"MADE" (http://made.mtv.com) chronicles the challenges and accomplishments that young people face as they attempt a life-changing transformation. To assist on their journey in accomplishing their "makeover", MTV provides a coach who doubles as a mentor.The basic story line of Made is to take a person who is NOT something and help them become something - like a girly-girl 'princess' who becomes a motocrosser, or a geeky girl becoming a skateboard chick. With each episode the person being Made is pushed to the limit with hard work. Sometimes they are all ready to give up - but in the end, their hard work pays off and they are TRANSFORMED.
So, here was my take.
Like the Made characters, we are all deficient. We have inherited Adam's sin, we battle the sin nature, and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We are in need of a makeover.
UNlike made, we are NOT transformed by our hard work! While religion may tell us that we must do more and work harder - Isaiah said that all of that good, hard work amounts to a pile of rags! It is the Gospel that 'fixes' us.
(Unpack our coming to Christ by His work in us and in His work For us here)
And while religion may then tell us, OK you have come to Christ by faith, now you must work hard to stay there, or to pay Him back - the Gospel says NOPE. God is working in you to shape you into the image of Christ. Made says work hard - the Gospel says, Behold Jesus (II Cor 3:18).
So in the end we are Made by Jesus alone.
