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And the vessel that he made of clay was
marred in the hand of the potter:
so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the
potter to make it. Jeremiah 18:4.
The message of the entire Bible, Genesis to Revelation, is
found in the above verse. It says "the vessel that he made
of clay"; Genesis 2:7 says,
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul." The
potter made the vessel, but it was "marred". Genesis 3, the
vessel is marred, sin enters in and mars God's creation that
he said was very good
(Genesis 1:31). Continuing on, the vessel was "marred in the
hand of the potter"; Adam and Eve sinned under God's care
and watchful eye, it did
not take Him by surprise and in His foreknowledge He knew it
was going to happen and had already planned to make the
vessel another way. Ephesians 1:4 says, "According as he
hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in
love:" Cross-reference that with Revelation 13:8 which says,
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose
names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world." "So he made it again
another vessel"; because of the transforming power of the
blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we being the wretch that we are
can be made holy and sinless in the sight of God. I
Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things
are passed away; behold, all things are become new." What a
blessed scripture!
Aren't you glad to know that you are not what you used to
be; it is amazing to me to look back and see the woman I
used to be and look at
what God has wrought in my life until now. However, He is
still working on me, our text verse ends with "as seemed
good to the potter to make
it." Notice, it says the potter is making it according to
what seems good to Him, not the vessel. He is forming and
molding us according to His
will, not ours. He has in mind the kind of vessel that He
desires for His use and He is slowly, patiently forming each
vessel to fit His purpose.
Romans 8:29 says, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn
among many brethren." And Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them." We are still
on the wheel and being formed by God's hand; at the judgment
seat of Christ we will be
fired and forever set as the vessel that He formed. However,
some will be less glorious than others because they did not
yield to the hand of the
potter. Let's take just a few minutes and look at this
as it pertains to us women. In the beginning, God made the
woman to be a help to the man.
Genesis 2:18, "And the LORD God said, It is not good that
the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for
him." That was God's perfect
creation, created to be used in a special way by the potter,
but the vessel was marred. Genesis 3:6 says, "And when the
woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of
the fruit thereof, and did
eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did
eat." Because of this marring, the woman now lives in
subjection; look at Genesis 3:16,
"Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow
and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children; and thy desire
shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." But,
because of the Lord and His mercy through the saving power
of the Lord Jesus Christ
can take every woman that will call upon His name and
believe on Him and transform her into a vessel that He can
use for His glory. You might say,
but we are still under subjection, the man still rules over
us. The man is still our head, yes, but it is different. In
the Lord Jesus Christ,
the woman submits to the man in the Lord. Ephesians 5:21-24
says, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of
God.
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the
Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as
Christ is the head of
the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the
wives be to
their own husbands in every thing." A saved woman submits to
her husband as her authority as unto the Lord in the fear of
the Lord and this is how
it seemeth good to the potter to make the vessel into a
vessel of honour. And at the judgment seat, those women who
have willingly bowed and
submitted to the Lord and His Word in this matter, will have
some of that gold, silver and precious stones to lay at the
feet of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Until next time, may the Lord bless
you.
Sis. Tanya |
in the
