"Formed"

Overview

Formed from the Dust, Formed by the Potter

From the very first pages of Scripture, our origins are humble. The Lord God formed Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed into him the breath of life Genesis 2:7, and later reminded him, "you are dust, and to dust you shall return" Genesis 3:19. That image of God's hands working the soil reappears in Isaiah 64, where Israel—now restored to the homeland after exile—confesses not just humble beginnings but a deeper problem: they have become dirty through sin.

The honest self-assessment of Isaiah 64:6–7 is sobering. "We have all become like one who is unclean"—the word once used of lepers, ceremonially cut off. Even our righteous deeds are "a filthy cloth," our supposed merits useless before a holy God. We "fade like a leaf," dry and brittle, as iniquity carries us away like wind through dead foliage—echoing Psalm 1:4, where the wicked are chaff. No one calls on God's name; God hides His face, abhorred by sin, and hands the people over to the consequences of their own iniquity—the same pattern Paul describes in Romans 1:24 and Ephesians 2:1. Like Isaiah trembling before the throne in Isaiah 6:1–5, we have no standing of our own. This is who they were. This is who we are.

And then comes one of the most beautiful words in Scripture: yet. "Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand" Isaiah 64:8. After every honest indictment, that small word swings open the door of grace. God lives out the "yet" by sending His Son to the cross, where Jesus pays the penalty for our sin. The empty tomb declares death overcome, and in the waters of baptism God claims us as His own. We are forgiven, redeemed, and—still—being shaped. As Ephesians 2:10 puts it, "we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works."

The potter is not finished with His clay. Through Word and Sacrament, the Holy Spirit molds us to look more and more like Christ—the green growth that follows the red flame of Pentecost. Sometimes the molding is gentle; sometimes it requires pressure to work the air bubbles out, the kind of forming that comes through trials, hardship, and fiery seasons of life. As Isaiah 29:16 warns, the clay must not pretend to know better than the potter. We can be a stubborn lump, but God does not give up on His work. Just as clay is hardened and made enduring by fire in the kiln, so the difficulties God permits make His people firm, mature, and strong. Our roots are in the dirt; our reality is the work of the Redeemer. We are in good hands—the hands of our Father and Potter.

Transcript

Would you open your Bible, please, with me to Isaiah the 64th chapter for our study this 1s

morning, Isaiah chapter 64. 8s

One of the great revelations of Holy Scripture is the communication of Scripture with regard 13s

to creation. 19s

When we see God's omnipotence put on display, his power put on display in creation. 22s

When God simply says, let there be and it is, it is something to read about, isn't it? 30s

The beautiful manifestation of the power of God. 38s

And part of the creation story is the creation of our first parents. 45s

And when you look at our first father Adam, why his beginnings were rather humble weren't 50s

they. 59s

Because God formed Adam out of the dust, out of the dirt. 60s

Scripture tells us in Genesis 2, then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and 68s

breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life. 76s

And the man became a living, be. 81s

Formed right out of the dirt comes Adam. 86s

And God reminds Adam of his origins later in Genesis 3 chapter to Adam and Eve. 91s

He says, you are dust and to dust, you shall return. 99s

Our first father then was formed right out of the dirt. 108s

Humble beginnings and amazing image to keep in mind. 114s

And that image reappears in our text for today and image close to the soil. 119s

As we study today from this great book of Isaiah, it just helpful to remember that Isaiah is 135s

really divided into three different sections. 140s

The first section of Isaiah is God's word through the prophet to the community as they were 143s

facing the Syrian invasions. 149s

Then in the second part, it's God's word through the prophet Isaiah to the people of 153s

in exile. 158s

Then the third part, it's that word that God gives to the people as they had returned 159s

to their homeland. 166s

So as we study today in the 64th chapter of Isaiah, we are in the third part of Isaiah. 167s

These people had his first father Adam out of the dirt he came. 177s

And certainly nothing no matter with that, just a reminder of humble beginning. 185s

But notice in this text for today what is revealed is how dirty the people had become dirty 190s

because of their sin. 203s

It's quite a picture that we're given. 205s

Look with me please at verse 6 of chapter 64. 208s

We have all become like one who is unclean. 213s

That word there unclean was the word associated in ancient day with the leper who became 220s

ceremonially unclean. 226s

It's this understanding here in its usage of the extent of sinfulness to be unclean because 229s

one is sinful. 239s

God is clean. 241s

God is perfect. 242s

God is holy. 243s

And the people humankind. 247s

Not. 250s

I think of Isaiah in the sixth chapter of Isaiah when he receives the vision of God's throne 251s

room. 259s

There at the beginning in verse 1 of chapter 6 it says, in the year that King Uzaya died, 260s

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lofty. 265s

And the hem of his robe filled the temple. 271s

Serifs were an attendance above him. 275s

Each had six wings with two they covered their faces and with two they covered their feet 278s

and with two they flew just a little aside there. 284s

God is so holy and so magnificent that the angels are covering themselves as they are 288s

in the presence of God. 294s

Verse 3. 297s

And one called to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. 299s

That's where we get that great him, by the way. 307s

The whole earth is full of his glory. 310s

The pivots on the threshold shook at the voices of those who called and the house filled 315s

with smoke. 320s

And I said, whoa is me, I'm lost for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a 321s

people of unclean lips. 330s

Yet my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. 333s

Isaiah 64 verse 6, we have all become like one who is unclean. 341s

It gets at the depth of their sinfulness. 350s

The picture goes on the next part of verse 6. 357s

And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. 361s

In other words, all the supposedly good things that they would do to justify themselves before 368s

God to make themselves right before God in God's eyes, they were simply a filthy useless 374s

cloth. 384s

It goes on. 386s

Verse 6, the last part, we all fade like a leaf and our iniquities like the wind take us away. 388s

Like dried up leaves on a full day is the wind comes. 399s

They're just simply scattered and blown away. 405s

The people deserved destruction. 409s

In the very first song, it says this, the wicked are like the chaff that the wind drives 413s

away. 422s

This is quite a picture of the people, isn't it? 424s

They're unclean because of the depths of their sinfulness. 428s

All of their righteous deeds to make themselves right before God, there's a filthy rag. 434s

And they're like dried leaves deserving to simply be blown away simply to be destroyed, 442s

brittle, falling apart. 451s

Desintegrating. 455s

Quite a picture. 455s

And that's not all. 459s

We go on into verse 7. 461s

There is no one who calls on your name or attempts to take hold of you. 466s

You see, that's who the people were by nature, that's who we are by nature. 475s

We are sinful. 479s

We are sinners at the moment of conception. 482s

When life begins, we know that there is a sinner. 485s

And there's nothing in us. 491s

There's nothing in us that wants to reach out to God. 493s

Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 2. 498s

You were dead through the trespasses and sins. 500s

Goes on into verse 7. 506s

For you have hidden your face from us. 510s

Has God looked at the people. 515s

He was just, he was just abhord with regard to their sinfulness. 517s

He looks away the scripture reveals. 522s

For as he looked at his people, he saw the extent, the height and the depth and the breadth 526s

and their sinfulness. 531s

It's like when we see something that repulses us, we can look away because we don't want 533s

to view it. 541s

That's the image here of God looking upon the people and just being repulsed, he was 542s

abhord with regard to their sin. 548s

It goes on in verse 7 and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. 552s

It's the people experiencing the effects of their own sinfulness. 564s

It's God saying then have your way and then you will unfortunately experience the effect 569s

of your sin. 576s

Very similar thought in Romans the first chapter when Paul writes this, therefore God 578s

gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity. 585s

They experienced then the effects of the sin. 593s

This is quite a picture, isn't it? 599s

Quite a picture of these people. 601s

They were unclean because of their sinfulness. 604s

All of the righteous things that they thought they could do to make themselves right before 609s

God, they were like filthy, filthy rags. 612s

They were like dry leaves, deserving, to simply be blown away simply to be destroyed. 616s

They were dead in their trespasses. 625s

Nothing in them reaching out to God. 629s

God looked upon them and was abhord by what he saw, abhord with regard to their sin. 633s

These were people that were feeling the effects of their sin. 641s

Can you believe these people? 648s

Can you believe these people? 651s

Let's see, here's the thing. 656s

Where these people too aren't we? 664s

Where these people too? 668s

Our first father comes, formed out of the dirt, the humble beginnings. 675s

But we dirty because of our sin. 683s

Notice though. 694s

Notice though the very next word in the text. 696s

The very beginning of verse 8, it's the word after all has been exposed with regard to their sin. 702s

After this incredible picture has been given and the people are saying, this is who we are. 712s

This picture here has been formed the very next word. 720s

Yet. 729s

Think of a child. 736s

Think of a child talking with a parent. 738s

And they want something, maybe they're lobbying for something, advocating for something. 741s

The parent has a tent about it. 748s

But the child keeps talking and the parent keeps listening. 752s

And then the parent says something like, well, or if or just. 756s

If you're a child, those are good words, right? 771s

As you can tell that the door here has opened with just those little words, the door to the yes that's being saw. 775s

The word yet is like that. 791s

It's a little word, but oh, it packs a punch. 794s

Yet can mean but it can mean never the last. 797s

And that's what it means here. 804s

After the sin of the people is put on display in this text, there are awareness of their sinfulness. 807s

Comes the acknowledgement. 820s

Yet. 824s

They were an unclean people. 831s

Emersed in sin of thought word and deed by what they had done. 833s

And by what they had left undone. 837s

They were unclean. 839s

Yet. 845s

They were people who understood the norm out of good things they could do. 847s

Could earn their way into the good graces of God. 853s

They understood that those type of actions were like filthy rags to God. 856s

Yet. 864s

There was the understanding of their dryness. 867s

They were like dry leaves. 870s

Yet. 873s

These were people that were dead in their sins. 875s

These were people that God looked upon them and was abhorred by what he saw. 880s

These were people that were living the very effects of the sin. 887s

Yet. 897s

Yet. 900s

Look at verse 8. 901s

Yet. 905s

Oh Lord. 906s

You are our. 908s

Father. 913s

Yet. 915s

Oh Lord. 916s

You are our. 918s

Their first human father came out of the dirt humble beginnings. 923s

These people had become dirty because of their sin. 930s

And yet these were a people that God had formed unto himself. 935s

These were people that God had birthed. 940s

These were people that God had kept. 943s

These were people out of whom would come the Messiah. 946s

And then that image comes. 953s

That image that relates to the soil. 956s

That relates to those humble beginnings all the way back into Genesis. 961s

The image comes in the next phrase of verse 8. 967s

We. 972s

Are the clay. 975s

And you are our. 978s

We are the work of your hand. 983s

We are the clay. 988s

And you. 991s

Are the. 994s

It's the same thing for us. 999s

We are on clean because of the magnitude of our sin. 1003s

But yet one sin would make a stand condemned before God forever. 1007s

We are a people that are unclean because of our sin of thought word. 1013s

Indeed by what we've done and by what we've left undone. 1017s

Yet. 1021s

We are a people who can't earn our way to the good graces of God. 1025s

We are a people that can't do enough right things to make our self right before God. 1029s

In fact, all of our righteous deeds to try and do that are like a filthy rag to. 1037s

Yet. 1044s

We're just like the people of old. 1047s

Try to leave blown away deserving of nothing. 1050s

But to be destroyed yet. 1054s

We are a people who are by nature dead in our trespasses who don't seek God. 1057s

In fact, we're born wanting nothing to do with him. 1065s

Yet. 1070s

We are a people that God looks upon and sees our sin and he's abhorred by it. 1072s

God hates sin. 1078s

Yet. 1081s

We are a people that feel the very effects of sin in our own lives. 1082s

Yet. 1091s

God lives the yet by sending his son the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross. 1094s

And on the cross the Lord Jesus Christ pays the penalty for all of our sin. 1104s

This incredible word of yet is lived out on the cross. 1111s

We are redeemed. 1120s

We are forgiven. 1122s

We are claimed in the waters of baptism. 1123s

God opens up for us and eternity. 1127s

The tomb of our Lord is empty and death has been overcome. 1131s

It is the living out of the yet. 1136s

This gracious action of God. 1142s

God fashions us into believers. 1148s

He fashions us as his people. 1154s

And he continues to fashen us to be more and more like Christ. 1159s

Yet. 1172s

Yet. 1175s

What a beautiful word. 1177s

Today in the life of the church is pentacost Sunday. 1183s

The church adorns herself in red. 1190s

It is a festival color. 1192s

And the red also reminds us back to Acts 2 chapter, 1195s

where tongues of fire appeared. 1200s

That red reminds us of that first pentacost. 1204s

But red is not the lasting color for pentacost. 1212s

No. 1216s

The lasting color. 1217s

What you see most Sundays in this great season is green. 1219s

Green that color for growth. 1225s

Green that color for maturity. 1228s

Because what the Holy Spirit does through word and through sacrament is he molds us. 1231s

We're clay after all. 1240s

And he molds us to be more and more like Jesus Christ. 1243s

Paul put it this way in Ephesians 2. 1249s

For we are what he has made us. 1253s

He created in Christ Jesus for good works. 1257s

Not good works. 1262s

It could somehow redeem ourselves. 1263s

If we did enough, we would make ourselves right. 1266s

No, these are the works that simply come naturally. 1269s

Where the gift of faith is present. 1272s

God takes us, lumps of clay. 1276s

And he fashens us. 1280s

And he fashens us as his redeemed people to be more and more like Jesus Christ. 1281s

The molding of the clay cannot be the easiest thing though for clay. 1301s

So often we think of clay as being soft and pliable. 1310s

But clay can kind of be a little bit ordinary at times. 1317s

I think of Isaiah chapter 29. 1323s

God says this. 1326s

Shall the potter be regarded as the clay? 1328s

Shall the thing formed say of the one who formed it? 1332s

He has no understanding. 1336s

See, we can be a rebellious clump. 1339s

But God doesn't give up. 1345s

He keeps on through word and through sacrament. 1347s

Forming us, maturing us, molding us to be like his son. 1354s

Sometimes it's just the gentle hand of his molding. 1366s

And sometimes it takes more force. 1372s

Sometimes it is that action of God molding that clay and removing all of the bubbles out. 1379s

That one has to do with a lump of clay and God isn't work. 1388s

Sometimes he uses the trials. 1395s

He uses the hardships. 1401s

He uses the difficulties. 1403s

It's those times when he's really working. 1406s

Those challenging times in life. 1411s

Like pandemics. 1415s

To mold his clay into greater maturity. 1420s

See, just as clay becomes hardened and secure and firm through fire. 1426s

So also through the fiery trials and difficulties and challenges that we go through. 1435s

We become firm and enduring and strong. 1441s

Like the heat of the kiln with clay. 1448s

That's what happens with us. 1450s

And the green of pentacost is lived out. 1454s

As the potter is working and molding the clay. 1460s

Our roots are the dirt. 1469s

Reality is the work of the Redeemer saving us from our sin, calling us his own. 1477s

And molding us to be who he wants us to be. 1490s

Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. 1501s

We are the clay and you are our potter. 1506s

We are all the work of your hand. 1512s

We are in good hands, aren't we? 1521s

We are in good hands. 1525s