Artwork

In my current career choice of graphic design, I often miss the days when I, as the artist, was more physically interactive with my artwork; when my hand guided the brush across the canvas; when my fingers manipulated the clay. Design has become, for me, very abstract—something I approach with a more-or-less “trial-and-error” method until I stumble upon a look that pleases the eye. In college, when I painted, drew, or sculpted, my art always seemed more thought-out and intentional. Perhaps the difference lies in my vision, the purpose that I have for my artwork. Art in the past was always about communication, and each piece was conceived in the mind while the artwork remained formless and empty.

I would imagine this is how God approaches His creation—with purpose and intention. Several times in scripture God reveals himself as an artist by comparing himself to the potter. But there is one passage in particular in Romans 9 that I find disconcerting, especially after hearing Pastor Mark Driscoll preach on it last January. Would God really create a vessel purposed for destruction? And thus I began a journey to find the truth behind one of the most debated topics in the church: Predestination.

I have always been plagued by the dichotomy of free-will and predestination. Both are so apparent in scripture, and for years I have come at peace with the two sides by simply deciding that God must choose those who choose Him. But that’s like telling a person they can have any flavor they want, just as long as it’s cherry. It becomes apparent that after the first round of selection, the following decisions are limited. And if any confinement would be applied to choice, it should be ours, not the Almighty’s.

We must remember that God is sovereign. He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. God transcends space and time. God knows our past, our present, and even our future. Now some might argue that simply because God knows I will do something doesn't mean He made me do it, and that's true. I believe we possess a free will; I definitely don’t see God pulling our strings. However, we are not sovereign beings and our free will has obvious limitations. For example, I did not get to choose my parent, or how they raised me, or even the name I have been given. My sex, my race, my personality, my very likes and dislikes are not really of my choosing. My most fundamental makeup is predetermined by God.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." –Psalm 139:13

As our creator, God knows us so intimately and therefore is not simply aware of our talents and skills, but created us with those capabilities. In our very fashioning He must have known who would accept and who would reject Him. In fact, I have been gripped by the image of God handling a lump of clay, knowing full well how each push of the thumb would transform his creation. It would be up to our maker AS we were created to either moisten the clay of our heart so that we could accept Him, or leave it to dry into a prideful stone. For whatever will we have, our choices were given to us by God.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” –Ephesians 2:8, 9

I may be saved by faith, but even that faith comes ultimately from God. If it were not true, and I could inherently make the correct choice independently from Him, then I would have reason to boast. But Paul explicitly tells us in Romans 3 that absolutely all boasting is excluded. We enter Heaven through Christ, and Him alone.

In the quest for wisdom, I often discover that the truth leads me to the universal consistency that God is great, and man is nothing apart from His love. My artwork declares what I desire for it to say. It did not choose it’s purpose, and neither did we. Yet a Free-will perspective, one that demands we chose God first, exalts man. Election gives all the glory to God.

I’ve discovered that it is my pride that demands a part to play separate from the ultimate will of my Lord. I resented the assertion, and demanded that if it were true, my actions would be inconsequential. But to respond in this manner is to not only misunderstand grace, but also treat it with disdain.

Me, a sworn enemy of God, was chosen by Him to be saved. I did absolutely NOTHING to deserve it, not even come to repentance on my own. Once I accepted this truth, it led me to humility and thanksgiving, and an even fuller appreciation for the Gospel and Evangelism. My God is greater than I once believed, and now I am compelled even further to share this great news with the world.

In addition, I am now under no pressure to convert or convince, for it is God that will save those who He chooses. And I share with greater love and thankfulness, knowing that if it was not for my God, I would have chosen death.

In conclusion we must remember it is not the moral heart that enters the gates of Heaven, but the humble one. Predestination grants God the glory, warning man to not place an ounce of trust in his own abilities. And despite our prideful hearts’ protests, we must accept this glorious truth with a resounding, “Amen.”