By Kevin Harris, pastor of the Illawarra Community Baptist Church in Wollongong, NSW
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Romans 9:21
‘Why do you evangelical Christians love the Jewish people so much?’ I was recently asked. I replied that God has blessed the world (Genesis 12:2-3) by giving us the Bible (Romans 3:2) and the Saviour (Romans 9:5) through them. No finer gifts have ever been given to mankind. What an honour is theirs!
Romans chapters 9 through 11 is a God-inspired essay on the nation of Israel. It is important to remember that it has nothing to do with our salvation and everything to do with God’s plans for the nation of Israel. Calvinists would do well to grasp the difference.
In verse 13 the Spirit of God paraphrases Malachi 1:2-3 when He says, ‘Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.’ That word translated hated does not have the sense in which we’d say it today, but simply means that He did not choose Esau. Instead He chose Israel to fulfil a special purpose. They were God’s chosen instrumentality to spread His fame to the world.
‘So why had the Lord turned to the Gentiles?’, verse 14 asks. In reply, He quotes from Exodus 33:19 to say that He would have mercy on whomever He was pleased to have mercy. Verse 16 concludes, ‘So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.’ God picks His human tools not according to our purposes (‘him that willeth’) or effort (‘him that runneth’).
He next uses Pharaoh as an illustration (vv. 17-18). God is able to use a stubborn ruler to spread His fame. The point is, God has the right to choose us and use us as He sees best.
That’s when we come to today’s verse.
Just as the potter may decide what he wants to make, God has the right to form each one of us to do a special job for Him. As the potter makes some of his creations to serve food, and others to be chamber pots, so God can decide our function in His over-arching ‘master plan.’
I do well to discover His purpose for my life, and get busy fulfilling it to His pleasure.
Father, You are a wise Potter. Thank You for having a master plan for the world, with everything moving to a glorious finish line. Thank You for my part in that plan. Help me to do what You want me to do. I say with the songwriter, ‘Have Thine own way, Lord. Have Thine own way. Thou art the Potter. I am the clay. Mould me and make me after Thy will, while I am waiting yielded and still.’ I ask this in the Name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
This article was written by Kevin Harris Dapto pastor of Illawarra Community Baptist Church.