“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)  To be God’s “workmanship” is to be created out of nothing. With Genesis and the beginning of creation in mind, Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Into the darkness and void of a life of sin God spoke, the light of his Son appeared, and by his Spirit he formed and shaped a new life. By grace you have been saved, not by your own works, but by the work of Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection. 

As Christians we believe, then, that we are a new kind of humanity, born again, not in our own image, but in the image of Jesus Christ. The old has passed away, the new has come in.

In God’s timing, we are born and born again for such a time as his. The works which we are called to do, these “good works” prepared for us, are in part both the reason and the purpose for God saving us when and where he did. They aren’t prepared at the point of becoming Christians.  They’ve been prepared beforehand, before creation, before time, before we were conceived in our mother’s womb.

“To walk in” these good works means more than what we do. It means a way of living. In other words, individually as Christians and corporately as local churches, our lifestyle is one of good works. This is who we are created to be in Christ. We were made for this.

The question, then, becomes, personally and corporately, what are the good works God has prepared for us to do, the good works we were made for?

In general, first and foremost, we are called to surrender our lives. We are to follow Jesus and become like him, not in our own power, but in the power of the Holy Spirit living within us. We are to be transformed in mind and in heart (Romans 12:1). It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us (Galatians 2:20). Our lives in word, thought, and action are to be lived out in obedience, in love, and in worship to God. We are not better than the rest of humanity for living this way, but we are “other,” holy, set apart.

Second, we are called to invest our lives. By invest I mean to take all our resources—health and energy, time and money, knowledge and strength, work and plans, communication and relationships, skills and gifts—and to steward them for the good of our homes, neighborhoods, and cities. All of life is stewardship and all of stewardship can be a proclamation and confession of the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 9:6-15). 

Investing our lives and resources in the good works God has uniquely called us to do will require wisdom, self-control, faith, grit, hope, joy, love, and endurance. Remember, God’s question to us is, “Do you have a mission or does My mission have you?” As we live out his mission for us, it will take on a unique shape and direction. We will begin to see and to sense that the works God has called us to do are not works he has called others to do. There may be similarities, but there will also be differences.