ, but His love for us that is emphasized repeatedly in the Scriptures. Certainly the Bible requires that we love God, but it is in response to His great love toward us. Notice what  John 13:1, says, Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. The timeframe of this passage is before Christ’s arrest and subsequent crucifixion. When the average person would be most concerned with themselves, Christ was concentrating on the needs of His followers! He loved us first and before He loved His own welfare. He loved them to the very end of His life on the cross! The same is true for you and me!!!

Specifically and unmistakably God demonstrated love first to provide salvation for us. Notice carefully what  1John 4:9-10, says, In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. [10] Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Once again I repeat how real, tangible, meaningful, significant, and substantial the love of God is! Calvary clearly states how God feels towards the world. He did not even withhold His own darling Son from extraordinary suffering and finally death for our sins to save you and me. Beloved, this is more than huge; this is gigantic… astronomical... stupendous… colossal! God did not remain safely in Heaven stating repeatedly that He loves us. No, He became a man, lived with us, shared our heartaches and pains, and then actually died for us. He loved us enough to do something meaningful for us! 

Yes, God Loved Us First; This is Why He Took The Initiative.

John said it simply and eloquently: “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). It is correct for us to respond to His great love with love to Him. Understand, before we were lovable…He first loved us! Paul also reminds us of this saying in Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The proof of real love is the great substitutionary sacrificial atoning death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God at Calvary! So, in the most meaningful expression of love ever…God was shouting, “I love you!” All this transpired before we could do anything to influence Him to love us! Even when we were at our worst, He has a standing statement through the Cross of Christ that He loved us!

Furthermore, Love really is what God is—He gives love its real definition and parameters. “God is love” (1John 4:8). In this respect, love is the essence of the self-giving nature of God. His extraordinary love for us seeks to awaken a responsive love in us for Him. Profound expressions of divine love pepper the pages of the entire Bible. It has been well observed that nature articulates the skill, wisdom, and power of God with excellence. But it is solely in the Scriptures where we discover God giving Himself and all He possesses to us, in order to win our response and to possess us for Himself. Love is what God is. It defines Him and He delineates real love! The kind of love that requires and demands for selfish reasons is entirely foreign to the type of love modeled by the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Love is not God, but God is love. He is the real definition of love. He presents love as sacrificial, selfless, others-oriented, boundless, meaningful, substantial, and significant. By God's definition love is primarily an action word and not merely an emotion. It is a sound choice to seek the highest spiritual welfare of another.  

Love is also What God Does. Obviously He expresses love. God loved and gave; He loved and sought—just as a shepherd seeks his wandering sheep. God loved and suffered, proving His love by giving HIS ALL ON THE CROSS FOR THE REDEMPTION OF HUMANITY. God, according to His brand of love, wills good for all His creatures. We do not always perceive the good He wills for us, but never-the-less He does seek our highest welfare. 

God Is Always Waiting with Open Arms, Ready to Receive Those Who Turn to Him in Faith. He longs to embrace us, forgive us, save us, restore us to full fellowship with Himself, and to bless us as His children. Yes, God loves us sinners enough to save us. Is this not clearly what John 3:16, is saying “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”? Yes, we are guilty perishing sinners who are not even close to being right with God. We have gravely offended Him with our ignorance of Him and His will for us. We do not measure up to His infinite perfections in any wise. While perishing forever in the Lake of Fire is a real threat to the unsaved, the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ is equally valid. We must do as the Scriptures prescribe and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. It is Christ Jesus who died taking the blame for our sinfulness. God accepted Christ’s death as the full payment for sin and raised Him back to life again. While we cannot trust a dead Savior, we can turn to a living Lord in repentance and faith. Acknowledge to God that you too are a sinner, and that you are truly sorry for the way you have violently assaulted His Majesty. Believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died in your place to save you from your sins. Recognize that Jesus is alive forevermore and is waiting to save you the instant you truly turn to Him. Believe the Gospel of Christ before it is eternally too late for you.

What an Encouraging Thought, that Nothing—Absolutely Nothing—can Separate Us from God's Love for Us. Look once more at Romans 8:39, where the Bible says, “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That is correct; nothing at all can sever us from the "love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." If you are saved by God's marvelous grace, then God loves you forever! Since Believers are "in Christ Jesus" absolutely nothing can separate us from God's love! Drink deeply from this well of truth. Allow it to free you from questioning God’s great love. You are loved unconditionally and forever by the great God who is love in its most perfect form and expression. Go ahead and accept this truth. Remember, the truth always has this freeing facet! Be free from fearing God will walk out on you because of your repeated failures. He can still change your life and advance you beyond where you are. He will do this because He loves us too much to leave us where He found us originally! Through God’s love we are released from the clutches of fear and insecurity. The LIE that we must perform somewhat perfectly to earn God’s love or blessings must lose its power to control our minds, hearts, and actions. We can never perform well enough to earn such high love; it can only be realized and received by grace. We do not deserve it! It is freely offered! Accept it; fully receive it!   

His incredible love is always extended to you and to me. Listen to the precious words of the prophet in Jeremiah 31:3, saying “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” This is God speaking ever so tenderly to His people. Can you hear Him speaking to your heart? His love is of an everlasting character, and with such love He draws us unto Himself. God does not love us because we deserve His love and have performed well enough to earn it. His love is everlasting towards His people. His love will never quit on you and me. God will never turn His back on you. The Lord Jesus will never ever ever walk out on you to forsake you. He will not pack up you stuff and leave it outside of the house on the doorstep. He will not change the locks to the house while you are away from home. God will not serve you with divorce papers. No, His love is an everlasting love and He constantly seeks to draw us closer to Himself. The best thing for any human being is God, and here God offers us the very best—Himself. His love moves Him to seek us out and summons us unto His glorious person! What a fascinating thought! God wants to be with you and me. Beloved, it is our responsibility to accept His love, receive it, and delight in it. When we do so we will enjoy an inner freedom and level of acceptance that we cannot experience by any other means. This is what God offers you and me. Will you take Him up on His offer? Will you say yes to the Lord Jesus who said yes to the cross for you?