Tuesday

Related Verses
Rom. 9:19-21
19 You will say to me then, Why does He still find fault? For who withstands His will?
20 But rather, O man, who are you who answer back to God? Shall the thing molded say to him who molded it, Why did you make me thus?
21 Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?

Exo. 33:19
19 And He said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

2 Tim. 2:20-21
20 But in a great house there are not only gold and silver vessels but also wooden and earthen; and some are unto honor, and some unto dishonor.
21 If therefore anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared unto every good work.

Eph. 2:4
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

Related Reading
We all have to realize who we are. We are God’s creatures, and He is our Creator. As His creatures, we should not say anything to Him, the Creator…God is the Potter, and we are pieces of clay. As the Potter, God has authority over the clay. If He wills, He can make one vessel unto honor and another vessel unto dishonor. It does not depend on our choice—it depends on His sovereignty. (Life-study of Romans, p. 257)

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Romans 9:21 discloses God’s purpose in creating man. This verse is unique in its revelation of God’s purpose in the creation of man. Without this verse it would be difficult for us to realize that God’s purpose in creating man was to make him His vessel to contain Him. We all must thoroughly understand that we are God’s containers and that God is our content. Second Corinthians 4:7 says that “we have this treasure in earthen vessels.” We are earthen vessels, and God is the treasure and the content. God has sovereignly created us to be His containers according to His predestination.

Second Timothy 2:20-21 conveys the same thought, saying that we are vessels unto honor. So, we need to cleanse ourselves from dishonorable things that we may be sanctified and suitable for the Lord’s use. However, being vessels unto honor is not the result of our choice; it originates with God’s sovereignty. It is of God’s sovereignty that He make His glory known by creating vessels of mercy to contain Himself. This is a deep word. God’s sovereignty is the basis of His selection.

“What if God, wishing to demonstrate His wrath and make His power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fitted for destruction” (Rom. 9:22). What should we say about this? We have nothing to say. He is the Potter, and He has the authority. Human beings are simply clay.

“In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory, even us, whom He has also called, not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles?” (vv. 23-24). All depends upon God’s authority. God has the authority to make us, whom He has selected and called not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles, vessels of mercy to contain Him, that the riches of His glory may be made known, that is, manifested…We were predestinated by His sovereignty to be His containers, vessels of honor to express what He is in glory. This is not only a matter of His mercy but also of His sovereignty.

God’s selection has a goal—to have many vessels to contain God and to express Him eternally…Yes, He loves us. However, His love is not only shown to save us but to make us His vessels. God created us in such a way that we are able to take Him into us and contain Him as our life and life supply, to the end that we be one with Him to express what He is and that He be glorified in us and with us. This is the eternal goal of God’s selection. It is also our eternal destiny.

This portion of the Word also unfolds the climax of our usefulness to God, which is not to be used by Him as servants, priests, and kings but as vessels to contain Him and express Him. If we are to be used as God’s vessels, surely He has to be one with us. We are His container and His expression; He is our content and our life. He lives in us that we may live by Him. He and we, we and He, eventually will be one both in life and in nature. This is the goal of His selection according to His sovereignty. It is also our destiny according to His selection, a destiny which will be fully revealed in the New Jerusalem. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 257-258)

Further Reading: Life-study of Romans, msgs. 22, 58