作家亞瑟·布魯克斯（Arthur C. Brooks）在《大西洋》雜誌上，寫到自己參訪台灣故宮博物院的經驗，那裡收藏的中國藝術品數量之多可說是世上數一數二的。博物館的導覽員問他：「如果我請你想像一件還沒開始動工的藝術品，你會想到什麼？」布魯克斯回答：「我會想到空白的油畫布。」這位導覽員說：「我們可以換個角度想：藝術品早就存在了，而藝術家的任務只是將作品顯露出來。」

以弗所書2章10節中的「工作」一詞，也可被譯為「所造之物」或「傑作」，這個希臘語（poiēma）就是現今英語「詩歌」（poetry）一字的語源。我們原是上帝創造的傑作、活潑的詩歌，但如今我們卻因罪而黯然失色，因為我們「死在過犯罪惡之中」（1節）。導覽員的話也可以這麼說：「我們這些傑作早已存在，而上帝這位藝術家的工作就是將我們顯露出來。」確實，上帝正在修復我們這些祂的傑作：「上帝既有豐富的憐憫，……便叫我們與基督一同活過來。」（4-5節）

在經歷各樣挑戰和困難時，我們能因知道上帝這位藝術家正在動工而得安慰：「因為你們立志行事，都是上帝在你們心裡運行，為要成就祂的美意」（腓立比書2章13節）。要知道上帝正在你心裡動工，為要顯明祂的傑作。

Writing in The Atlantic, author Arthur C. Brooks tells of his visit to the National Palace Museum in Taiwan, which contains one of the largest collections of Chinese art in the world. The museum guide asked, “What do you think of when I ask you to imagine a work of art yet to be started?” Brooks said, “An empty canvas, I guess.” The guide replied, “There’s another way to view it: The art already exists, and the job of artists is simply to reveal it.”

In Ephesians 2:10, the word handiwork, sometimes translated as “workmanship” or “masterpiece,” is from the Greek word poiēma, from which we derive our word poetry. God has created us as works of art, living poems. However, our art has become obscured: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins” (v. 1). To paraphrase the words of the museum guide, “The art [of us] is already there, and it’s the job of the Divine Artist to reveal it.” Indeed, God is restoring us, His masterpieces: “God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive” (vv. 4–5).

As we go through challenges and difficulties, we might take comfort in knowing that the Divine Artist is at work: “It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). Know that God is working in you to reveal His masterpiece.