Shall the Clay Instruct The Potter?

The Bible has much to say about the relationship between the Potter (God, mankind’s Creator) and the clay (mankind).  Understanding and keeping this relationship in proper perspective is important because when the clay forgets that it is a product of the hand of the Potter, man sees himself as god and forgets that it is the true Potter, the Creator God of Genesis, who brought him into existence and who sustains him moment by moment.

Take a few seconds to contemplate the miracle of each breath that you take.  In the human, the spiritual and the physical come together; they work together, complementing each other.  Genesis tells us that first, God created physical man from the dust of the ground, and then He breathed into his nostrils the “breath of life.”  Upon the union of the physical body and the miraculous breath of life, man became a living soul, creature, (Strong #5314), made in the image of God (Genesis 2:7).  Yes, every breath we take is evidence that the supernatural world of God is a reality that gives our physical bodies life.  Upon death, the breath leaves the body and returns to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7: “…and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the life’s breath returns to God who gave it.” (NET; see Strong’s definition of Hebrew word #7207.) Yes, each breath we enjoy is a miraculous gift from God, the Potter.

Now, let’s review a few Biblical texts that build upon the metaphor of God being the Potter and man being the pot, the clay.  The prophet Isaiah writes:”

“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker– An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?”  (Isaiah 45:9.)

Therefore, the clay, man, has no authority to quarrel with the Maker, God, concerning what He is making.

Building upon the same theme, under inspiration, the prophet Jeremiah pens the following:

 “Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make it.”  (Jeremiah 18: 3,4.)

Here Jeremiah reminds man that he is the created one and that God is the eternal Creator, the Source of life.

However, we find that many men like to take the role of the Potter while forgetting that they are the clay.

The Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, warns that in the “last days” men shall attempt to take on the authority of the Potter. 2 Timothy 3:1-5: “…’This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (Emphasis mine.)

Therefore, these verses predict a great moral degeneration of society in the last days, that will deny God (the Potter, Creator) and the power of His Word, the Bible.

Following are a few examples of error and denial of God’s power:

1.  Darwin’s theory of Macro Evolution: Humans share a common ancestor with modern African apes, like gorillas and chimpanzees. Some people believe that this common ancestor existed 5 to 8 million years ago. Shortly thereafter, the species diverged into two separate lineages. One of these lineages ultimately evolved into gorillas and chimps, and the other evolved into early human ancestors called hominids (man). (From the Evolution Library on the www.)

2.   Nihilism says, “Don’t believe in anything;” nothing is moral or immoral.  Objective morality and immorality don’t exist; right you are if you think you are. There are no absolutes according to the Nihilist. The term was first used by Turgenev in his novel, “Fathers and Sons” (published in, 1862):   Turgenev contends that a Nihilist is one who bows to no authority, including God the Potter, and accepts no doctrine, however widespread. As you can see, the Nihilists contradict themselves when they say that they reject all doctrines, for they accept their doctrine that “nothing is moral or immoral;” that is, “right you are if you think you are.”

The nihilistic theory forecasts a new social order constructed on the ruins of the old. The spread (1830) of certain philosophical doctrines (Hegel, Saint Simon, Fourier) brought numerous recruits to Nihilism, especially in the universities; in many of the cities, societies were organized to combat absolutism and to introduce moral relativism.

3.  Hedonism, coming from the Greeks, is the belief that self-satisfaction is the greatest good (have fun; satisfy your desires.) Don’t worry about a coming judgment by the Potter.

These philosophies are directly or indirectly, taught in many of America’s public schools, especially in our institutions of higher learning. They have largely set the moral tone of our culture for the last 175 years. These doctrines teach that  man is subject to no ultimate authority other than himself; self has, to a large measure,  attempted to become the Potter.

Such arrogance on the part of man has led to the massive murdering of unborn children in the United States.  In our country, one child is aborted every 26 seconds; this totals  some 1,206,192 each year.  How can this practice be called anything but genocide?

In the early 1900’s,  Ad­e­laide A. Poll­ard  be­lieved that the Lord want­ed her in Af­ri­ca as a mis­sion­a­ry, but she was un­a­ble to raise funds to go. In a confused state of mind, she at­tend­ed a Christian meet­ing, where she heard an el­der­ly wo­man pray, “It’s all right, Lord. It does­n’t mat­ter what You bring in­to our lives; just have Your own way with us.” At home that night, much en­cour­aged, Adelaide wrote a hymn in which she invites all to accept the will of the Potter.  Here are the first two stanzas:

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

(As an aside, I might add that my wife and I were blessed to be selected as missionaries to Uganda, Africa, in the mid 1950’s.  Guthrie Memorial Chapel now has a strong Christian presence in that country.  You may see pictures of the Chapel’s work there by going to www.guthriememorial.org and clicking on “Photo Gallery.”)

Remember, Friend, the Potter gave His Son on the cross of Calvary that you and I might choose eternal life rather than eternal death.

May the Potter give us the spiritual strength that we need to accept salvation through Christ and live daily as ambassadors for Him to a morally confused and dying world.

© 2016 Fillmer Hevener