We are knit\u00adted dif\u00adfer\u00adent\u00adly and yet all inge\u00adnious\u00adly crea\u00adted by God, no mat\u00adter whe\u00adther it is an exhi\u00adbit or a cham\u00adber pot!<\/p>\n
We\u2019\u00adve been see\u00ading a potter\u2019s hands in the count\u00addown and in the teaser for more than half a year now. What does that do for you? Some peo\u00adp\u00adle want to try some\u00adthing like that. Others, on the other hand, don\u2019t like to get their hands dir\u00adty. We start by lis\u00adtening to the pro\u00adphet Isai\u00adah, who says of his peo\u00adp\u00adle befo\u00adre God: \u00abLord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the pot\u00adter, and we are the work of your hand\u00bb (Isai\u00adah 64:7 NLB<\/span>). \tHave any of you been to a pot\u00adtery class? (If yes, what are your expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adces, impressions?) We are knit\u00adted dif\u00adfer\u00adent\u00adly and yet all inge\u00adnious\u00adly crea\u00adted by God, no mat\u00adter whe\u00adther it is an exhi\u00adbi\u00adti\u00adon pie\u00adce or a cham\u00adber pot! We\u2019\u00adve been see\u00ading a potter\u2019s hands in the count\u00addown and teaser for more than half a year now. What does that do for you? Some peo\u00adp\u00adle get the urge to try some\u00adthing like that. Others, on the other hand\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[35],"wpfc_sermon_series":[72],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":["wpfc_preacher-bernhard-hohl","wpfc_sermon_series-metamorphose","wpfc-sermon-single","post-3622","wpfc_sermon","type-wpfc_sermon","status-publish","hentry","wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"],"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nThe image of God as a pot\u00adter occurs in the Bible in both the Old and New Tes\u00adta\u00adments. At that time, of cour\u00adse, pot\u00adtery was an ever\u00ady\u00adday image. Peo\u00adp\u00adle lived with clay ves\u00adsels they made them\u00adsel\u00adves. They were used for coo\u00adking, sto\u00adring, ser\u00adving, eating and drin\u00adking\u2026 And when we read in the crea\u00adti\u00adon account how God crea\u00adted human beings, we under\u00adstand that this image of the pot\u00adter fits God very well: \u00abThen the Lord God for\u00admed man from the earth and brea\u00adthed into his nostrils the breath of life\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 2:7 NLB<\/span>).
\nNo one is like YOU<\/span>!
\nI don\u2019t know if God got his hands dir\u00adty when he crea\u00adted Adam. But it is obvious that it was his idea and his crea\u00adti\u00adon to crea\u00adte us humans like this. And now we are ama\u00adzed that the pro\u00adphet Isai\u00adah wri\u00adtes long after crea\u00adti\u00adon: We are the work of God\u2019s hand. You and I, we are all for\u00admed and brought into being by him. I would like to watch with you an excerpt from the\u00adse pot\u00adtery vide\u00ados with this very per\u00adso\u00adnal for\u00admu\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon of Isaiah\u2019s word: \u00abI am the clay, you God, are the pot\u00adter. I am the work of your hand\u00bb.
\nGod crea\u00adted you as a uni\u00adque spe\u00adci\u00admen. The\u00adre is no one on this earth who is exact\u00adly like you, and that will remain the case even after you have died, the\u00adre will never be a dupli\u00adca\u00adte of you. Pot\u00adtery is art. I like to watch, but I would never trust mys\u00adelf to pro\u00addu\u00adce some\u00adthing beau\u00adtiful or useful! God has made a work of art out of us humans. We are the work of his hand! Now I can ima\u00adgi\u00adne atten\u00adti\u00adve lis\u00adten\u00aders get\u00adting restless!
\nWhat hap\u00adpens when someone is born with a disa\u00adbi\u00adli\u00adty: My sis\u00adter-in-law was born with tri\u00adso\u00admy 21 and slight\u00adly autis\u00adtic. For a long time she was a ray of suns\u00adhi\u00adne for the who\u00adle fami\u00adly \u2013 but still a huge task and chall\u00adenge! Or I think of Nick Vuji\u00adcic, who was born wit\u00adhout arms and legs \u2013 just think of your arms and legs on your chair; ima\u00adgi\u00adne having to live like that! Nick beca\u00adme a Chris\u00adti\u00adan and today speaks inter\u00adna\u00adtio\u00adnal\u00adly about his disa\u00adbi\u00adli\u00adty, his faith in Jesus Christ and his hope! Over one bil\u00adli\u00adon peo\u00adp\u00adle live with a disa\u00adbi\u00adli\u00adty in this world. That\u2019s 15 per cent of the world\u2019s population.
\nI am awa\u00adre that it is not within our com\u00adpe\u00adtence to ask: Why? Isai\u00adah says: \u00abWoe to him who accu\u00adses his Maker! In God\u2019s eyes he is no more than a clay jar among many others. Does a lump of clay ask the pot\u00adter, \u00abWhat are you doing to me?\u00bb Or does he mock and say, \u00abMy mas\u00adter has two left hands?\u00bb (Isai\u00adah 45:9 Hfa). But the\u00adre are also non-dis\u00adab\u00adled peo\u00adp\u00adle who pro\u00advo\u00adke ques\u00adti\u00adons: e.g. Hit\u00adler? Or curr\u00adent\u00adly the arso\u00adnists of the devas\u00adta\u00adting forest fires in sou\u00adthern Euro\u00adpe! Are they geni\u00adu\u00adses? Or the Tali\u00adban, who are now taking over the who\u00adle of Afgha\u00adni\u00adstan? After the Fall of Man, many things are going wrong in this world, as we see on the screen every day!
\nGod is our potter
\nIsai\u00adah, by the way, did not look any bet\u00adter. Befo\u00adre he says \u00abYou are our Father\u2026 you the pot\u00adter, we the clay\u2026 we are the work of your hand\u00bb it sounds quite dif\u00adfe\u00adrent: \u00abWe have all beco\u00adme like the unclean. Our righ\u00adteous deeds are no bet\u00adter than a blood\u00ads\u00adtained gar\u00adment. Like lea\u00adves we all wither, and through our sins we blow away like the wind. Yet no one cal\u00adled upon your name, and no one rose up to hold fast to you. For you hid yours\u00adelf from us; the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre we beca\u00adme as soft as wax in the grip of our sin\u00bb (Isai\u00adah 64:5\u20136 NLB<\/span>). We know this! We\u2019\u00adve all had warm wax squeezed through our fin\u00adgers! It\u2019s simi\u00adlar to craft clay!
\nIf we are like warm cand\u00adle wax in the clut\u00adches of sin and sin can tin\u00adker with us as it plea\u00adses, then all is not well with us! But Isai\u00adah, after his ana\u00adly\u00adsis of the situa\u00adti\u00adon, clings to God on behalf of God\u2019s peo\u00adp\u00adle: \u00abYet, Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the pot\u00adter and we are the work of your hand!\u00bb Isai\u00adah does\u00adn\u2019t want it with all his peo\u00adp\u00adle, and neither do we: to live in the clut\u00adches of sin. Jesus is the Saviour; can deli\u00adver us from it! It is good to rep\u00adent and to give ones\u00adelf into God\u2019s hand, freed from guilt.
\nThe pro\u00adphet Jere\u00admi\u00adah recei\u00adved the fol\u00adlo\u00adwing com\u00admand from God one day: \u00abGo down to the potter\u2019s work\u00adshop. I will tell you some\u00adthing the\u00adre\u00bb (Jere\u00admi\u00adah 18:2 NLB<\/span>). Obe\u00addient as he is, Jere\u00admi\u00adah goes to the pot\u00adter and looks at his fin\u00adgers. If the pot\u00adter is not com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly satis\u00adfied with his pro\u00adduct, he kneads the clay again and starts moul\u00adding all over again. He works at it until the object looks exact\u00adly as he wants it to. Then God said this to Jere\u00admi\u00adah, \u00abWhy should\u00adn\u2019t I be able to do it to my peo\u00adp\u00adle just like this pot\u00adter?\u00bb I think we are all \u00absecond-hand Chris\u00adti\u00adans\u00bb becau\u00adse after our re-crea\u00adti\u00adon, the hea\u00adven\u00adly Father has to knead and res\u00adha\u00adpe us in His hands at least a second time until we are the way He intended!
\n\u00abBut you shall be per\u00adfect, even as your Father in hea\u00adven is per\u00adfect\u00bb; to this sen\u00adtence from Jesus\u00bb Ser\u00admon on the Mount, Mat\u00adthi\u00adas said an important sen\u00adtence in last Sunday\u2019s ser\u00admon, which I am hap\u00adpy to repeat at this point: \u00abMan is per\u00adfect when he rea\u00adli\u00adses the pur\u00adpo\u00adse for which he was crea\u00adted (by God)!\u00bb This is the trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adti\u00adon whe\u00adre God is on us.
\nWhat is just and what is unjust?
\nBut God shapes his child\u00adren very dif\u00adfer\u00adent\u00adly becau\u00adse we have very dif\u00adfe\u00adrent tasks. But we like to ima\u00adgi\u00adne a \u00abunity pot\u00bb of a Chris\u00adti\u00adan! A pot of God, the pot\u00adter, looks like that and if you don\u2019t look like that, the\u00adre is some\u00adthing wrong with you! Like a unity Bible trans\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon, the\u00adre should be a unity Chris\u00adti\u00adan. Or I could also say: From the \u00absee\u00adtal chi\u00adle cater\u00adpil\u00adlar\u00bb the\u00adre are the but\u00adter\u00adflies after all and not others! No! But God is much more creative.
\n
\nHe is pro\u00adving this to us right now with the but\u00adter\u00adflies. At pre\u00adsent, more than 180,000 spe\u00adci\u00ades of but\u00adter\u00adflies are known in the world and about 700 more spe\u00adci\u00ades are dis\u00adco\u00adver\u00aded every year. God has never stop\u00adped crea\u00adting new things! He is still crea\u00adting new peo\u00adp\u00adle today: \u00abIf anyo\u00adne belongs to Christ, he is a new crea\u00adti\u00adon. The old has pas\u00adsed away; some\u00adthing brand new has begun!\u00bb (2 Corin\u00adthi\u00adans 5:17 NG\u00dc<\/span>)
\nAs crea\u00adtor, God has the free\u00addom to form a beau\u00adtiful fruit bowl at one time and a cham\u00adber pot at ano\u00adther. How do you see yours\u00adelf? As a beau\u00adtiful lan\u00adtern or as a simp\u00adle soup pot? \u00abWhy does\u00adn\u2019t God make us all equal\u00adly beau\u00adtiful, it\u2019s not fair!\u00bb Paul takes up this thor\u00adny issue in the Let\u00adter to the Romans. First he men\u00adti\u00adons Rebe\u00adkah, the wife of the pro\u00adge\u00adni\u00adtor Isaac, who is expec\u00adting twins, and tells how God says to her, \u00abThe older will have to sub\u00admit to the youn\u00adger\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 25:23 NLB<\/span>).
\nIn a cul\u00adtu\u00adre whe\u00adre the first\u00adborn has such a pri\u00advi\u00adle\u00adged posi\u00adti\u00adon, this was an affront! Paul men\u00adti\u00adons ano\u00adther pas\u00adsa\u00adge from the book of Malachi, whe\u00adre God says about the\u00adse twin brot\u00adhers: \u00abI have shown my love to Jacob, but I have cast Esau away from me\u00bb (Malachi 1:2\u20133 NLB<\/span>). Does\u00adn\u2019t this cau\u00adse us to cry out: \u00abGod, you can\u2019t do this! This is against every rule of edu\u00adca\u00adti\u00adon! You are not that brutal.
\nPaul has been expec\u00adting our stun\u00adned com\u00adplaint and says: \u00abSo? What are you ima\u00adgi\u00adning? You are a man and you want to start arguing with God? Does a ves\u00adsel say to the one who for\u00admed it, \u00abWhy did you make me the way I am?\u00bb Does not the pot\u00adter have the right to dis\u00adpo\u00adse of the clay and make two dif\u00adfe\u00adrent ves\u00adsels out of the same mass \u2013 one for an hono\u00adura\u00adble pur\u00adpo\u00adse (exhi\u00adbit) and one for a less hono\u00adura\u00adble pur\u00adpo\u00adse (cham\u00adber pot)?\u00bb (Romans 9:20\u201321 NG\u00dc<\/span>).
\nWho are you to deci\u00adde what is just and what is unjust? We quick\u00adly rea\u00adli\u00adse that in other bibli\u00adcal images we also like to compa\u00adre: e.g. the body of Christ, which has count\u00adless dif\u00adfe\u00adrent com\u00adpon\u00adents! You would like to be a lip that helps you speak, or at least a lung, but not a toe\u00adnail! Jesus descri\u00adbes hims\u00adelf as a good she\u00adp\u00adherd, but you may feel he could be a bet\u00adter she\u00adp\u00adherd for you! Jesus has hea\u00adled count\u00adless peo\u00adp\u00adle of their ill\u00adnesses \u2013 why does\u00adn\u2019t he heal me!
\nI have the firm impres\u00adsi\u00adon that a per\u00adson must first have come to know God and have Yes for Him befo\u00adre he can say Yes to hims\u00adelf for who he is. He must first have expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced the grace of God in hims\u00adelf befo\u00adre he can deal more gra\u00adcious\u00adly with God and other peo\u00adp\u00adle. He must hims\u00adelf be jus\u00adti\u00adfied by God befo\u00adre he can ack\u00adnow\u00adledge the jus\u00adti\u00adce of God. Through the sacri\u00adfi\u00adci\u00adal death of Jesus we can find this righ\u00adteous\u00adness! \u00abThe\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre, sin\u00adce we have been declared righ\u00adteous by God through faith, we have peace with God becau\u00adse of what Jesus our Lord did for us\u00bb (Romans 5:1 NLB<\/span>). With this peace in my heart, I per\u00adso\u00adnal\u00adly share the tes\u00adtim\u00ado\u00adny of David who says in Psalm 145: \u00abThe Lord is righ\u00adteous in all he does, a God to be reli\u00aded on\u00bb( Psalm 145:17 NLB<\/span>).
\nAmen.
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\nYou will find the ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small groups on the back page \ud83d\ude09
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\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small groups
\nRead the Bible text: Isai\u00adah 45:9\u201312 and Jere\u00admi\u00adah 18:1\u201310<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat do you think God was thin\u00adking when he crea\u00adted you? Do you reco\u00adg\u00adni\u00adse God\u2019s hand in you, his shaping?
\n\tTell each other about your gifts and qua\u00adli\u00adties that God has pla\u00adced in you (This may take a litt\u00adle effort, but it\u2019s good!).
\n\tIn what situa\u00adti\u00adon or events have you also had the impres\u00adsi\u00adon that God is unjust?
\n\tAre the\u00adre dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00adments that you can\u2019t get over? Do you have the free\u00addom to report them?
\n\tWhat helps us most to let God stand in His sovereignty?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"