My daughter gave me a gift for Christmas of a model steam locomotive. It is of laser-cut plywood, and you build it with only your hands – no tools required. I enjoy working with my hands a lot, so I was excited to begin work on the little train engine. And I REALLY appreciated not having to break out my tools and glue to do so. There’s something about hand-made things. They’re not perfect, and they’re never two the exact same, but they demonstrate patience and personal engagement that is oftentimes missing from store-bought, finished goods.
I was not disappointed, either. The model began to come together and as I worked, I was reminded of several passages that speak of the work of God’s hands.
The first that came to mind was Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” God didn’t just “poof” this world into existence, he made it by hand. I know that both Genesis 1 and John 1 refer to the Lord speaking and it was so, but many other passages refer to a more hands-on approach (pardon the pun). Psalm 143:5 speaks of the things that God does as “the works of his hands.” Regarding humans, Psalm 139:13-15 refers to God’s work in creating us as knitting and weaving. Job speaks of the Lord’s impartiality because we are all “the work of his hands” (Job 34:19). In Isaiah, we are likened to clay, shaped by the Potter (Isaiah 64:8). There is no doubt that in some real sense, we are all hand-made.
I guess that implies a number of things. None of us are going to be the same, even identical twins. None of us will be without unique characteristics that reflect the One who made us. None of us can argue with how someone else was made or claim that we were somehow made better or worse. The same Artist has been at work in each.
Now, we are all aware that we live in a broken world, especially under the scourge of the pandemic. Every one of us has brokenness of different kinds to deal with. We deal with godless tendencies and desires in ourselves and others. We struggle with a world that pushes us to conform to its anger and hatred. We live with the consequences of our often-self-inflicted damage daily. There are times when it seems impossible to recover. I recall a proverb that a good friend of mine used to say: “Once the dish is broken, it can never be mended perfectly again.”
While that may be true of pottery, blessedly, it isn’t true when it comes to God’s handiwork. The original Artist may not be able to return us broken ones back to our original state, but He offers to remake us in even greater beauty – beauty akin to His beauty. We are begun in his image, and in spite of the disasters of life, we can be re-made to be even more beautiful. He offers to make us like His Son, Jesus.
The way Paul described it in his second letter to the Corinthian church (II Corinthians 5:17), He makes us completely new! “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!” We are not repaired; we are made new!
What an amazing promise! In my life, I sense that work has already begun. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward eagerly to that day when God fulfills that promise completely! It will be a special moment.
If you are walking with Jesus, rejoice in what God has given you in Him – to be hand-made NEW by our loving Creator!
If you have never taken God up on His offer, please consider doing so today! He will begin the remaking as soon as you agree. And the results will be nothing short of astounding.