Created - Formed - Made

“Even every one that is called by My name: for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yes, I have made him” (Isaiah 43:7)

The plan of God centers around people – men and women who have chosen and are chosen to be part of His finished creation. These select persons go through a special process of development. In the text of Isaiah, they are “called”, then “created… formed… made.”
God’s whole plan centers around the developing and perfecting of these select individuals. In Isaiah 43, the prophet (under the inspiration of God) makes a remarkable declaration of God’s ongoing eternal purpose. Whom is God selecting? God replies, “Every one that is called by My name.” God may have been speaking to a nation, but at this point His Divine spotlight focuses on the individual. Here is the first step in bringing the human creation into the Divine plan: being called.
Then the next step follows quickly, a special aspect of development: “I have created him.” These select persons do not come about by chance, nor are they left to the blind forces of nature. They are “created”.
What is the purpose in this special creation? “I have created him for My glory.” God plans that His finished new creation will glorify Him, that is, enhance or increase His old creation.
“I have created… I have formed… I have made.” The Hebrew words behind these three terms show distinct emphasis and significance. First, “I have created.” This term refers to an entirely new beginning. We may apply it to God’s action in making a person with faith in Christ as Savior and Lord into a new creation. We Christians become totally new (in God’s eyes) when Jesus Christ comes to live in our human spirit (Galatians 2:20) – a total change of spirit nature from the independent nature inherited from the Fall of Adam into the Divine nature of God (2 Peter 1:4). It is, as far as each one is concerned, a radical departure from an earthly birth into a totally new birth – being born again. And it applies totally to the human spirit part of us.
The second step is that of being “formed”. This word indicates a process. It is a word which is used of the potter working at the wheel. He is using what now exists to make it into something better, something new. The potter takes his basic material, clay, and shapes and molds it into his design. But say a flaw develops in the product as he shapes it. Does he throw away the clay and say that the clay was no good? No, he just collects the clay into a new glob and begins again to reshape.
When a Christian becomes “flawed” by sin, does God throw us out as unworkable? No. He just collects us (by correcting us) into a new “glob” and works on us again.
This shaping, molding, reshaping, remolding takes place in the human soul, the intellect, emotions and will. The soul is like a mass of clay that has been shaped by the world previous to our new birth and now must be shaped and reshaped into the lifestyle of God. But always remember that the Master Potter does not throw out a “flawed soul” but rather takes steps of correction to the same “clay” in order to shape it the way He wants it.
The third word, “made” is a word which indicates the final result. It is accomplished. I have made; I have finished, and it is done. The prophet Isaiah looked into the future when the plan of God for all individuals would be complete. He looked also to the end of the forming he himself was experiencing, to the time when he would be “created… formed… made.” He was looking to the time when he would eventually stand as the finished work of God.
Of course, the potter and clay example breaks down in the aspect that regular clay must conform to the shaping of the potter – but we, as clay, can CHOOSE to conform. There is a sense in which we do the forming ourselves. And though we must do all in our power to cooperate with the Master Potter and submit to Him, all the parts of the process – the purpose, the life, and the ongoing success – are God’s.
There is something here which should startle and awaken us, something that should catch our attention and change the direction of our lives. It is the realization of the new birth – that Christ works on this clay of ours from the INSIDE OUT. The Master Potter has come INTO the clay, is actually in union with the clay, and will never leave or separate from the clay.
This whole process of forming is not a work God does alone, nor can we do it without cooperating with God in Christ. But rest assured, the shaping of the Christian WILL GET DONE by whatever means necessary. Sometimes that clay has to take a real “pounding” – but the finished product is guaranteed to be pleasing to God.

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