Remembering the Potter

 “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Romans 9:20 – 21



There is an old saying “don’t forget from where you come”, but I say, “don’t forget how you got here”. The Lord said, “who art thou that repliest against God” This means – Do not contradict or dispute, answer again, or reply against God. Paul goes on to explain what he meant in verse 21, “Hath not the potter power over the clay”. The thinking here is, God has the right to do with His creation as He pleases. God, the creator of all things, molded and made everything and everyone as it pleased Him, to best bring glory to Him. We as human beings are whatever we are by the will and grace of God. From our gender, to our race, to our nationality, to our accomplishments in life are by the grace, power, and ordination of God. We read in Acts 15:18 “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” This means without question that anything God had as a thought or in accomplishing, it was settled with God before He ever created the world. While some will have you to believe that God works on chance or that certain things will happen, that certain things will not happen, or that totally depraved humans will choose Him for salvation, God says different. Things are not “know unto God” if He does not know and control them in eternity past. While people fight the Sovereignty of God, they should understand it controls everything. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every purpose under heaven God has appointed or ordained it not only it to be, but the accomplishment of it. The truth is, nothing happens or is accomplished outside of God ordaining it and bringing it to past. Therefore, we are to be content with what we are in life, my life is what God has made it. I chose nothing, nor have I personally accomplished anything on my own. We all know and have quoted Hebrews 13:5 “…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Without question one of the most glorious promises of God, but the first part of the scriptures is why God made this promise, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have…” We are to live in contentment with what we have in life, because it is what we have by God’s grace. Everything, even that happenings of the world, even the leaders of the world are in the hand and the willful doings of the Sovereign God.

Now if you will, I would like to turn our attention to Christians. As Christians we must still recognize God as the Potter and we are the clay, created as God has chosen. I for one understand the pride of Christians, it is the depraved pride we were born with, called selfishness. Thinking to highly of ourselves, wanting to believe that we have worked hard and accomplished much for the Lord. But we all would be wise to remember these words, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Romans 12:3 It is in this area that we as Christians, Ministers, and churches can and sometimes do fail God. Our selfish pride can cause us to forget the workings of the Potter; Oh Lord please do not allow us to forget You and Your works in our life! Our greatest show of faith is in our contentment, understanding that God has made us as He has chosen, and we have had nothing of our own to do with our accomplishments, outside of God’s grace. The Apostle Paul blessed my heart with these words, "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." 1 Corinthians 15:10 If one single person had reason to glory it was Paul, his life was glorious indeed. Paul was not bragging when he said, “but I laboured more abundantly than they all:” because he said right after that “yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” Paul recognized his hard labor but still did not take any credit, NONE, because he humbly credit it all to God. No matter how hard we work in advancing in God’s word personally or as a church, it is all the Potters grace and creation in us. "Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:9 – 10 This is exactly what Paul was talking about in his own humility in 1 Corinthians 15:10. Paul said it is not me, it is not my labor, it is God’s glorious grace that made me what I am! However, if pride steps in, we will begin to think more highly than we ought of ourselves, allowing us to believe that we are somehow better that others of God’s grace. No one is perfectly aligned with God’s word, NO ONE! I have asked our church many time, “if we have one bible, one doctrine, one teacher in the Holy Spirit, then why do we all differ in our belief? Why does one church differ from another and why do true Believers in Jesus Christ differ and argue about the meaning of the scriptures? Paul answers this in 1 Corinthians 12:4 - 7 "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." God does not allow us to understand the complete truth, if He did there would be no difference in our belief, absolutely none. True humility for Christians, churches, and Ministers is to mirror ourselves after Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:10. Understanding “we are what we are by God’s grace, not just believing it but also acting upon it and thinking with grace. It is only by grace that I am a Christian, or any worker in the Lord’s church, or Pastor or Minister of any sort”. Understanding that God’s grace had made me what I am and that I cannot advance beyond that grace. And not allowing our differences in understanding of the doctrine to affect our love for one another. Christian love is in Jesus Christ and nothing else, we should never allow our understanding of the scriptures separate our love one for another. I am not talking about in the Lords churches, but personally The Lord’s churches must be protected from heresy. And while we may not sometimes admit it, sometimes our pride gets in our way. Let us not bring shame to God’s wonderful grace and His gracious workings in our life as Christians. And always understanding and continuously reminding ourselves of these words, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain…”. When talking to other Christians that you disagree doctrinally, find that common ground in Jesus Christ. All Christians believe alike that Jesus Christ is Saviour.  

“Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.” - Charles Spurgeon