Being made new starts with allowing God to tell you who you are. The truth can hurt, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good for us. It can be hard for us (and our egos) to hear that we are dead spiritually when we feel very alive physically. But accepting God’s definition of our spiritual state opens up the door for us to receive the other half of the Good News: that God takes dead people and makes them alive. He doesn’t stop there, either. He continues to make us into what He intended when He first designed ­us—­His ­masterpieces—­so that we can display His redeeming work and power in a world that desperately needs examples of the way to change. No boasting here; He is the Redeemer, and we are His redeemed and cherished masterpieces.