I Am what I Am, by the Grace of God
Book of Romans
Lesson # 22
Romans 9:19 - 9:26
We have had several weeks of interruption in our study of the Book of Romans so let me give you a very quick synopsis of where we are and what the Apostle Paul is teaching in the middle of chapter 9.
What we have seen is that it is God alone who is the Righteous Judge and he alone has the right and the power to do as he sees fit, and who can question his judgments and purposes? He is God and he answers to no man, regardless of how men might try to judge him because God is righteous altogether, and he is ultimately fair and just in his treatment of all men. He alone knows the hearts of men and the beginning from the end, and he alone establishes his word in the earth to fulfill every prophetic utterance and every promise.
As we look back over recorded history, even from the Creation of all things, right down into these last days, we can rest assured that everything that has happening, is happening, and will happen, is all orchestrated for one ultimate purpose. That purpose is to fulfill the word of God and to bring about a predestined end of all things; to establish his righteous kingdom and to end the power of sin and death; and, of course, to establish righteousness in the hearts of those who choose to serve the Lord and become the adopted Children of God.
Nothing is by accident; all is by design, and whatever the Lord promises the nation of Israel in Jeremiah chapter 29, so does he promise the church as well. How can we say that? God never changes and he is ultimately just and fair, therefore, what he promises one of his people; he promises to all. In the ministry of the “Weeping Prophet” there has not been much good news, but now God, in his mercy, gives the ultimate of good news.
Jeremiah 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Jeremiah 29:11 For 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.
Jeremiah 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Thank God that He saw in us a heart that would be broken and could be changed to serve him. Thank the Lord that we were created with a heart that he could touch, and a life that he can use. Thank God that we were raised up for such a time as this, so that we could all be used for his glory, to show his power, and to be a part of God’s great predestined plan for us in his Kingdom forever. Of all the people on the earth, we are blessed and highly favored, because God came to us, called us forth, gave us the ability to call upon his name, seek his face and to know him as Lord and Savior!
After all that God has done for man, and the plans he has for us, and his original design for the souls of men, how can men then call God unfair and uncaring? In spite of God’s absolute goodness, all men want to do is accuse God of every evil that besets them. How it must hurt the heart of God to have those whom he loves so much, turn on him in an act of ultimate treason and call him unfaithful.
In Romans 9:19, the Apostle Paul now continues with this same train of thought that man is ever attempting to belittle, to deny, to accuse God, when in fact, every evil that besets man is a result of man’s own lustful heart.
Romans 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Paul now begins to expound upon the warped sense of vision and spiritual understanding that plagues the Jews, and I might add, still plagues most of mankind even to this day.
God is infinitely good, just and merciful, but that’s not how man sees him. Instead, like the Jews, we will say, “Look here, if God knows the end from the beginning; if God knows the hearts of all men; if God knows that man is weak, sinful and spiritually blind; if God has already established that his will shall be done; then why does God find fault with us if we don’t do as he desires?
In the natural mind, man is a reprobate. He has the heart of a hardened sinner, and all he can come up with is just another argument against the goodness of God. The sinful heart of man always finds a way to exalt itself above God and always finds a way to turn the blame for his sin to God himself.
The objection of the Jews was that since all that they do will not stop the plan of God; and since all that they do serves only to fulfill his word in the end; and nothing they can do will stop God’s plan, then what does God have to complain about against them? It’s not our fault that God’s will is being done through us in the manner that it is. After all, the evil which we do only serves to fulfill the destiny that he has already chosen for us. Why are we then to blame for the actions that God himself brings upon us?
One way of putting it is like this, “If the truth of God is shown so much greater through my sin, and God is glorified by his judgment of my wickedness, then why does he judge me as a sinner? Why am I condemned for giving God the chance to let his glory shine even greater? I’m fulfilling his will so why am I condemned for it?”
This is the heart of man, trying to justify himself. Though we may not hear people say these words specifically, yet by their actions, this is what they are saying, “I am what I am, and I do what I do, because God made me this way, so why should I repent of anything since I’m just being who God made me to be.” That’s the logic of a reprobate mind. That’s the reasoning of a sin-hardened heart! That’s the attitude of a sinner who refuses to see that he is a sinner and blames God for everything in his life.
In answer to these questions, Paul begins to speak and to reveal the truth.
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?
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?
Paul’s first point is that man is man and God is God! And who is the created being, made from the dust of the earth, and given the breath of life by his Creator, to then begin to question to motives, the reasoning and very heart of God who formed him in the first place? What right do we have as created beings to question why God made us the way he did?
Even when considered in natural terms of the potter’s wheel, does not the potter have the choice of what kind of vessel to create? Whether the potter chooses to make a vessel that will be very beautiful, ornate and highly prized; or whether he chooses to make a vessel that is plain, unattractive and treated as an everyday thing, it is not the vessel’s place to complain of its end result. Its design was as the potter wished, and it will forever be for his purpose.
So then, oh man, why do you complain against your Maker? God chooses the vessel you will be, and you have no place to accuse him of making mistakes.
How often do we hear this in people around us, even in the church? Why wasn’t I given a natural talent to be musically inclined, or given a talent to sing; or given a talent to be a great speaker? Why was I born to be too short, or too tall, or too anything else? Why couldn’t I have been one of those “perfect people” that everyone notices? It sometimes seems too unfair!
We must remember that God is the potter and we are the clay. Whatever we are, whatever we shall be, is all part of the Potter’s plan! In his house there are vessels of honor, but these vessels are only to be seen and not used so much. Everyone is in awe of their appearance and position. But those vessels created to be used on a daily basis are never so beautiful to the natural eye. They are looked upon as ordinary, unimposing, and never stand out much. But without the vessels of “dishonor”, no work is done!
Can we not see that God’s vision of honor and dishonor is exactly the opposite of the natural vision of a sinful man! God honors faithfulness, commitment and dedication to doing his work; and dishonors that vessel that exalts itself above others and declares that he is above all others in pride and arrogance!
I’d rather be a wash bowl in God’s kingdom, being used every day, than to be a “Ming Vase” set on a pedestal that is never used for anything! The greatest rewards in the kingdom of Heaven will be for those vessels of the greatest “dishonor” in the eyes of men.
Let me tell you what God has really done for man that he created and formed into vessels for his own work?
Romans 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
God made all men, formed them to be vessels of his own choosing, for his own purposes. But every vessel God made rebelled and refused to be used, even denied their own Maker. Not only that, but every vessel has turned on its Creator with hatred and vengeance and accused the Potter of not caring about the vessels he made.
God is not willing that any man should perish; but God, the Righteous Judge, is also willing to ultimately judge, crush and destroy every vessel that refuses him.
It is by the mercy and longsuffering grace of the Potter that every vessel, every man, is not immediately crushed and forgotten; cast aside to the fiery pit. We, in our sinful state, or only fit for destruction, but God’s mercy endures and he is willing to stay judgment in an effort to reach out and change our hearts.
Romans 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Not only is the Potter showing mercy, but he has also made a way that every vessel, both of honor and dishonor, can know the truth of God’s glory and can experience his great Grace. Every man has the opportunity to know the glory that God had prepared for each of us before we were ever formed. We chose to rebel against him, but God chooses to give us every opportunity to turn around and still be used in his kingdom. Our destination was preset that we should live in Heaven and experience the glory of God before we were formed; and we can still have that destination if we choose to yield ourselves to God’s perfect plan.
Romans 9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Of course, this established purpose for the vessels that God has created, that we should all experience the glory of God, was not only for the Jews to whom Paul was speaking, but to every man born into this world.
Romans 9:25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
What does “Osee” mean. It is the Hebrew way of saying “Hosea”, and refers to the writings of the Old Testament Prophet Hosea in
Hosea 2:23, “And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”
Romans 9:26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
Has not God fulfilled this prophetic word of Hosea through the church? We are Gentiles, not of the commonwealth and household of Israel, not Jews by natural birth; but we are engrafted through the spiritual rebirth. We were a people without God, but now are called the children of the Living God through the blood of Jesus Christ!
So God, the Creator of all men, even created Gentiles with a purpose in his kingdom. Though we lived in rebellion and without knowledge of him or his purposes, yet through his mercy and longsuffering, he called us forth.
God’s promise of the ultimate fulfillment of his eternally glorious destiny for each of us will still come to pass if we serve him and yield ourselves to be used in his plan. Even Gentile can no longer accuse God of being unjust. No man can say, “God, you aren’t fair!” No man can say that our final destination, wherever that may be, “Was fixed by God, and we had no choice in the matter.”
We live or die, we overcome or we are utterly destroyed, by our own choices, not by God’s predestined plan! God’s plan is for all men to go to Heaven and be saved. He is not willing that any should be lost. But the choice is ours to make, and we can’t blame God for what happens if we make the wrong choices.
