Rom 9-The Potter and the Clay

| The Potter and the Clay! Romans 9:19-21

August 12, 2007 (New International Version ) 19One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” 20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?  PRAY Scripture Memory:Romans 9:20 (NIV) – Who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?  Intro:How many of you have ever gotten a shot? Which is more painful, when your arm is tensed up? Or when it is relaxed?When learning a movement, do we learn better by relaxing and allowing our bodies to moved by someone who knows what needs to happen, or by resisting and staying uptight? 1. The Potter2. The Clay3. The Mystery1. The Potter☞    Divine SovereigntyØ    DefinitionGod’s absolute control over all things and all created beings; His absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure (Easton Bible Dictionary)Websters: Supreme power; freedom from external controlThe concept of sovereignty involves the entire plan of God in all of its intricate details of design and outworking. (Ryrie)  Ø    ImplicationsThe fact that God is sovereign over all things speaks to the fact that God is not answerable to us—and we don’t like that!To judge the validity of God’s actions is to imply that man is more righteous than God; to judge the wisdom of God’s movements is to imply that man is wiser than God. (KJV Commentary)Yet we do just that all the time!!!Tiny man—whose life is just a breath, whose history proves over and over that despite all his learning and technological triumphs he repeatedly makes colossal errors and falls into unspeakable barbarisms—this puny man stands before the God who knows the end from the beginning, who has never learned anything because he knows everything, who is the perfection of wisdom and love—and talks back to him. How absurd! (R. Kent Hughes)Can anything be more presumptuous than for us to infer that we have greater wisdom than God?!? In heaven none doubt the sovereignty of the King Eternal, but all fall on their faces to do him homage. (Spurgeon) Yet we presume to say what God can or cannot do!!! Ø    Sovereignty and Human ResponsibilityGod’s sovereignty does not excuse us from responsibility. Pharaoh had great opportunities to learn about the true God and trust Him, yet he chose to rebel. Paul did not develop this aspect of truth here because his theme, here, was divine sovereignty, not human responsibility. The one does not deny the other, even though our finite minds may not fully grasp them both. (Wiersbe) ☞    Divine ProvidenceØ    Providence and PurposeGod has a design, a purpose, in every life.God does not waste his clay. Ø    Providence and FatalismCtr. Fatalism & providence – “If I am to be saved, I shall be saved whether I try or not; and if I am to be damned, I shall be damned whether I try or not.”Explain fallacy in this train of thought: We cannot believe because we WILL not…No one who does not seek God will find Him…However, we need to understand that even our desire to do so is to HIS glory, not ours.Being a Christian is not something which should make anyone proud…Providence is intensely PERSONAL. Fate is intensely IMpersonal.We can have no greater security against God’s power than His own attributes. God will do His creatures no injustice; but this is because justice is a part of His own character. Our security for being treated justly by God is in Himself. (Haldane) 2. The Clay☞    On Molding ClayDescribe the process of shaping clay into a pot…The goal is to create something useful out of that which is useful only in its potential.The way a potter shapes his pots, softening and shaping the clay.The wheel of time spins fast, but not carrying us away, changing, but not destroying…In providence there are wheels within wheels. We do not understand their meaning. The clay is pressed in a solid base, into a dainty rim, but it is difficult to see what the final outcome will be till all is finished.Something which, in our eyes, is indispensable is taken away; something which, to us, seems needless is added. But out of the dizzy whirl, the rush and confusion of life, God is steadily working out His purpose. (Wiersbe)That we are all in the hand of God as the clay in the potter’s hand, is humbling to the pride of man, yet nothing can be more self–evidently true. (Haldane)How so? – We want to believe that we are in control. However… |   | Philosophers can discern no higher end in creating man than that of making him happy. But the chief end of the potter in molding his vessels has a reference to himself, and God’s chief end in making man is His own glory. (Haldane)NOTE: God will not break His vessels in pieces as long as they are fit for any use, as long as they are moldable (teachable). ☞    On Being ClayAll mankind are represented here as originally being a part of the same lump of clay. However, it also speaks of a great difference between them. Where does this difference come from? The clear answer from this text: It is God who makes the difference. Ø    On Being Moldable (teachable) - Resistance is futile… - Resisting only makes it harder and more painfulThere are afflictions which crush a man for a time, soften his heart and make it pliable to be molded into a new form.Other similar biblical metaphors: Refining precious metals, A Father’s discipline…Modern metaphors: the good coach, the surgeonThe most polished mirrors best reflect His glory.Happiness comes with acceptance of God’s sovereign, loving hand in all the circumstances of lifeEccl. 3:22 (NIV) – There is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him? Eccl. 5:18-19 – it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. Beware of the danger of becoming hardened. Ø    On Being Clean2 Tim. 2:20-21 (NCV) - 20 In a large house there are not only things made of gold and silver, but also things made of wood and clay. Some things are used for special purposes, and others are made for ordinary jobs. 21 All who make themselves clean from evil will be used for special purposes. They will be made holy, useful to the Master, ready to do any good work. He is dishonored when the gifts He gives are abused, when His image degraded, when His work marred. 3. The Mystery☞    What this Parable does NOT TeachØ    That we are merely passive recipients of the potter’s work. We each make conscious choices…Ø    That God makes people into vessels fit for Hell. He does not “force His creatures to act against their wills.” (WCF 3.1)☞    What this Parable DOES TeachØ    That God is sovereignØ    That God—the great creator of all things—upholds, directs, disposes and governs all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least. He exercises this most wise and holy providence according to His infallible foreknowledge and the free and unchangeable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy. (WCF 5.1) ☞    The Mystery of this ParableLet it be sufficient for [the Lord’s people] to know that God has willed both the salvation of the elect, and the destruction of the wicked, although they are not able to fathom the depths of the ways of God. (Haldane)It must be received on God’s testimony, and not on our ability to justify it. (Haldane)“Mere human reason,” says Luther to Erasmus, “can never comprehend how God is good and merciful; and therefore you make to yourself a God of your own fancy, who hardens nobody, condemns nobody, pities everybody. You cannot comprehend how a just God can condemn those who are born in sin, and cannot help themselves, but must, by a necessity of their natural constitution, continue in sin, and remain children of wrath. The answer is, God is incomprehensible throughout, and therefore His justice, as well as His other attributes, must be incomprehensible. It is on this very ground that St. Paul exclaims, ‘O the depth of the riches of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!’ Now, His judgments would not be past finding out, if we could always perceive them to be just.” (Haldane) Summary / Review:God, the potter in this parable, is sovereign over all things and all created beings. He has the absolute right to do all things according to His own good pleasure. He is NOT answerable to us in any way. It is extremely presumptuous for anyone to infer that they know better than God!However, this does not deny or excuse us from our responsibility for our own choices.We also need to understand and remember that God, as the potter, has design, a purpose in every one of our lives. This is intensely personal. Nothing in our lives is EVER out of control. He is never surprised by the course of events in our lives.As a potter shapes his pots, sometimes by pounding, sometimes by squeezing, sometimes by shaping, so also God shapes us through every circumstance of life. There are no accidents, no waste. A Truth to Remember:  God is using every circumstance of your life to mold you into som ething beautiful. A Challenge to Consider: Are you willing to allow God to define truth, even when it doesn’t fit into your natural way of thinking, to acknowledge the truth that HIS glory is what really matters?One thing I heard this morning was… |