We have all heard the expressions, ‘made to order’, ‘custom designed’ or ‘custom fit’. In the world of fashion, a tailored suit is always to be desired over something just off the rack. These phrases all center around the truth that something that is designed for a unique purpose, or to meet some special need, is far more valuable and desirable than a common, one-size-fits-all item.
The Bible declares that man was uniquely designed, in the image of God and after His likeness, and certainly He made us on purpose, for a purpose. The psalmist recognized that he was “fearfully and wonderfully made”, that we have all been “knit together” by the hand of a loving master weaver. All of God’s best talent went in to making us, but the beauty of His crowning creation has been marred by our sin. Our flaws are such that a simple reformation would not do; we require nothing less than regeneration, a new birth, to restore His image in us, and to get us ‘on track’ towards fulfilling the purpose for which He made us.

This new creation is only possible by the redemptive work of the Son of God. His death on the cross, and subsequent resurrection, are the basis on which He can do a true ‘total makeover’ of the sinner. By grace through faith, we enter in to a relationship with Christ, and what happens then is nothing short of amazing: “old things pass away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5.17). In new life in Christ, we find purpose; we fulfill the reason for which He came, which was, “that men might have life (that is mere survival), and that they might have it more abundantly (that is thriving)”.