"Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?" (Romans 9:21).
In ancient Israel, the potter maintained an important role as a craftsman. He made the vessels for daily use in the households. He sat at a potter's wheel, turning the wheel with one hand, he formed the pliable clay with his other hand, making each piece of pottery a certain size for a special purpose.
The potter became a familiar image for God as the Master potter. We are like clay in His hands. Our lives are completely at His disposal. The analogy of God as potter speaks of the sovereignty of God over all of creation. Have Thine Own Way Lord is an old hymn of the church that speaks of God as the potter. We hear these words in the hymn: "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."
(1) God is the potter in our lives through creation. The Bible declares, "It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves" (Psalm 100:3). The potter knew nothing of an assembly line production. Each vessel was individually hand crafted. Actually, no two vessels were exactly the same. Each one was the special work of the craftsman. While there were categories of vessels, there was a uniqueness about each one. We can all say to the potter with the words of the psalmist: "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well" (Psalm 139:14).
(2) God is the potter in our lives through Jesus Christ. The Gospel according to John tells seven miracles in the ministry of Jesus to reveal who He is. One of those miracles describes Jesus healing a blind man. Our Lord did something that may seem unusual to us. "He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay" (John 9:6). Then, Jesus told the blind man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. When the man obeyed, his eyes were opened. He could see! Jesus had revealed Himself as the potter in the new creation. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Jesus Christ is revealed as the potter God of the Old Testament, incarnate in the New Testament.
(3) God is the potter who can make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor. This is what the apostle Paul taught in Romans 9:21. God's sovereignty is viewed in our lives. However, the same apostle also taught the responsibility of man. God's sovereignty and man's responsibility must both be considered, otherwise, our theology becomes unbalanced. It is not either/or, but, it is both/and. God's actions and our actions work concurrently. In Romans 9:21, the apostle Paul taught the sovereignty of God as potter. In 2 Timothy 2:20-21, the same apostle taught the responsibility of man to the potter.
"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work" (2 Timothy 2:20-21).
