Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
Truth to Learn
God made us, we did not make Him. He has the right to make us and use us however He sees fit.
Behind the Words
“Potter” is translated from the Greek word kerameus, which refers to “someone who shapes clay into useful or artistic objects, that is, a potter.”
“Clay” is from pēlos, which means “wet muddy clay.”
The word translated “lump” is phuroma, which refers to “a mixture of liquid and solid that is kneaded.” The same word is used to describe a mass of clay and a mass of bread dough.
Meaning Explained
In explaining the previous verse we noted that what Paul said was, “Now wait a minute! Who are you to argue with God?” Do we have the right to tell God that He made a mistake? Do we have the right to tell the perfect, eternal, sinless, all knowing, all powerful God that He is wrong?
That is arguing from the human point of view. Paul now completes the argument by making it from God’s point of view. He does this by making reference to another Old Testament passage. This one is also quoted from Isaiah:
For all of us have become as an unclean thing, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy rag; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, who stirring himself up to take hold of You; for You have made us waste away because of our iniquities. But now, O LORD, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand. (Isaiah 64:6-8)
In making this argument Paul is clearly showing that God is the one who has made us and not the other way around. Since He made us, He is the potter and we are the clay. This in not just a metaphorical statement. We really are made of clay. Our father Adam was made from the dirt.
And Jehovah God formed the man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)
In today’s verse Paul is declaring that God, as the potter, has the power and the right to make one vessel (man or woman) unto a dishonorable end and another one to an honorable end.
As we have said before, this expresses a big God, little man perspective. Unfortunately, today it is in vogue to believe in a big man, little God perspective, where we are the ones in control and we tell God what we want Him to do. But that’s not the way it really is! We have “turned it upside down.”
Application
Many Christians today would rather skip over this and the following verses because they don’t fit with their own image of who God is. Who are we to tell God how to act? God is the one who is in control, and He will do as He pleases. He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy and whom he wants to He will harden. He makes one vessel unto honor, pardoning him or her by His grace, and He makes another vessel unto dishonor, condemning him or her to Hell for his or her sinfulness and impenitent heart.
Who are we to tell God, “That’s not fair!”?
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved
