Facts!

Facts!

Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 NIV

Sin always has consequences. I am not sure what other message is being preached, but as long as it is the True God who made the heavens and the earth, there is only one verdict for sin that remains unconfessed and not repented of: eternal damnation. Everywhere you turn to in the Bible, God makes it very clear that he will not condone or toy with sin. As God puts it so succinctly, the wages of sin is death but his free gift is eternal life through his son Jesus. He makes the offer of life to all men, and waits expectantly for us to respond to his love. He will not force himself on me; my willingness to accept him as Lord and Saviour is the best gift I can offer God.

God had dealt with Israel due to its sin, and Judah was now being warned about its sin. Isaiah knew God's nature: he hates sin but loves the sinner. This is what makes God peculiar: it is the sin he hated so much that made him pay such a high price for our salvation. He is called Father, because his heart is such that cannot bear the death of a sinner. A father does not ever disown a child, no matter what the child does while alive. The question then is: if God's love is this special, when does man still reject it? Why do we insist on our own way as the right way, when everything around us tells us we need God? 

The statements in today's extract are facts, no matter what the strength of the argument against them are. We claim to be mature and independent; people who are old enough to take decisions for themselves. In the name of liberty, we have moved from one extreme to the other, adding sin to sin. However, one thing is clear: the clay can never become the potter. No level of skill, intelligence, knowledge or power can change that arrangement. The clay does not have a mouth, so it cannot dictate terms to the potter. It cannot decide what it wants to become of itself; that is the prerogative of the potter. Is this true of me: do I know and respect my limitations? Have I discovered who I am in God, and what God formed, gifted and planted me to do? 

I am therefore in the hands of the potter, the one whose heart is wide enough to forgive me when I do wrong, and who holds on to me even when the whole world lets go. I must know and respect my limits; I must also acknowledge the power, might and mercy of God. My clay must submit to the wisdom and direction of the potter. My clay must embrace the planning, planting and purpose of the potter. I cannot make or re-make myself, because the ultimate power to design and produce belongs to God, and I take authority from him to also design and create. I am nothing outside his grace, and will never be able to achieve anything outside his mercy. I know that; do you? Is there any area of life that we need to submit totally to God, so we can enjoy the fullness of all He has planned? Total submission to God brings no regrets; it is the key to the fullness of all that God is. God's time of favour is here.