The ​Making of a Masterpiece

God has given me many ministry opportunities over the years, and one of those ministries was working in a museum of Christian art. Ironically my husband was the artist in our family; he taught art in Christian schools; and he even proposed marriage to me at an art museum.

When we moved to Greenville for my husband to pastor, our church congregation was small. To help with finances I began working at the Museum & Gallery at Bob Jones University.  I received a lot of art training, gave tours, and became captivated with everything art.
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The M&G collection is made up of Old Master paintings, tapestries, etchings, stained glass, and even furniture. It was interesting to learn that each art form goes through a process for completion, and there are specific tools used to accomplish the final masterpiece. 

As Christians Our Artist is God

• He is taking us through a process of sanctification or completion. Psalms 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.”
• He uses specific tools to accomplish this. Hebrews 4:12, “For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness…that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
• Our lives should be a direct reflection of Him. Jeremiah 61:3, “[He] gives them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they might be called trees of righteousness…that He might be glorified.”

A Fascinating Type of Artwork is Etching

Let’s look at how an etching is done as we think about God making us a masterpiece for His glory.

1. First the artist takes a polished metal plate and applies ground or resin to it. Spiritually--At salvation our lives are a new blank slate (2 Corinthians 5:17) and we are covered with Christ’s righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).
   
   
2. Next a sharp etching tool is used to draw into the ground. Spiritually--After we are covered in Christ’s righteousness, He begins making us into His image with the etching needle of God’s Word (Hebrews 4:12, 13).
   
   
3. The next step involves acid.  The plate is submerged in an acid bath to bite away the layers of metal and chemically engrave the plate. Spiritually--The acid bath is like the trials we go through (James 1:2-4).  These are the times that we really learn who God is and who we are.  It takes these trials to etch Christ’s image on our lives.
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4. Finally the plate is inked and pressure is applied to the artist’s plate and the etched image transfers to the paper for the finished print. Spiritually--Pressure in our lives reveals who we really are, which should be a beautiful picture of Christ likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18).

As our Master Artist takes us through the sanctification process our prayer should be these words from the hymn O to Be Like Thee:

"O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart."

What process has God taken you through, and what specific tools has He used to mold you into a masterpiece of beautiful art for Him?