MASTERPIECE This morning, I arose with the intention to write this article on my mind. I sought Holy Spirit for what we should write about today. I told him, “I wish to be an empty canvas upon which He creates His artistry.” That was the beginning of that which you are about to read. When I asked to be an “empty canvas”, there were two purposes in that prayer. I wish to be whitewashed of my human nature which would tend to write from the socialized, preconceived, incorrect ideas of God which certainly have their places in my mind. I have always thought that becoming a born-again believer would be terrific if we could remove all the ungodly stuff we learned and experienced over our lives. It would be great to start anew with an empty canvas. Yet, as I have learned more about “work[ing] out my own salvation” (see Phil. 2:12); I realize all of that stuff makes me who I am in Christ. Perhaps He was painting this image in spite of my socialization and poor choices. Father is the true artist. I long to see the artistry of what you are about to read to be His and His alone. The picture He paints for you, has the ability to touch that area of your soul which needs Him today, whether you know it or not. That said, here is my prayer to the Father as I begin to write, “This ‘Preacher’ seeks ‘to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly’” (see Eccl. 12:10). I wish to present Christ as He truly is. My “empty canvas” idea comes from Ephesians 2:10 which reads, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” In his book titled The Book of Mysteries, Jonathan Cahn discusses this on Day 74. “…in the original Greek, it says we are His poiema, which means that which is made, something fashioned, crafted together, someone’s workmanship, as in a masterpiece…. From poiemacomes the word poem.” We are the very poetry of Almighty God. Isn’t this beautiful? Interestingly, in the New Living Translation this verse reads, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” I dare to say this brings more clarity to the intent of Paul’s writing to the Ephesian church. Based on this, we did become an empty canvas the day we came to believe in Jesus as our Savior. Have you ever heard the saying, “It won’t write itself”? We, as the poem/masterpiece /workmanship of God did not write/paint/shape ourselves. Our Lord wrote this masterpiece “long ago” as it reads. Continuing in the NLT, if we back up to Ephesians 1:4, we see that, “Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.” This poem was written before creation! We definitely did not write ourselves. The Lord takes away any doubt of Who wrote our lives in Christ. We are truly the masterpiece! All mankind is made in the image of God. “And God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after our likeness…’ So, God created man in His image, in the image of God created He him, male and female created He them” (Gen. 1:26a, 27). The Hebrew word here for “image” is, selem. In my research of this word, I found some interesting things. There has been much said a bout portions of the meaning; words like image, likeness. You may find it interesting that it also has a figurative meaning of semblance and empty (see blueletterbible.com). Perhaps empty like a canvas? Let us dig deeper into selem. According to BrownDriver-Briggs Lexicon, it is something cut out. Are we the cut out of God? Eve was somewhat cut out of Adam: the Bride from the Bridegroom. I liken this to the Church from Christ. The etymology shows it comes “from an unused root meaning to shade.” [I think of Adam and Eve hearing God’s voice as He walked in the “cool” of the day (Gen. 3:8). By the way, I dare say His voice was the “cool”. The Hebrew word transliterates “breath”. That is something to discuss another time.] Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon state it to be an image, likeness (so called from its shadowing forth). This source also shows it to be a shadow. [Another rabbit trail: in Acts 5:15, people brought the sick into the streets in hopes the shadow of Peter would fall upon them. Perhaps they had faith in the shadow of the shadow (image) of God.] So, here we are; the workmanship, the masterpiece of the Master. Please note: the image cut out of God, His shadow, the “empty” of Him is true of all mankind. The way I interpret Ephesians 2:10, we only become the poem and masterpiece after we are “in Christ Jesus”. If you are not in Christ, you are likely finding yourself empty. Those of us who believe Jesus redeemed us from our fallen, sinful nature; express the lost as having an empty hole in them which can only be filled by Jesus. Based on what we have learned today, that is the absolute truth. It is my prayer that this teaching will not cause you to see yourself with vanity. No, just the opposite. I pray it will help you see the beauty of His holiness. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20 NIV). Artistic masterpieces are known by the name of the artist (i.e. Rembrandt). Rembrandt painted from his imagination. We are the masterpiece of the IMAGE – nation of Father God! I leave you with excerpts from Jonathan Cahn’s book, Day 74 (referenced earlier). “Let your life emanate from the Author of your life. Let it flow out of the heart of the Author. Let His Spirit move you. Let His love become the impulse of all you do. Let it flow with rhyme and beauty, and you’ll become His masterwork… the Poem of God.” u GLAD TIDINGS 7 OCTOBER 2026 Signs of Life from The King's Highway Evangelistic Ministries SARA GOLDSTEIN Hold on to the everlasting arms They’ll never let you go In the arms of Jesus, you will find The greatest love you’ve known He’ll give you strength and help you stand When it seems you’ve had enough The comfort of His love is real When the road of life is rough When the cup is dry and you can’t go on And you just want to hide away The Saviour is near, He knows your need He sees your heart’s dismay His words are words of life and peace When all around looks dark A lamp to your feet, His word will be A light upon your path Hold on to the everlasting arms They’ll never let you go He’ll keep you safe from all alarm Because He loves you so u by Christine V. Mitchell The Everlasting Arms
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