The Painted New TestamentSample

The Chisel

Growth. You can feel the pain in that word right off the bat. We often give our children the impression that difficulties are to be avoided at all costs and that hard circumstances reflect the absence of God in our lives. But just as a sculptor uses a chisel to chip away the rough exterior to get at the beauty underneath, so God continually shapes us into the image of His Son. It has been said that when Michelangelo was about to begin sculpting his masterpiece, he said, looking at the great block of marble, “David is in there. I must get him out;” the same with us. This is the ministry of Jesus. He’s not only to be understood as a Carpenter in his earthly vocation as a man, but we must also readily accept his chisel as he shapes our lives for the kingdom.

This painting can be pretty hard to look at. Shown is a man in the creation process. This man is not being born, but he is one becoming what he is intended to be. God works on us, as with this man, to chip away at our rough exterior in order to get at the beauty underneath. Jesus gave up everything so that He might chisel and shape into our world a way of life reflecting eternity not mortality.

Jesus’ ministry of remaking us continues into today, and we must remain conscience of His hand as He molds, pounds, wounds, chisels, and lovingly fashions us into His image.