Puppet or Partner

Puppet or Partner
March 11, 2013
Ephesians 2:10  "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

The Master of the Universe has created each and every one of us.  We were all knit together by the Heavenly Father just for Himself, for His glory.  We were created to worship Him, serve Him, and bring Him honor.  He gave us breath, creating some for noble purposes and some for common purposes.  Our lives are not our own; we were bought with a price, redeemed from death and despair.    He has called us to be co-laborers with His Son, Jesus Christ, to advance His kingdom and fulfill His master plan.  The Lord is sovereign and no plan can come against His own.   He is all powerful and we are very finite, infinitesimal even, compared to His Majesty.  All of this, these words and imagery, might suggest we are the Lord's puppets, pawns.

Some people would argue against the case for being pawns in the Lord's planetary game of chess.  They want to feel good about themselves and so they might call themselves partners in the Lord's work.  I cannot find one Scripture where the Lord considers us partners with Him.  Partnerships can only be formed by equals.  You cannot harness a squirrel and an ox in the same plow.  We are not the Lord's equals; we are not His partners.  Yes, we have been called into fellowship THROUGH Jesus Christ, but we are not partners with the Lord.

If we are not His partners then can we be satisfied with being His puppets, doing His bidding?  I would suggest we are something totally different than a puppet or pawn.  We are the result of His craftsmanship, His workmanship.  He fashioned us and then loved us.  Consider a sculptor pulling the veil off his masterpiece to reveal the result of his life's work.  The cover comes down and all those who see the creation stand in awe at what he has made.  The sculptor falls in love with it, not because it serves him like a robot, but because of it's beauty, because he labored for so long to fashion it just right.  The Lord created us, spending laborious hours fashioning us just right.  But then He did something a sculptor or puppeteer cannot do.  He granted us a free will, releasing us out like butterflies into a garden.  We are not puppets, puppets do not have a free will and a puppeteer can have no loving relationship with a marionette.

We have been released like butterflies but the Lord desires deeply to have a loving relationship with us.  The free will allows us to fly away if we wish; He does not require us to stay with Him in the garden.  But He longs for us, pines for our affection as His children.  When He created us, He became our Father and we are intended to be a family, close-knit and with a common purpose.  He already loved us when He created us, but He hopes we would love Him in return and be united with Him in heart.

The question is not whether we are His puppets or His partners.  The question is, will we live with Him in His garden and love Him like His children?

Don't take my word for it; look it up:   Joshua 24:15, 2 Samuel 7:22, Isaiah 29:16 & 45:9, John 8:36, Acts 17:25, Romans 8:17-22, Romans 9:21, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Tim 2:20,  Hebrews 6:17, 1 John 4:10 & 19