Potter and Clay (Part 1)
“But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” ~Isaiah 64:8
The Bible is peppered with vivid imagery of God as the potter and us as His clay. This reinforces that God is both our Creator and our Sovereign. This week we will consider how this imagery points to God as our Creator, and next week how it points to God as our Sovereign.
The most striking lesson from this picture is that God is Creator and we are His creatures. “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:8). God’s fingers shaped and molded us atom by atom. He crafted our physical, emotional, and spiritual curves and grooves. Just like when Jesus skillfully fashioned wood at the carpenter’s bench, the Triune God fearfully and wonderfully fashioned us after the blueprint in His mind – after His own image.
Remarkably, like the potter in his work-shed, God didn’t need to create us. He didn’t lack when before creation He had yet to step up to His wheel. But God freely created us for His own pleasure. He created us not out of necessity, but because He wanted to delight in His creation and share His glory with us! Astounding.
The obvious conclusion, of course, is that we ought to acknowledge God created us and revere the Creator-creature distinction. We are not gods, we have no autonomy, we don’t belong to ourselves, and we are not an end in ourselves. Rather, we are creatures who belong to God for His sake, and therefore ought to submit to His rule and live for His delight. We ought to fulfill the purpose for which He created us, namely to worship, obey, and enjoy Him. It is so wonderful to live with a true sense of purpose. Evolutionists may invent all manner of fantastical theories, but at the end of the day they are still left with purposeless existence. The reality of creation is intertwined with purpose in creation: when we acknowledge we were created by God, we also appreciate we were created for God.
Another conclusion we can draw is that we are of worth! Just like the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh are valuable because he painted them, we are valuable because we are God’s handiwork. We are “very good” because God, the master potter, created us. Indeed, not only are we precious because He created us, but also because He created us in His image – with immortal souls and in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.
As we approach God’s house to worship Him this coming Sunday, let us not only acknowledge that He is the one who fashioned us with His divine hands, as the potter fashions the clay, but also remember that the very essence of our raison d’être is to live for and worship Him.
Rev. Rob Dykes, Pastor of Preaching & Congregational Care