- A potter
forms a lump of clay into a vessel or pot to be used as the potter pleases
a.
We were literally created as vessels of
clay to be used by God however He pleases
i.
“Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)
ii.
“You
turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘You did not make me’? Can the pot say to the potter, ‘You know nothing’?” (Isaiah 29:16)
iii.
“Woe
to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds
among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work
say, ‘The potter has no hands’?”
(Isaiah 45:9)
iv.
“But
who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say
to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you
make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the
same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?” (Romans
9:20-21)
b.
We “turn things upside down” when we
(as a pot) argue back with the Potter
i.
Atheists (those who believe there is no
God) essentially say “You did not make me”
ii.
When we think we know better than God
we are saying “You know nothing”
iii.
Not submitting to how we were created is
saying “Why did you make me like this?”
c.
A clay pot doesn’t have its own will,
doesn’t do what it wants, doesn’t complain, doesn’t boast, doesn’t seek its own
glory—it simply allows itself to be used how it was created
d.
We were created to be good husbands, good
wives, and good parents at home; to work with our hands and provide for our
family; to serve in our church as we have been uniquely gifted.
- The Sermon
on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7 summarizes how to live as we were
created
a.
“You
are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it
be made salty again? It is no longer
good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
(Matthew 5:13)
i.
If the purpose of salt is to give
flavor to food, what purpose does it serve if it loses its flavor?
ii.
Likewise, what good is man if he is no
longer serving the purpose for which he was created?
b.
Christ’s teaching, particularly in the
Sermon on the Mount, is the truth of how to live according to the purpose which
we were created—to be like salt with flavor
c.
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up
the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)
i.
We are to treat others as we would want
to be treated because we all bear the image of God
ii.
It’s the image of God that gives us the
wisdom to always know how to treat others
- The problem
is that mankind is no longer functioning the way he was originally created
to function
a.
We grow up being accustomed to the way
things are, and assume this is how it has always been
b.
We think that our current state of
being is the normal state
c.
We don’t think anything is wrong with
us and don’t think that we need any help
d.
We believe that our life belongs to us
and that we have the right to live how we want
e.
We don’t want God telling us how to
live, we think God is interfering with our lives
f.
The following statements sound
unreasonable and extreme which indicates that we really are fallen from our
original state of creation
i.
“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but
whoever loses their life for me will
find it.” (Matthew 16:25)
ii.
“Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will
keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25)
iii.
These statements are not extreme is
because our lives never have been our own—our lives have always belonged to God
iv.
To “lose our life” means that we give
our lives back to God who gave us life in the first place
v.
If we give this life back to Him then
He will give us eternal life with Him—if we live without Him then we truly will
live without Him
g.
“For in him we live and move and have
our being.” (Acts 17:28)
i.
We are alive only because God gave us
life and continues to give us life each day
ii.
We can see, hear, move, think, and
function only because God is allowing us to
iii.
Each day is a blessing that God is
allowing, but we take our days for granted, expecting to be alive tomorrow
iv.
We not only live from day-to-day but
from breath-to-breath and from heartbeat-to-heartbeat
v.
The rich think they did it themselves
but what if they were disabled? What if they had been born with a chronic
mental disorder? What if they had been born with a disease that prevented them
from having the strength to work?
h.
God created us weak, frail, and
completely dependent upon Him
i.
Even things so small as microscopic
organisms and diseases can quickly take our lives
ii.
“Our days may come to seventy years, or
eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and
sorrow, for they quickly pass ... Teach us to number our days, that we may gain
a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:10, 12)
iii.
Our lives pass by so quickly, we need
to make every day count for God
i.
God is not in a distance watching—He is
actually sustaining all things
i.
“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
(Colossians 1:17)
ii.
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory
and the exact representation of his being, sustaining
all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for
sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:3)
iii.
The longer I walk with God and draw
closer to Him, the more I see Him working in my life
iv.
After this life is over, we will be
shocked to learn just how involved God really was in our lives
- Jesus
Christ is the prototype and example of how we are to live
a.
He became a man and lived without sin just
as man had been created to live
b.
He is called “the last Adam” (1
Corinthians 15:45), He lived as Adam had been created to live
c.
He lived and functioned the most
normally of any human ever
- God is
glorified and we find fulfillment when we submit to being used as we were
created
a.
The more we are restored to the image
of God the more we glorify God
i.
“A man ought not to cover his head,
since he is the image and glory of God;
but woman is the glory of man.” (1 Corinthians 11:7)
ii.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
(Romans 3:23)
iii.
We glorify God when we joyfully submit
to how we were created
b.
Fulfillment, contentment, and joy comes
by submitting ourselves to be used as we were created