Romans 9:17-24 New Beginnings
Hi, welcome back. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
It’s amazing how quick the holidays just come upon us and just as quick they’re gone. But the spirit of the holidays need not leave us. We should carry the love, joy and peace of Christmas in our hearts each and every day. The love of Christ should consume us to overflowing. God gave us a precious gift that Christmas Day and we as Christians should share that gift with everyone we meet. Don’t let the love of Christ be wrapped up in a present under a tree. Rather openly and without reservation share that love with your friends, loved ones, and neighbors. Bottom line, don’t be a scrooge.
Today we’re going to pick up where we left off with Romans in chapter 9 and we are going to review the last two verses we did in our last lesson.
Romans 9:15-16 For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Mercy, or unmerited favor is God’s to give as He sees fit.
Some see that as unfair. Individuals strive to live good lives, and do good deeds. But as we already know, our good works have no merit when it comes to God’s mercy. Nothing we can say or do outside of God’s will can earn us His mercy.
Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
God raised Pharaoh up in prominence and made Egypt great, for His own divine plan. It was to show His power and might. God raised Pharaoh up and God brought Pharaoh down for the sake of His glory.
Romans 9:18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
Pharaoh was just plain evil.
He was a cruel and vindictive ruler. He came by his hardened heart naturally. God just took pharaohs unrepentant heart and hardened it all the more. He gave pharaoh a heart of stone because he chose to turn his back on God. God will have mercy on those who repent and come to Him. His Mercy is reserved for those who come to Him by faith and choose to surrender their lives to Him.
Romans 9:19 You will say to me then, Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?
Pointing to Pharaoh as a prime example of God forcing His will on him is debatable.
Pharaoh had already made his bed and he was getting ready to sleep in it. Again God can have mercy on who he wants to because He’s God. To ask the question who can resist His will implies that no one has free will and we know that’s not true. Since the beginning Adam and Eve were allowed to choose for themselves whom they would serve. Yet God can take someone like pharaoh, who is totally evil and use him for His good.
Romans 9:20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, Why have you made me like this?
Who do we think we are?
Who are we in our ignorance to find fault with all mighty God? We who are weak and loaded down with sin are in no position to disagree with our Creator.
Romans 9:21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?
In this verse the Potter is God.
I believe and this is just my opinion that we as the clay play a big part in the outcome of that vessel. If the clay is cold and hard it’s hard for the Potter to mold it into something he can use for His glory. Yet if the clay is warm and easy to be molded in his hands then that vessel can be used for His glory and honor. In other words if we completely surrender to The Potter’s hands and let Him have His way then He can mold us and use us for His Glory. But even the cold hard clay has a use in God’s eternal plan. Yes, even a cold hard lump like Pharaoh can be used to fulfill God’s plan.
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.
Romans 9:22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
Pharaoh was a ticking time bomb.
God patiently endured the pharaoh’s contemptuous nature. Because of his hardened heart God was going to take this vessel of wrath and utterly destroy it. God brought Pharaoh into this world and He will surely take him out.
Aren’t you glad that we have a God that is long suffering towards us.
He is willing to allow us a good measure of time that we might repent and come to the cross. Don’t wait too long, that window of opportunity has its limits. None of us are promised tomorrow.
Romans 9:23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
We are those vessels of Mercy.
As Paul will make apparent in the next verse. As Christians others should see the glory of God through us. As Christians our walk should allow others to see Christ in us. If God’s mercy has been bestowed upon you then it is only fitting that your lives should reflect that Mercy by walking by faith.
Romans 9:24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
Again he identifies to whom this Mercy can be applied. It is not just for the remnant of Jewish believers, but for all mankind.
Another year has passed and a new year begins.
If you haven’t made a commitment to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, don’t let another day pass you by. With the new year comes the opportunity for new beginnings. It is my prayer that you may feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit and that you will repent of the things that you have used to fill a void in your heart. Today is the day of salvation. Don’t let another day pass you by. Come to the cross and lay your burdens down.
I’d like to thank you for listening and as always may you have a week full of opportunities to share this good news with those that need to hear it.