Isaiah 43:21 “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise.”
“Formed” means to mold, as a Potter does the clay…by squeezing, and shaping according to his plan.
So God is saying, here, that He, as the Divine Potter, has molded us that we might perform the purpose for which we were created.
A water pot is for carrying water….a flower pot is for the displaying of beauty….etc.
Every person saved….is saved for a reason.
Not just for heaven…..yes, Jesus Christ wants us to be with Him forever, and has prepared a place with Him in heaven…
…but the preparation….or the molding of us for our Purpose….is here.
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
If we could “go down to the Potter’s house” with Jeremiah….and watch the Divine Potter form a vessel on the wheel (Jeremiah 18:2)….what would we want Him to make?
I would ask you….what do you want Him to form you into?
You see there is creation….and there is forming:
Isaiah 42:1 “But now thus saith the Lord, that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.”
Jacob, the schemer was born….he was the second twin…always behind his brother in his father’s eyes….but not God’s.
God purposed him to have the blessing of the covenant….and be formed into Israel….
…and after years of Jacob planning and scheming to work things out….God spoke, wrestled, and worked on Jacob with His Word, and circumstances….till Israel was formed.
We are who God has created us to be by birth…..we have no choice in this….our parents, our home life, our place of birth…
Romans 9:19 “Thou wilt say, then unto me, Why doeth He yet find fault? For Who hath resisted His Will?”
Who had any say in what He created us to be? Why then does He require obedience? He made me this way….He could have made me different….
Romans 9:20 “Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus?”
“Why has Thou made me this way?”
Down through the centuries mankind has asked God this…
Adam blamed God for his fall….”the woman Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me to eat”….(Genesis 3:12)
….”You gave her to me…..and she gave me the fruit to eat…so it is Your fault.”
This is a favorite rebellion….one, the Adversary of our souls, the devil, uses.
Why did You give me this situation?
Why did You permit this to happen, when You could have stopped it?
When, what He wants, is that we will with Him to “stop it”……and be formed more into His character.
Why does God create us the way we are? To show forth His praise.
(It is interesting to note, that when it spoke of “pots” in the Old Testament, that a lot of the references were for the Temple…and it’s use.)
We are created….and formed by Him….for He has a good reason….even though we may not know what it is.
When the Potter molds a vessel….the clay is made pliable by mixing in water with it….it is really kneaded in; for it has to become pliable, and smooth…
….all the hard lumps removed.
Then it is placed on a wheel….and formed by the hands of the Potter.
The wheel turning fast or slow….that is up to the Potter.
But the “forming” is not given up on….till it is done.
The Potter does not take it off the wheel, and say….”I will finish this tomorrow or next week”….for the clay would become too hard to mold….and the vessel would be worthless.
Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our potter, and we all are the work of Thy hand.”
We started with “this people have I formed for Myself”.
Romans 9:21 “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?”
Of course He does…..so why are we so discontented with His plan?
I believe the reason is……the plans we will not let go of.
Romans 9:22-23 “What if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
And that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory.”
By the process of molding, the Lord is able to show the thought of His mind, and make known the desire of His Will.
He molds us by circumstances…..this is a hard one….for we would rather He change the circumstances….but He wants to change us, and give us victory in them.
He molds us by Scripture….as we read His Word….the Holy Spirit opens our minds and hearts to receive the power and blessing of it.
He molds us by His love….how many times when I have been angry, that He would remind me of His merciful love to me….and I would deny my anger….for His sake.
He uses every day things to bring us to the place that we are: “a vessel unto honor….meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:21)
He has an end in view….with much to be accomplished, along the way.
That “end” is:
Jeremiah 29:11 “And I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 