You’re a Masterpiece in the Making

As we get started, I want to make a confession. In fact, I’m going to make three really small confessions, so brace yourself. And if you don’t know me very well, I don’t want to be too vulnerable too early, but my first confession is, I do not watch a lot of primetime TV, and I do not like it. Okay? I don’t like TV a whole lot. There are not a lot of good things to watch. It’s just a confession.

My second confession is, of all the things on primetime TV that I hate, that I loathe, are reality shows. Have you noticed, in the last few years – I mean, reality this, reality that? I just hate reality shows.

So, here’s a guy who doesn’t like TV a whole lot, and, he loathes reality shows. So, are you ready for this – my third confession? I watched a reality show recently. Yes, I did, and I loved it. It was called Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

And I had taught that night – it was a Sunday night – and I came home and wanted to relax, and I turned it on. I had no idea what was going on. But before I knew it, here is this guy, and he had, like, six kids, or five kids, and four of them were teenagers. And they began to unfold the story.

His wife had died about a year and a half or two years ago, and you could tell, from the little snippets they gave, that he was a believer in Christ. And I mean, he was now working two jobs, trying to be a dad, and any time the thought of his wife was brought up, he would begin to tear up. It was a really close-knit family. And your heart just began to break.

And, apparently, the theme of this program, Extreme Makeover, is, they find people in very difficult situations, and then they have a team of construction people and designers, and then they go into the neighborhood and to the relational network – in this case they went to this guy’s church – and they went to his neighbors, and they asked them to donate their skills, and they brought in a group of pros.

And then, they take the family away – I don’t know if it’s for a week, or ten days, or how they do it; I didn’t get that much into it. But then, they totally revamp the house. Now, it looks a little bit like it used to look on the outside, but they knocked out walls. They increased the square footage. They put in an upper floor. They redid a room for every one of the kids. And each one of them was designed according to the needs of the people.

The dad was working two jobs just to make it now, and so they created this unbelievable office, so he could do his second job at home. The four teenagers – no hope of going to college; they were financially strapped. And so, one was kind of a strong guy, and he was working out. They created an indoor gym, with a spiral staircase, and they had every piece of equipment you could imagine.

And then, one of the girls had this artistic flair, and she had this dream of maybe being a designer, or an artist. And her room, the bed, they could pull out the bed, and she could do drawings.

One of the other kids had this dream about working with animals. And so, everything in the room – there was an aquarium, and the bedspreads, and the pillows, and everything was about animals.

Every room was designed around the desires and the gifts, to help their life and their family function in a way that would be extremely different, and extremely more wonderful than before.

And then, they bring the family back in, and they look at the house from the street. And all the neighbors who helped are there, and they’re all cheering. It’s going crazy. And they pull this big truck, and then the truck goes away, and they look at their house. And then, they walk in and open the door.

And then, this is what happens: The tears start going down their eyes. “Dad!” And then, they just walk them from room to room to room, and they tell them why they created this room for them, and how to help their family.

And the people, you can tell, I don’t think the people who run the show are necessarily Christians, at all, but when they love someone that much, they start crying, the neighbors start crying, the people who get loved start crying, and I’m on my couch going, “I hate reality shows . . . but I just love this one!” I’m crying in my living room! And I thought to myself, Ingram, this is ridiculous.

And so, I did a little research. And I found out that there’s not one reality show. It is a movement. I actually did a little research. Not only do they do Extreme Makeover for houses, they do Extreme Makeover for cars. They take old cars, and then they turn them into spiffy cars. They do Extreme Makeovers for motorcycles. In fact, I’ve found there’s a channel that, I think, the only thing they show is the Chop Shop, and they keep redoing these motorcycles. And I thought to myself, Man, we are into this Extreme Makeover stuff. And then, I asked myself, Okay, what is an extreme makeover, and why are we so fascinated by it?

Let me give you a definition of what I think an extreme makeover is. It is the process of taking something that is old, broken, imperfect, damaged, or not useful, and recreating it into something that is whole, useful, beautiful, attractive, and new.

And then, I asked, Well, what is it about something that’s old, that’s made new, something that’s broken and made whole, something that isn’t right, and then is made beautiful and useful – what is it about that, that really attracts us? And there may be a lot of reasons, but let me give you my top three.

The first is, I think we all inwardly love to see positive change. In my human heart, I love to see positive change. Remember, even as a kid, when I was a kid, when I found a penny, I thought it was really cool. And we had this stuff where you could rub stuff on an old, yicky penny, and it would become a bright, shiny penny, and it’d be like, “Woo!” I mean, what is that? There’s something about seeing positive change that is so exciting for all of us, as human beings.

The second reason is, I think our curiosity is riveted by the skill and creativity involved in making the old, new; and the broken, whole; and taking that which was unbeautiful and then making it beautiful. The curiosity, I looked at this Extreme Makeover thing, and I was asking myself, How do they knock out a whole wall? That house doesn’t look big enough to have two stories now.

The third reason, I think, that we’re fascinated by extreme makeovers is this: I think all of us secretly long for an extreme makeover in some area of our lives or relationships. See, I’m just like you. And I think, down deep in my heart, and down deep in your heart, is, I long for, Boy, I’d like to be different. I’d like to take something old in me and make it new. I’d like to take a broken relationship and see it whole. I want to see positive change.

And, you know what? Rather than feeling bad about that, I think it’s God-given. I think it’s rooted in the spiritual DNA of your Creator, in your heart, in your life, that you want an extreme makeover. Because I’m going to suggest that the ultimate extreme makeover is Jesus Christ working in a human heart, and taking that which was old, and making it new; Jesus Christ working in a human heart, and taking that which is broken, and fixing it; taking that which is unuseful and dysfunctional, and making it useful, and functional, and winsome, and beautiful.

In fact, I believe our fascination with makeovers is rooted in the Author of extreme makeovers Himself. The ultimate extreme makeover: 2 Corinthians 5:17. It says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, the new has come!” God’s desire – listen to this: God’s desire, the One who created all that there is, the One that created you – His desire is to do an extreme makeover for every single person on this planet. An extreme makeover.

God wants to do a relational, spiritual, emotional, internal, forever transformation in every man, every woman, every child. He wants to do a recreation.

He wants to take the old and put it away. He wants something new to come in. He wants an open door in your heart and life, and a relationship with Christ that gives you new desires, and a new future, and a new purpose, and a new life, and a new peace. And He wants to take the old, and forgive, and He wants to take the old, and He wants to cleanse, and He wants to put your past behind you. God wants to do an extreme makeover in your life, and mine, and the way He does it is through His Son, Jesus.

Now, what I’d like to do – are you ready for a little analysis? I’d like you to open your Bibles to the book of Ephesians, and I want to spend a little time and ask ourselves, How does it work? Okay? If we were doing Extreme Makeover with God, we’d say, “How’d He do that? How’d He do that?” And in the Book of Ephesians, we’re going to learn exactly how He did that.

Let’s begin in chapter 2 and notice who you used to be. Over here is the “before” picture. In a minute, we’ll see the “after” picture. The first three verses of Ephesians 2 are going to give you the “before”: before they came in and knocked out the drywall, and put in the second floor.

Notice what it says, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, and the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us” – no exceptions – “also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”

Now, we could spend a lot of time studying this, but I can give you three quick observations about how you used to be before Christ, or where you are at if you don’t know Him personally.

Number one, it says we were dead in our transgressions. Theologically, that just means we are separated from a life with God. We are separated from God. There is a wall; there’s a barrier. We are separated from a relationship with the God who made us.

Second, you’ll notice, we’re prisoners of the world’s system – the ruler of the power of the air. We’re prisoners to addictions. We’re prisoners to dysfunctional relationships. We’re prisoners to being addicted to pleasing people.

And then, finally, notice, it says that we’re objects of wrath. There is just judgement for living in a way that hurts people – the stealing, and the lying, and the manipulation, and the image casting, and the things that we all have done.

And God says, “This is who you used to be. You used to be dead. You used to be a prisoner. You used to be an object of wrath.”

But notice, it gets really good. Notice, who are you now? For those who have a personal relationship with God, by faith in Jesus Christ – picking it up at verse 4, what does it say? “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions – it is by grace that you have been saved.” And then, notice what He did, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”

And if you had a lot of time to study that, you would realize some major changes occurred. You used to be dead; now, you are alive. You used to be a prisoner; now, you’re delivered from sin’s power, Satan’s grip, and past mistakes. You used to be an object of wrath, and now you have a new standing with God. You are righteous. You’re cleansed. You have a new identity. You have new power. You have a new future, a new purpose, a new family, new privileges. And then, very excitingly, you have a new inheritance. “Before” and “after.”

And then, you ask yourself, Well, why? Why did God do that? Look at verses 7 through 9. In verse 7, notice the purpose clause here: “In order that in the coming ages He” – God – “might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in the kindness to us in Jesus Christ.” And then, we get a very familiar passage, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and that’s not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – it’s not by your works” – not by your effort, extreme makeovers are done by God, not by you – “lest any man should boast.”

God wants to do an extreme makeover in your life, and mine, and the reason He wants to do it is so that we could see the riches of the kindness of His grace demonstrated in Christ. We could see – here’s a person’s life. Instead of a physical body going from a size 38 dress to a size 12, instead of a shabby house going into a beautiful palace, He’s saying: here’s an old life in Adam, in an old family with sinful patterns that brought destruction to you, and alienation from God, because of what Christ has done.

He wants to do an extreme makeover, beginning in your heart, and change the way you think, change the way you act, change your standing with God, change your relationships with people. And the reason He wants to do it – did you notice this? It says so that in successive ages – that’s the idea, in time of history – God would exhibit that which He’s really like, to men, and women, and angels.

When those people walked into the house, and they saw that bedroom, instead of the old one, when they saw the living room, and the kitchen, “And we can eat together as a family!” The kids had tears in their eyes, “Is this our house?”

And what’s behind that? It’s a sense of awe. It’s a jaw dropping, “That was so bad, and this is so good.” And what do they do? Then they turn to the people who recreated the house, with a sense of, “Thank you so much.”

And see, what God is about, for everyone that will let Him – He is about doing something in you that takes who you were, and changes it, through the power of Christ, into this new creature and this new person, that if you would meet someone ten years later who maybe you went to school with, or maybe you used to do drugs with, or maybe you used to run with, or maybe you did some stuff back in junior high with – if they could see you, and your life, and your relationships, they would go, “Ohhh, Bobby? Is that you?”
I actually had this experience.

And, uh, there was a fellow that I played basketball with in high school. And he went on to play in one college, and I went on to play at another, and he was a couple years behind me. And we were a couple of high school guys, both non-Christians, both living the high school life in the ‘70s. And I came to Christ, lost track of him for twenty-five years. He later went through some hard times, came to Christ. And he got on the Internet, and looked at our website, found out what we were doing, emailed somebody.

So, I’m, it’s a new members thing, and we’re saying, “Hi, it’s good to have you.” And I look at the first row, and I’m going, I literally stopped, “Phil, is that you?” “Yeah. Chip, is that you?” “Yeah.” And it was kind of like we knew our history: “What are you doing here?” And he looked at me, and I looked at him, “God did an extreme makeover on you, didn’t He? And God did an extreme makeover on me.”

Here’s what I want you to see: You are a masterpiece in the making. Look at Verse 10: “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” You are His masterpiece. Jim isn’t some special guy. Every person on the earth – what’s it say? “If any man” – if any woman – “is in Christ” – what’s it say? “The old, the old things pass away, all things” – notice, it’s a process – “become new.”

Now, here’s what I want you to do. Do you have a pen? Pull out your pen. I want you to circle the word: workmanship. Then, I want you to put a little squiggly line under: created in Christ Jesus. And then, I want you to put a box around: to do good works. “For you are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” – for a purpose – “to do good works” – then, notice – “which God has prepared in advance for you to do.” God wants to give us an extreme makeover. He wants to give you a second chance.

Have you ever been shooting foul shots, or shooting darts with someone, and you make a little bet? I’m sure you’ve probably never done this, but in your former days or something. And you’re not quite warmed up, and you shoot one, and you miss it, and you say, “Redo. Redo.” Right? “I mean, if you want to have good competition – I mean, I wasn’t loose. I’ve got to get loose.” Right? “I want a second chance. I want a redo. I want to start over.”

Don’t we all want a redo? You know what God’s saying, through this passage? He wants to give you a redo. He wants to give you a second chance. He wants to give you a new life. This little phrase, “You are His workmanship” – the Greek word here – literally, it’s the picture of a masterpiece in the making, that’s in progress.

You could picture a beautiful piece of art, and you’re the canvas, and God is painting, and reworking, and recreating. And you’re on His easel, and you are a masterpiece, you’re His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.

Or you could see Him as a sculptor, and He’s resculpting your life. And He’s taking the clay of who you are, and He’s forming the different parts, and He is making you – you are His workmanship.

Or you could be a literary work. This word was used of a poem, or a literary work that was in progress. You are the workmanship of God. He’s recreating you – how? – through your relationship in Christ. Why? For the purpose of good works, doing good. God has a purpose for your life.

Don’t we know that now? I mean, if twenty-three million people buy a book, if twenty-three million people buy a book to discover what their purpose is, don’t you think there’s something, down deep in the heart of men and women, that says, “I want to have purpose”?
There is a special place where God does spiritual makeovers, but it is not a magic closet; it is a house. It is a special house. It is a holy temple. It is a supernatural community.

And you know what we call this house today? The house where God does extreme makeovers is called “the Church.”

Now, don’t get in your mind, Oh, the church building? Don’t think, in your mind, institutional religion. I’m talking about the living, breathing, called-out people of God who are living in community, who are walking authentically, who are living out significant purity, doing life together in the power of the Spirit, based on the Word of God, in that supernatural community. That is where extreme makeovers happen. That’s how God works.

That’s why the local church is the hope of the world. The dysfunctional part of all that is that so many local churches aren’t operating in a way God wants us to. And so, we don’t see the extreme makeover happen in people’s lives.

Then, skip down to chapter 3, and he’s going to give us the purpose. Why is He going to use this thing called “the Church”? What’s his intent? Verse 10, chapter 3: “His intent” – he’s been talking about the Church – “was that now, through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”

Did you get that? His intent was now, through the Church, to express or demonstrate “the manifold wisdom of God,” so that angels, and principalities, and powers, and created things, and men, and women, and saved people, and lost people, and all the things of all the universe would step back and see this thing called “the Church,” and what they would really see is, “Oh my.”

You know what God wants, the purpose being extreme makeovers? He wants humans, and angels, and principalities, and people, forever and ever and ever and ever, to see who He really is, and be in awe of His wisdom.

God wants the principalities, and the powers, and the people of all times and all eons to go, “God, that is You. I thought so small. You’re so much bigger. You’re so much more wonderful. You’re so much more powerful. You’re so much more faithful. You’re so much more loving! You’re so much more kind! You are so much more gracious than I ever dreamed. How do I know? Because I see what You do in Your Church.”

How does it work? How does it work? Notice, that’s the corporate side of it. Notice the internal side. Skip down, and the apostle Paul prays where it really works. He says, “For this reason” – right? We’re talking about, “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom the whole family” – verse 14 of chapter 3 – “from the whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. And I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power” – where? – “through His Spirit in the inner being,” or the inner man.

Purpose – verse 17: “…so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of the fullness of God.”

Where does God do extreme makeovers? Two places: One, He does it in a house, and the house is this Church that’s being built up.

The second place He does it is in the heart. He does it in the inner man of every woman, every man who allows the Spirit of God to have His way. And the reason He does it is – what? To demonstrate to the world His manifold wisdom.

It doesn’t happen overnight. There is a clear process. But the dramatic nature of the change, the extreme makeover God wants to do in you, and in every person, through a relationship with Christ. That’s what He wants to do. And where He does it is in this thing called “the household of God; the Church.” And how He does it, individually, is in the human hearts of people. And He works in your human heart, in the household of the Church.

But if you’ve ever seen a person paint, or if you’ve ever seen a sculptor doing a masterpiece – because you’re a masterpiece – there’s got to be tools, right? I don’t think God is finger-painting. I think He has multiple brushes. And when God is sculpting, I think He has multiple tools to put lines in, to create in you.

Because, see, your DNA, both spiritually and physically, is different than anyone else. Why? Because He has a purpose for you. He has a goal for you. He has a target for you. He has loved you, saved you, and purposed you. There are some good works that you’re going to walk in. There’s a unique calling He has for your life, that you’re going to accomplish something, in the scheme of God, that no one else can.

And you know what? It doesn’t have to be highly visible. You don’t have to be famous. You don’t have to get up in front of people. You need to do the good works that He preordained, or prepared in advance, for you. Now, here’s the question. So, how does He do it?

Turn now to chapter 4 and pick it up at verse 7. He has, in the first three chapters of this book, told people, “This is the new you that you are.” The first three chapters of Ephesians are all about your new identity in Christ. You’re a son. You’re a daughter. You’re adopted. You’re loved. You’re sealed by the Spirit. You have an inheritance. You are loved. You are accepted in the Beloved.

And then, chapter 4 opens up and says, “Since God has done all these miraculous, wonderful things for you already, and it’s already true, and you can’t earn it, you already possess it, walk in a manner worthy of your calling.” That’s the whole – chapter 4, chapter 5, and chapter 6 are about, “Look, here’s what you believe, because it’s true, and this is how you ought to live, so that your beliefs and your behavior line up.”

And so, he says that in the first six verses. And then, he’s going to tell us how it actually works. So, in verse 7 he says, “But to each one of us grace” – literally, it’s a grace gift. The word here is “an endowment.” “To each one of us a grace gift” – or an endowment – “has been given as Christ apportioned it. And that’s why it says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captives in His train and gave gifts to men.’ And when He ascended He is the very one who ascended higher than the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe. It was He who gave” – now, this endowment, these gifts – here are some of the gifts. He gave gifts to the Church: “some apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastor/teachers” – why? – “to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ might be built up until” – get verse 13; look at this carefully – “until we all reach the unity in the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the full measure of the fullness of Christ.”

What he’s going to say is that when Christ died on the cross, He paid for your sin. He redeemed you. The possibility of restoration occurs when we come to faith in Him. Then, after He died on the cross, between that time that He died and was resurrected, He literally proclaimed His victory over Satan, He proclaimed his victory over sin, and He broke the power of sin in your life. And so, you not only used to be dead, now you’re alive, but Christ’s victory – He tells you that the evidence of His victory over Satan, over death, and over sin is that He would take spiritual gifts, and deposit them in His Church.

Because you know what the tools are for transformation? You know what His paintbrushes are that come out of my life to shape your life, and out of your life to shape mine? You know what the little scalpel-type tools are that He works in the clay? It’s the spiritual gifts deposited in you, and the spiritual gift deposited in me. And as we live in authentic, loving community around the Word of God, the gifts out of your life, and the gifts out of my life…you are the paintbrush in God’s hand, He’s dipping in multiple different colors to recreate the new me that He’s making.

Your spiritual gift is the evidence that Christ has won the victory. Your spiritual gift is the evidence that the power of sin is broken in your life. Your spiritual gift is evidence that, you know what? Satan has no more power over you.

And what we’re going to talk about is how to discover, how to develop, and how to deploy your spiritual gifts. And if you’re thinking, Buddy, you took us through almost the entire book of Ephesians to get there, I’m going to tell you why.

When we talk about spiritual gifts in the Church, I hear people talk about it like they’re going to a salad bar. “There’s the salad bar of spiritual gifts.” “What’s yours?” “I don’t know, Fred, what’s yours?” “How about you, Ethel? Do you know what yours is?” And it’s kind of like kids in a candy shop. “It might be this; it might be that. Why don’t we take this little test and find out?” And dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. And, you know what? We’ve separated it from the theology.

And I’ll tell you what, if I were to ask most people in here – because I’ve done a lot of surveys – “What are your primary spiritual gifts, you know exactly what it is before God?” very few people would raise their hand. “What are your secondary spiritual gifts? How do you live them out? How much do you know about spiritual gifts? How much do spiritual gifts tell you what to do, what not to do?”

You know, we all say, “There are so many demands. What should I do?” Tell you what, God has given you spiritual gifts; He’s made you a tool. And you know something? I’ve tried hammering with a screwdriver. It is not very effective. He has made you a tool. He wants screwdrivers to do, spiritually, screws. He wants hammers to pound nails. He wants levels to level things.

And because you don’t know your spiritual gifts, because you don’t know how to discover them, you don’t know how to deploy them, you don’t know when to say “yes,” when to say “no,” and we’ve got Christians everywhere, basically out of guilt, manipulation – sadly, to say, as a fellow pastor, I’ve done that a couple times. Got to fill that slot.

We have people out of their giftedness, not understanding their gifts, and, therefore, one, not being used by God, and even worse, you don’t experience the joy that God intended for you, the good works that you’re to walk in. So many Christians are walking in someone else’s good works.

And there are certain things, I know they’re good. I see people who are passionate, and they’re great at it. I’m just not good at it. And when I try to do it – now, out of service, man, you’ve got to do whatever you’re supposed to do. I’m not saying that you only do things that are in your gifts. But what I’m saying is that the prime majority of your energy, and focus, and time needs to go in what God made you to do.

And in this passage, he makes it clear. How does God do extreme makeovers? Christ gave spiritual gifts. He gave spiritual gifts – how? By the ascended Christ, to every believer, for the profit of others, through the Holy Spirit, sovereignly. He gave me my gift. He gave you your gift, sovereignly. He chose.

You study this carefully, you realize, with a great, deliberate thought of the will – there are two or three words in the New Testament for the idea of God’s will, and God’s intention, and I’ve studied them. And when it talks about spiritual gifts, it’s with deliberation. It’s with thought. It’s with, He gave you the spiritual gift that will equip you to walk in the good works and the purposes you’re supposed to fulfill.

And so, He’s done it by the ascended Christ to every believer, for the profit of others, through the Holy Spirit, sovereignly – when? At the time of salvation, on the basis of grace. You didn’t earn it. This whole thing about, “Oh, this person has this gift, and that person has…”

You know what? It’s free. I’m not going to compare mine with yours. You have what God gave you. What I have, it was free. It was grace. What you have it’s free; it’s grace. Why? Because there are works that God wants me to walk in. There are good works that I’ve been called and preordained that God prepared in advance that I should do, and that you should do.

But I’m going to, my testimony is, I did a lot of “Christian” things, and things in general and my joy factor never skyrocketed, and the impact of my life for the Kingdom of God never took off, until I got clear: This is my primary spiritual gift. Here are my secondary gifts, ministry gifts God gives around that, and I’m going to focus my life, my time, my energy around those. And when I did that, and said “no” to other stuff, I saw God begin to use my life in ways I never dreamed.

It’s not because I’m special. It’s because that’s the paintbrush He put inside of me, to do what? To take the palette of truth and colors in His Word, to recreate in people’s hearts and people’s lives.

Notice the final thing here: It produces the life of Christ in every believer. See, that’s the goal. The gifts in you, the gifts in me, in community, around God’s Word, are going produce the life of Jesus in every believer.

Isn’t that the extreme makeover? Isn’t God’s plan that we’ve been living in the hills in ignorance, and we just didn’t really know any better, and often willful rebellions, or passive indifference, and we come to a relationship with Christ. You come into this new relationship it’s the body of Christ.

And the moment you walk in, the Spirit of God comes into your life. And you’re with other people, and they have gifts, and you have gifts. And their gifts are the paintbrushes and the tools that take the Word of God, and the truth of God, and the love of God to show and be the kindness of Christ. And that’s how my life changes.

I look back on Jim’s life – he has the most radical story. His life now is so amazing. I remember when his son came back to visit him. This is a kid who just – and he, literally, had one of those, “Is that you, Dad?” And by the way, don’t get the idea this was a two-year deal. We’re talking nine, eight, nine years later. And his son, who’d been wayward, and came up through this drug-infested family, came and visited for two weeks, came to church a couple times, very suspect. Got around his dad.

He came to me afterwards, he said, “Is this stuff real?” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “Is my Dad just putting on an act?” I said, “So, what do you mean?” He said, “Man, I lived with this guy, and the guy that I’m eating dinner with at night is not the same man. And I went to that Friday night, that Celebrate Recovery thing. People treat my dad like he’s like something special. And they are so open, and they appreciate him. I just never saw any of that. Is this for real?”

I told him, “You’d better believe it is.” I said, “I’ll tell you what. You just pray this prayer. Ask God, if He’s really real, to reveal Himself to you. And you tell God, ‘If You’ll reveal Yourself to me, in a way I could understand, then I will allow You to do whatever You want in my life.’” And he spent the next week evaluating and looking at his dad’s life.

And you know, I look at where Jim was, and what I realized was, God took the spiritual gift of mercy, through my wife, and let him feel loved, early on, when he didn’t think anybody cared. He took the spiritual gift of teaching, through me, so that he could take the lies about himself, and he learned the truth of God’s Word. He took the spiritual gift of exhortation, through Joe, who was our counselor, and began to help him learn and grow.

And then, He took the spiritual gifts of a small group community that were in the Bible, week by week, together, to demonstrate God’s love, and kindness, acceptance, where Jim realized, his past is behind him. There’s nothing to prove; there’s nothing to lose. And then, Jim began to see he had gifts, and he began to then reproduce his life.

Do you know your spiritual gift, your primary one? Are you using your spiritual gift? How much do you know about spiritual gifts? Or is it just this little thing, over on the side, and then we try and teach people just enough so we can get them connected, so they can fill some of the slots in the programs of our church?

I want to tell you, I spent a whole session giving you a theology of what God wants to do in your life. He is in the extreme makeover business. And He doesn’t want a little makeover in you. He wants an extreme makeover.

And I want to tell you something – if you don’t get it you’re going to miss everything. The tool God uses, the tools God uses in this household, this place called “the Church,” in your human heart, that He wants to transform you and others – the tool He uses is your spiritual gift functioning in submission to the Holy Spirit, in the community of God’s people, according to God’s Word. And He wants to use you as a paintbrush, and as one of those little tools that shapes the clay. And He wants to use you to write His new life, the new novel that He’s building in the lives of other people, as you walk in the good deeds He has prepared for you.

Now, what I knew was, I was going to bring you right to the point where you were going to say to yourself, I hope, You know what? I really need to know a lot more about spiritual gifts than I do, and I need to discover the one that I have. And I better figure out how to develop it.

When we get together next time, what we’re going to do, we’re going to roll up our sleeves, and we’re going to learn to discover your spiritual gift. We’re going to learn how they fit together, and how they work. And then, we’re going to learn how to deploy your spiritual gift. And my prayer for you is that you’ll learn to walk in the good works that God prepared for you in advance.