I Could Do Better Than That

Ephesians 2:8-9

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Imagine going through the Louvre Art Museum in Paris, France, walking up to see the Mona Lisa. Masterpiece. Leonardo da Vinci. You walk up and you look at and you say, Hmm, I think I could do better than that. So you pull out some paints, some paint brushes, and you get up close about to make some changes to it. Now, first of all, you wouldn’t even be able to get close to it. You get tackled by the police, the security, you’d get arrested for trying to destroy this masterpiece.

Think about someone who would have that mentality. Who in the world do you think you are? You can improve upon this masterpiece? That you can do better than than Leonardo did? If you try, if you try to change in any way, what you’re going to do is end up ruining the masterpiece. So it is with with God’s masterpiece of salvation. Sometimes people think that there’s something more that needs to be done in order for them to be saved. But that’s like that person who walks up and says, I’m going to change this masterpiece.

There’s nothing more that needs to be done. And if you try, you’re going to end up ruining it. God’s masterpiece of salvation is complete, and that’s the joy of Christ. He came, and he did everything that was needed for you, and for me, there’s nothing more that is needed to be done. He came, he lived for us. He lived a perfect life for us in our place. He went to the cross, he died on the cross, took the sins of the entire world upon him. They are all paid in full. There’s nothing more that we need to do in order to pay for sins. He’s risen from the dead, which is proof that he is victorious. The masterpiece has been completed. God’s salvation has been secured.

And now God doesn’t want you to add anything more to it. He wants you to to stand and bask in the beauty of his masterpiece. He wants you to embrace it, to love it, to have it. And you have it by simply trusting that what Jesus has done for you counts for you. That his forgiveness that has been won counts for you. That even in itself is something that God plants in your heart, that seed of forgiveness and of trust. It’s not something that you do. It’s not a decision that you make to believe in God. He’s the one that plants that trust in your heart.

It’s a completed masterpiece, and this is emphasized to us in Ephesians Chapter 2 verses 8 and 9, especially. Let me share these with you. St. Paul writes

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. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

It’s all God’s work, God’s plan of salvation for you. And that’s something that you can find comfort in. And we pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the completed masterpiece of salvation and that you share that salvation with us, not because of anything we do, but as a free gift. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for sending Jesus. We pray this all in his name. Amen.

God’s peace be with you.