God as our sovereign Potter has absolute right over us as His pottery; it is crucial for us as believers in Christ to see a vision of God’s sovereignty and realize that we are His vessels made by Him to contain Him.
This week in our morning revival we come to Jer. 18:1-10 where we see a magnificent crystal: God as our Sovereign Potter Making us His Vessels, His Containers, to Contain Him.
God as our Potter has sovereignly created us to be His vessels, His containers, so that we may contain God according to His predestination.
His purpose in creating man was to make man His vessel, His earthen-ware container, for man to contain and be filled with Christ as life for the building up of the Body of Christ as God’s creat corporate vessel for His expression.
In Jer. 15-17 we see that God had to come in and judge and chastise Israel, but there was a controversy between Jeremiah and God, for there was something in Jeremiah that was different from God’s thought regarding Israel.
Jeremiah the prophet was a tender-hearted person, and his tenderheartedness reflected God’s tenderheartedness; he was the “weeping prophet”, weeping over the situation of God’s people.
However, his tenderheartedness and weeping also had a natural side to it, and he went too far; he had a consideration that God was being too severe in His chastisement of Israel.
So Jer. 18:1-10 is God’s response to Jeremiah, His answer to Jeremiah’s questioning regarding God’s treatment of the children of Israel.
God told Jeremiah to go to the potters’ house and there he will receive God’s word; there he saw that the potter made a vessel according to his liking, but that the vessel was not right, so the potter destroyed it and made another vessel.
Then God spoke to Jeremiah concerning God’s sovereignty, His absolute right as the Potter over His pottery, His vessels.
In His answer, God revealed His sovereignty to Jeremiah, and once he received such a revelation, his entire perspective, view, and prayer changed, and this change can be seen as we read on in Jeremiah.
Today we live in very chaotic times, and many realize that these days are very difficult.
We may question why this or that happens, why this person does this and that person is allowed to do that, and we may even question why does God allow this to happen or that to take place.
We need a vision of God’s sovereignty so that we may realize that, although hidden, God’s sovereignty is something very real.
May the Lord open our eyes to see a revelation concerning our sovereign God and His sovereignty.
Seeing a Vision of God’s Sovereignty: God is Sovereign, and He does all things according to His Eternal Economy
We may not use that often this word sovereignty, and it may not be a common word in our daily conversation, but in the Bible there’s such a thing as God’s sovereignty, which is one of His attributes.
It is crucial for us to see a vision of God’s sovereignty, for God as our sovereign Potter has absolute right over us as His pottery (see Jer. 18:1-10; Isa. 64:8; Dan. 4:3, 34-35; Rom. 9:19-23).
May we pray that the Lord would grant us such a vision so that we may see what Jeremiah also saw. Sovereignty refers to God’s unlimited authority, power, and position (Rev. 4:11; 5:13).
There is no limit to God’s authority, power, and position. We are vessels of clay; God created us as containers, vessels of clay, for us to contain God as the content.
Have you ever considered yourself as a container?
In Isa. 64:8 we see that God is our Father, we are the clay and He is the Potter, and all of us are the work of His hand.
He is our Father in life, and we enjoy His love and care; He is also our Creator, and we are creatures made of the dust, the red clay of the earth, and He as the Potter is sovereign over us.
As vessels made by God, we have no right to question our Potter concerning this or that; we have no right to question why did He create some in this way or in that way, why Cain was rejected by God while Abel was received by Him, and why Esau was hated by God while Abel was loved.
The Potter has authority over the clay; He has the absolute authority.
These days there are a lot of people who question God, questioning His authority and His heart; we can answer them with Jer. 18 and Rom. 9, God is sovereign!
As the sovereign One, God is above everything, He is behind everything, and He is even in everything (1 Kings 12:19).
Apparently if we look today at the world situation we can’t see God, and this it the complaint that the worldly people have about Him, Where is He, why isn’t He doing something, can’t He see that the world is falling apart?
We need to see a vision of God’s sovereignty and realize that He is very active and exercised over the world situation, but He does this in a hidden way.
Furthermore, He doesn’t have to answer to man, He doesn’t have to give His reasons for doing things to man, for He has sovereignty. God has the full capacity to carry out what He wants according to the desire of His heart and according to His eternal economy (see Dan. 4:34-35; Eph. 1:4-5, 9-11).
He has an economy, a heart’s desire, and He is sovereign; He is doing something, but what He does may not be what we may want Him to do or ask Him to do.
God is working out His eternal economy, the divine history within the human history, and He will accomplish what is in His heart.
May we see a vision of God’s sovereignty and cooperate with Him for the fulfilment of His eternal economy.
May we learn not to question God about this or that situation but realize that He is sovereign over all things, in all things, and behind all things, and that He is very active and exercised over the whole world situation in a hidden way to work out His economy.
God is sovereign: He doesn’t have to explain Himself to us, He doesn’t have to give us the reasons He does this or that, and He doesn’t have to make it clear to us why this or that happens.
We simply need to see a vision of God’s sovereignty and realize that, as the Potter, He has absolute right over us as His vessels.
Lord Jesus, grant us to see a vision of God’s sovereignty and realize that, as our sovereign Potter, God has absolute over us as His pottery. May we not question God, doubt God, or request an explanation from God but rather, may we worship God for His sovereignty over all things. Thank You God for being sovereign; we believe that You are above everything, behind everything, and in everything. We believe that You have the full capacity to carry out what You want according to the desire of Your heart and according to Your eternal economy. Amen, Lord, grant us to see a vision of God’s sovereign so that we may be those who cooperate with Him for the fulfilment of His eternal economy!
Seeing God’s Sovereignty and Realizing He as the Sovereign Potter has the Absolute Right over us as His Pottery
The thought of God’s sovereignty can also be seen in the New Testament with Paul in Rom. 9:19-23; even though this portion doesn’t use the word sovereignty, they reveal God’s sovereignty to us.
It may be that, when he was writing Rom. 9, Paul had Jer. 18 in mind, for these two portions correspond to each other.
In vv. 19-20 Paul said, Who withstands His will? But rather, O man, who are you who answer back to God? Shall the thing molded say to him who molded it, Why did you make me thus?
We need to take this word into us for ourselves personally so that there would be no doubt or question in us, and there would be no accusation in us toward God and His sovereignty.
We need to realize who we are; we are God’s creatures, and He is our Creator (Isa. 42:5).
On one hand we are believers in Christ having the divine life of God, and as such, we are children of God and members of the Body of Christ who are being prepared and perfected to be the bride of Christ to marry Him and live a marriage life together for eternity.
On the other hand, however, we are also God’s creatures, and He is our Creator; in this relationship, God has the absolute authority.
As His creatures, we shouldn’t resist God’s purpose nor answer back to Him, the Creator.
We simply need to realize who He is: He’s the creator.
In Lev. 18-22 God gives many commandments, and He would conclude again and again with, I am Jehovah.
In other words, there’s nothing we should question Him about, we shouldn’t say anything, for He is Jehovah God.
Does not He as the Potter have authority over us as the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor (Rom. 9:21)?
God is our Potter; we are the clay in His hand, and He as our Potter is sovereign (Jer. 18:1-6; Isa. 64:8).
God as the sovereign Potter has the absolute right over us as His vessels; regarding us, He has the right to do whatever He desires – if He wills, He can make a vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor (Jer. 18:6; Isa. 29:16; 64:8; Rom. 9:21).
This may seem as a conflict, for on one hand God desires all men to be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth, so why would He create vessels of wrath?
We don’t want to get into a theological debate on “free will” and “God’s predestination”; we don’t need an explanation from God – God is sovereign and, according to His word, He made some vessels not for mercy, not of honor, not of glory, but of wrath.
One such vessel was Esau; before he was even born, God said that He loved Jacob and hated Esau.
In His selection and predestination, God determined that He loved Jacob but hated Esau; they were not even born, they didn’t get a chance to do anything evil or good, yet God already made up His mind.
As we know, Jacob was a crafty person, and we may think that Esau should be loved and Jacob hated, but God’s choice is different.
Similarly, He hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he was a vessel of wrath, and He didn’t receive Cain’s efforts to please God. Why? Because God is sovereign.
When we see such things, we shouldn’t worry about Esau, Pharaoh, or Cain, but thank the Lord that He didn’t make us a vessel of wrath but a vessel of mercy, a of honor and unto glory!
When we see this, we worship God, we thank Him for His selection of us in eternity, and we thank Him for His predestination of us in eternity past.
In time, we still have to use our free will to choose God; but it is His mercy that, at one particular point in our life, we were willing to choose Him.
There no conflict between His predestination, His mercy, and our free will; we make a choice to receive the Lord as Savior and life, and after we make this choice, we realize that this is because He predestinated us and had mercy on us, and He chose us for His own reason.
God’s sovereignty is the basis of His selection, and His selection is based on His sovereignty (see Rom. 9:11, 18; 11:5, 28).
Some may question God, Why didn’t He choose Cain, Esau, or Pharaoh?
Our answer is clear, We don’t know, but we know that God doesn’t owe us an explanation, for He is sovereign, and He chose us according to His sovereignty. He is the Potter, we are the clay, and He has the absolute right over us.
God, we worship You for Your sovereignty; You are the Potter, we are the clay, and we are vessels of mercy unto honor because of Your sovereignty. We realize that we are God’s creatures and He is our Creator, and we cannot resist Your purpose neither answer back to Him, questioning His doings. Thank You God for making us vessels of mercy, vessels unto honor and glory. We acknowledge Your full and absolute right over us; You can do whatever You desire, and according to Your sovereignty You have selected us, saved us, and You are making us a vessel unto glory! We praise You God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 121-123 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of Jeremiah and Lamentations, week 5, God as Our Sovereign Potter Making Us His Vessels, His Containers, to Contain Him.
Further reading on this topic: article on, Jehovah as the Sovereign Potter (via ministry samples website). - Hymns on this topic:
– God as our Potter has sovereignly created us to be His vessels, / His vessels, His containers, to contain Himself according to His predestination; / God’s purpose in creating man was to make man His vessel, / His earthenware container, to contain and be filled with Christ as life / for the building up of the Body of Christ / as God’s great corporate vessel for His expression. (Banner song, God as our Potter)
– Lord, Thou art a potter skilled / And a glorious builder too, / Molding for Thy vessel great, / Building with Thy house in view. / I am both a man of clay / And a new-made living stone, / That Thy vessel I may be / And the temple Thou wouldst own. (Hymns #839)
– 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. (Hymns #449)
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