Why Did You Make Me Like This?
Notes
Transcript
This morning our main Scripture passage is Romans 9:19-23. Last week we focused on the question found in verse 19, “Who are You, O Man, to Answer Back to God?” This week we will focus on verse 20 and the question, “Why Did You Make Me Like This?” In this verse, Paul is making an allusion to two verses found in Isaiah. So this morning I am going to read first from Romans and then from Isaiah. Let us now hear God’s Word to us this morning:
You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
The first verse Paul is alluding to is Isaiah 29:16:
You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
The second verse is Isaiah 45:9:
“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
a pot among earthen pots!
Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
or ‘Your work has no handles’?
Several weeks ago we learned from the book of Job that God is sovereign over human life; He has numbered the days we shall live and it is He, not the laws of biology, that created us in our mother’s wombs. We are, as I said at that time, God’s masterpieces!
After that service, someone asked me, “What about those who are born with severe birth defects? That is a very good question. On the surface such defects seem to suggest God is not a very skilled creator or to use the words in our three Scripture lessons, not a very skilled potter. Of course it is not just severe physical defects, but we are all born spiritually defective. King David, who in the Psalms teaches us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” also teaches us that we were “conceived in sin”. Paul teaches us that we were born “dead in sin” and “slaves to sin”. Then there is the problem of evil, if God is good and if He is sovereign, why is there evil?
As we learned last week, there are two ways to ask question. One is in a spirit of contention that is born of unbelief. The other is in a spirit of honest inquiry that is born of faith. Let’s turn to our passages in Isaiah and see what the spirit of contention looks like.
Contending with Our Potter
Contending with Our Potter
In Isaiah 29:16, we see two contentious questions:
“He did not make me?”
“He did not make me?”
The first contentious response is to deny that God is our creator. The most common way people do this is by denying the sovereignty of God. They imagine God helplessly standing of the sidelines of history, powerless in the face of evil and human suffering. The other more extreme way is atheism. How often have we hear someone say something like this, “If God would allow something like this to happen, I can’t believe in God!”
“He has no understanding?’
“He has no understanding?’
The second contentious response is to accuse God of error, “He has no understanding.” These are the bitter people. True atheists are rare, but the world is filled with people who are bitter at God. Just like the atheist, the bitter person is motivated by pride. They reason that if they were “god” they would do things differently. Such thinking is the epitomy of arrogance. This was the type of arrogance that caused Satan to fall.
The third and forth contentious responses are found in Isaiah 45:9:
“What are you making?”
“What are you making?”
This question does not just question God’s understanding, it questions God’s motive. This is the type of question a parent asks when they suspect their children are doing something they shouldn’t. I can still hear my mother’s voice, “What are you boys up to?” Of course what we were “up to” was not good!
“Your work has no handles?”
“Your work has no handles?”
The final question takes things to the next level, “Your work has no handles?” Not only does this question, question God’s understanding and motive, but it also questions God’s skill. This is the response of many to birth defects. The word “defect” implies this. In our eyes it appears as though God has made pots without handles.
All four of these contentious questions are “turning things upside down”! The clay has no right to question his or her creator this way. Instead, we should have, as we learned last week, the spirit of humble faith that Mary the mother of Jesus had. Elizabeth, her cousin, proclaimed Mary “blessed” because she “believed what the Lord had spoken.” We would be blessed as well if we had the same spirit of humble faith.
So let us Humbly Listen to Our Potter.
Humbly Listening to Our Potter
Humbly Listening to Our Potter
As I said last week, God loves our honest questions asked in faith and I believe He always answers our questions if we have the faith to listen. Let’s look at verse 23 again.
in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
In verse 23, we find God’s ultimate answer as to why He made you the way you are and why we made other people the way they are, “in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy”. These “vessels of mercy” are the saints: those who are destined for eternal life and to share in God’s glory. This same truth is revealed to us in Ephesians 1:3-6:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Therefore, the ultimate reason God created not only human beings, but also everything else, is so that His glory would be made manifest to His elect angles and saints! At the end of this section of Romans, Paul concludes with a doxology of praise!
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
This is the reaction that God has designed all of creation for—to elicit praise!
Do not image that God’s desire to manifest His glory is motivated by vanity. No, it is motivated by generosity and love! We worship an eternally happy God. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit eternally delight in perfect fellowship as they behold the divine their perfections. They created men and angels so they could share in their joy!
So how do we find praise in these issues that others can only find reason for accusations against God? We find praise by believing God’s Word! Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, pronounced Mary blessed because Mary humbly believed God. Isn’t it interesting that Mary’s faith produced one of the greatest hymns of praise every composed, the Magnificat!
Brothers and sisters, God is not calling you to small things, but great things. To great faith like Mary the mother of Jesus had. Does not verse 23 of our text say that God has prepared us beforehand for GLORY!
So why has God made you and others the way they are? In order to show His glory to His saints! For those who are forgiven and made righteous in Christ, the Day of Judgement holds no fear; to the contrary, it is a Day of anticipation, a Day when the blinders are taken off and we shall behold His glory in the vessels He has made.
I want to conclude my message this morning telling your about a woman named Maria. Maria is Lorna’s second cousin and is just a few years younger than Lorna. Maria is one of God’s vessels of mercy, but it takes eyes of faith to see it. This is because as Maria was being born, she suffered oxygen deprivation and as a result she is both mentally and physically handicapped. Maria cannot talk, walk or do anything that a normal human being can do, but she can love and perhaps more importantly, she can be loved. Because of Maria, her parents are two of the most beautiful people I have met. Because of them, Lorna has developed the character traits I so love and admire. I know without a doubt that I am a better person because of Lorna. Jesus once said the first shall be last and the last shall be first. The Day of Judgement will bring many unexpected surprises, but we don’t have to wait for that Day. If we would be like Mary and humbly believe the answers God’s gives us, we could start enjoying the blessing of His glory right now!
Let us pray.