Sowing and Foreloved Workmanship
I saw on Reddit today someone was concerned about what they saw as someone making that person their “religious project” (Reddit). Certainly, it wasn’t clear to which church the post-maker was being invited to, or everything involved in their understanding of “religious,” but the post I read did reflect a sense a resistance to one’s expectations being ruffled, an obstacle which can also be present when people encounter the uncomfortable, yet life-giving, gospel of Christ, “the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes in his name” (esv, kjv). Resistance to the necessary, but surprising new, Is expressed in the words of Frodo , “we don’t want any adventures here” (Tolkien). Del Tackett referred to uninvited happenings when he used the term “stepping on [my] script” (Tackett). Sometimes, though, the storyteller has to edit the story we perhaps thought he should write, and the potter has to reshape the clay to fit it for honorable use in his house. That is because we are his poiema, his new creation, if we are in Christ – and the one who shaped our hearts best makes them anew in the likeness of the Lamb of God, who is also the Lion of Judah (Mounce, Card).
He reigns, and before him all rulers of the earth will bow. It is in acknowledging the lordship of Christ and kneeling to him that we are raised up, and in becoming his workmanship – his project if you will – that we become who we were truly meant and foreloved to be. Really – we are his project?
The term “project” could be understood as consistent with a sense of being viewed as depersonalized or feeling that one’s humanity is unrecognized. To be sure, when we share our faith with others, it is in the context that “God made man in his own image” and our sharing should be consistent with this truth . We have been made, with God as our Creator, and both Creator and Redeemer he has given in human history the Lord Christ to suffer, die, and rise again as the first fruits of the human resurrection. That is the hope we share with people in a lost world. For this hope, Paul has proclaimed, “I am on trial..” (Esv, kjv). Knowing God as our Creator Redeemer, Father, Savior – and friend – does not destroy our humanity, but leads to its resurrection and renovation ; in christ I am a new creation – the new has come; the old has passed away (esv, kjv). The imagery of renewal is not antithetical to the truth that we are human, but is in harmony with all truth, including this one – we are remade, in christ, in the image of the person who was like us in every way except for sin. And also happens to be God. We are made the workmanship of our Creator for the glory of the Word Made Flesh as we shine his light to a world desperately in need of the light that breaks the power of reigning sin and wakes dead hearts to rise out of darkness and praise the one was there at creation’s dawn and who has said in Revelation, ‘Behold- I make all things new” (esv, kjv).
It is an honor to be chosen as the workmanship of God – his project, if you will – but this privilege should lead us in humility. “Remember you were once alienated from the life of God – but he who was rich in mercy has saved you” (esv, kjv). How can we be arrogant in our toward others when we see who we were and what God has done for us ?He has saved us, and freed us, and is preparing for a glorious eternity of praising and delighting in him. To be part of this – to experience it – That is an invitation we can share with others, but we cannot force them to come into the kingdom. We cannot force them to be God’s workmanship. We can tell them the wonderful news and we can pray and we can watch. We can trust that the God who has been faithful through our lives will also be faithful to his Word to save his people from their sins. And that just as he said, his Word will not return void. Some of the seed will fall on rocky ground, and some on soil that has been prepared by the Spirit to yield a bountiful crop, but God’s Word is true and abides with us, always, through Emmanuel – God with us. Not all of those who hear the gospel proclaimed by God’s messengers will experience the joy of hearing God say, “well done, good and faithful” – the message that belongs to those who hear with faith, and are blessed in their doing because of the One who was perfect on their behalf (esv, kjv). Yet he knows the end from the beginning, and no one can pluck his people out of the hands that shape them in grace and faithful love (esv, kjv). Hallelujah to him who sits on the throne – Jesus Christ, the faithful witness and the only mediator between God and man, who is also himself God and Man (esv, kjv). What a glorious mystery (Boswell, et al.).
~ Emily Winslow Cox
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Note: it is possible to be rude while saying words that are the truth, or to still express a fault in what we say despite delivering the good news to someone. “We are called to be fools for Christ, not twits” is a quote I read online, thought I have not re-found the specific page (citation: some one to whom I express here my appreciation). Thankfully, God works through broken vessels to form vessels for his honor and glory. We are his instruments and of grace (esv, kjv).
Afternote: I apologize to my readers that I posted this post before I had edited it more for clarity, spell-checking, etc. Thanks to anyone who has expressed patience while I was edited it live, and may my writing still be a blessing to others.
~ Emily Winslow Cox
Works Cited.
Boswell, Matt. Matt Papa. Michael Bleecker. Come Behold the Glorious Mystery.
Tolkien, JRR. The Hobbit.
Tackett, Del. The truth project.
English Standard Version. Good news publishers, Crossway Bibles, 2001.
King James Version.
Card, Michael. Poiema. https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=michael+card+poeima&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Google Search. “Poeima in Greek.”
. Accessed 14 June 2025.
God Calls it Good 