The Grace of the Potter

"We are all infected and impure with sin.

When we display our righteous deeds,

they are nothing but filthy rags.

Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall,

and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

Yet no on calls on your name

or pleads with you for mercy.

Therefore, you have turned away from us

and turned us over to our sins.

And yet, O LORD, you are our Father.

We are the clay, and you are the potter.

We are formed by your hand."

Isaiah 64:6-8 NLT

I don't deserve it, none of us do (Romans 3:23).  Even my best attempts to do good are seen by God as soiled tatters, not a gleaming robe of righteousness as I might see it.  If I truly got what was coming to me, I'd be horrified (Psalm 103:10).  Still, God offers grace.  How extraordinary!

Father.  I should be banished to the outer reaches of the universe, exiled so as to avoid soiling God with my unworthiness, my sinful flesh, my body of death.  It makes sense that such a holy God wouldn't want to touch me with a ten-foot pole, that He would keep His distance and dictate His mandates from on high, turning a blind eye to much of my self-inflicted suffering.  It seems right that His higher ways and superior thoughts would keep Him far away from lowly mankind, that He would make me lie in the bed I have made in my selfish wickedness.

Instead, the true nature of God is of a compassionate Father who passionately desires to be intimately involved in my life.  This love for me is so powerful that it drove Him to offer His own Son as a sacrifice to atone for my sins, cleansing me from all unrighteousness so I can appear before the God of the Universe as holy and pure, not in my true state as immoral and corrupted by sin (Romans 5:8, 1 John 2:2, Colossians 1:22).  Therefore, through repentance and faith in Jesus, I can approach my Father as one who belongs in His presence, as one who is welcomed as a cherished child, as one who is wholly and perfectly loved (1 John 3:1, Hebrews 4:16).

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, God can extend His saving grace to me, the sinner, so that I can interact with Him as my loving Father.

Potter.  The lump of clay sits there completely powerless to form itself into anything suitable or beautiful.  It is destined to remain shapeless and pathetically unusable, that is until the hands of the potter close over its mass of mud.  He then expertly works to transform its shape from an ugly blob to something altogether different.  In His hands, there is much potential in each lump of clay.

He has compared me as His image-bearer to a lump of clay on His potter's wheel (Isaiah 64:8).  He could have left me as is, not caring enough to change me from my present state.  Instead, He loves me enough to take me through the painful and difficult process of sanctification, where He scrapes away that which doesn't belong and changes the way I think, speak, react, even exchanging my worldly values for heavenly ones (2 Corinthians 4:11, Colossians 3:10).  As I become who He intends me to be, I see things differently, my motivations and passions are converted to heavenly ones and my perspective lines up more closely with His (Ephesians 4:23-24).  He uses every situation I face to transform me into the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29).  In His hands, I am becoming something altogether different yet uniquely me.

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, God can extend His saving grace to me, the sinner, so that the Potter can transform me into something beautiful through the work of His hands.

Artist.  I'm not a mistake, a complex being with feelings, dreams and hopes that emerged from the muck by chance.  I didn't evolve from apes through a long line of aberrations that resulted in increasingly higher intelligence and the accidental formation of a conscience.  Instead, I am here on purpose, made for a purpose.  I was knit "together in my mother's womb" and "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:13-14).

When I see my Creator as a gifted Artist who is unable to make junk but only creates good, I suddenly understand my inherent worth as the work of His hands (Genesis 1:31).  It is not in myself, per se, that I find my value, but in my Maker whose astounding work makes me valuable.  Just as a piece of artwork by van Gogh or da Vinci are infinitely more valuable simply because they came from such a talented hand, so I am essentially precious because I came from the hand of the greatest Artist of all times.  I was made by the same One who placed the stars in the heavens and brought forth breathtaking wonders.  Not only was I made for good not for the trash heap, but in Christ I have a wonderful mission that was prepared long ago for me to accomplish (Ephesians 2:10).  In Christ I am beautiful and functional!

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, God can extend His saving grace to me, the sinner, so that I can realize the beauty that is found within me as the work of the Artist's talented hands and the function for which I was made.

When I see my sin for what it is, an affront to God, I realize I don't deserve anything good.  Yet by the grace of God that comes through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, I can interact with Him differently than as one who is condemned.  Instead, God becomes this loving Father who cares deeply for what hurts me, a master Potter who transforms me into the image of His Son, and a talented Artist whose very hand is what makes me valuable and useful.  In these ways, I get to experience the grace of God!

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God enough to believe I am made valuable by His mark on my life.

When do I tear myself down, forgetting my inherent value?

How do I treat myself as trash instead of as a treasure?