Romans 9:21-23
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 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, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
The potter, Almighty God, has the right over the clay, the dust of the earth, His creation. The Creator makes all people from the same lump, the earth. Some are made for purposes that are different from others; here are 2 – honorable and dishonorable.
It is the body which is made from the same lump of clay, from the dust of the earth. So, what is it that differentiates the use of the vessels? Is it something in the soul? Is it something in the spirit? Does it have anything to do with free will?
What of the soul: the mind, will, emotions, reason, choice, imagination? Would these not work relatively the same for all created people? Is there a noticeable differentiation there?
That leaves the spirit. Do all people have the same degree of spirit in them? The Nephilim (Genesis 6:4) come to mind, as do those who were referred to as being of their “father the devil” (John 8:39-47).
Free will does not overtake the sovereignty of God. If God indeed had a purpose for someone He has created, this purpose will come to pass. Free will may not be what we perceive it to be.
2 Timothy 2:20-21
Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
Some for honorable use:
- Will some live honorably from beginning to end?
- Will some live dishonorably and have a transformation to an honorable life?
- Are these vessels of mercy prepared for glory?
Romans 8:29
For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Almighty God foreknew and predestined the vessels for honorable use “to be conformed to the image of His Son.”
In verse 30:
- Predestined – Romans 8:29
- Called – John 6:44
- Justified – Romans 3:24
- Glorified – Romans 8:17
Proverbs 16:4
The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.
Even the wicked were created for the day of trouble: a reason and purpose.
1 Peter 9:8b
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
“As they were destined to do.” It does not appear there was a choice.
Some for dishonorable use:
- Will these live dishonorably no matter what?
- Are these those for whom destruction was created?
- Is this the prerogative of the Creator? (prerogative = exclusive right)
Were the wheat and the tares, those for honorable use and those for dishonorable use, created for a purpose and are destined to carry it out?
What is the difference between the two? Could it be in the spirit? Is it more than being born again? Do some have a spark of the essence of God in their spirit whereas some do not?
What is the origin of man? Did man come from God?
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
What about God before His creation?
1 Timothy 6:16
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
God was unapproachable by His creation to come.
Ezekiel 1:26
And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.
The “likeness with a human appearance” was from the point of view of Ezekiel. The Son proceeded from the Father. Was He not in existence before the creation of man?
John 1:10
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
The world was made through Jesus.
1 Corinthians 8:6
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
Jesus Christ, “through whom we exist.”.
Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Man was created in His image, after His likeness, not God being created in the image of man.
The Creator must exist before the creation. The unapproachable God took on an approachable form on the throne, the Son. Were the throne and the heavenly courts the first creation of God?
In Genesis1:24-31, on the sixth day of creation, God creates man – in His image.
Genesis 2:7
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
The body of man was created from the dust of the ground. What about the soul? Was it also created from the dust of the ground? Or was it inserted into the creation? Is the type of soul what separated man from the other creatures?
The breath of life was breathed into man. This is not said of the other creatures. Was man created with a spark of the essence of God in his spirit?
After the fall, man needed a rebirth of his spirit to regain his positional relationship with Almighty God. Is this the insertion of the spark of the essence of God? Or an awakening of the spark in the spirit?
Hebrews 2:11
For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
The Christ is the one who sanctifies. Those who are born again are those who are being sanctified. They “all have one source”, or, all are of one.
John 10:30
“I and the Father are one.”
The source of the Son, the Christ, is Almighty God.
John 10:34-36
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
Is the essence of Almighty God also the source of our spirit? Jesus did not contradict “I said, you are gods” or that it is written in the Law. Was Jesus acknowledging the origin of our spirit?
Psalms 82:6
I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
Jesus did not refute this. We see the Son, in Romans 8:29, was to be “the firstborn among many brothers.” We see in Hebrews 2:11 that this “is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers.”
Psalms 82:7
nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
There is the need of a savior as death had entered the picture and man was in need of a restoration of the spirit.
The man Jesus was created and housed the only untainted spirit of the Son who had proceeded from the Father and was on the throne. Being born of a woman, He was qualified to stand in the place of man. Being the Christ, He was worthy of His position on the cross from before creation. The Son, the Christ, Jesus, was the only qualified Savior of man.
Has the spirit of man existed with Almighty God from before creation? Within Almighty God? In His Spirit?
Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Has religion, and the enemy, pounded man down so badly into nothing but the created body, left for dead on the roadside battered and bloodied, in need of restoration and salvation?
We were known, appointed, and consecrated before we were formed in the womb. We have the same origin as the one who sanctifies us.
The wheat, those vessels made for honorable use, are those whom God foreknew and predestined to glory in Christ.
Colossians 1:27
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Christ in You!
The Hope of Glory!
If this is accurate, we can better understand the Parable of the Wheat and Tares.