Key Verse: Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Redemption means not only that we have been bought back, set free, and made new — it also means that we belong to the Redeemer. He paid the price, so we’re His. We are the product of God’s plan, His workmanship. And the means of “working” us into shape was the atonement provided by Christ on Calvary. We’re new creations with a new purpose: “good works.” What’s more, the process — redemption by Christ, new creation in Christ, new purpose in Christ — is something an omniscient (all-knowing) God included in His sovereign plan (“God prepared beforehand”). God’s initiative and grace flood the closed system we call “the universe” — all we have to do is trust and obey. And it’s wise to do it now. There is coming a day when everyone, sang and sinner alike, will be called to account.

When the account is settled, there will be no one in Heaven boasting about his own or someone else’s good works. Rather, all the redeemed host will have one common response: they will prostrate themselves before the throne of God and say something like, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being” (Rev. 4:11).

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians.2:8, 9). We put our trust in our Redeemer, not in ourselves. We walk in the sunshine of His love — not because we have earned it, but merely because we have accepted it. It is a gift from God.