The Perfect Vessels and What Became of Them
The Earthen Vessel
First there was nothing, then there was something because God commanded it to be so. The beginning of Genesis says He created this something called earth which at this time was formless and empty. This means that there was no substance that made it a concrete shape. This shapeless mass dwelt in the midst of the new and empty space. But it would not remain that way long—only a few hours. The Divine Potter—the triunity of the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit—would in the coming days shape this blob into a perfect creation. There was a kind of sanctification in the coming days as they honed and crafted it into what they, God, said was “good.” (And when God says something He made is good, that really means something.)
And when God says something He made is good, that really means something.
The Two Kinds of Vessels and How They Broke
He intended for His perfect vessel to remain a perfect vessel. Unfortunately, man—the second kind of vessel, the pinnacle of his creation and the God-ordained stewards of the earth–broke himself and the entirety of earth by rebelling against God and thereby making it less than perfect. We ourselves chose to tarnish His masterpiece.
God came through for us time and time again to help fix the broken vessel. I have mentioned in other articles how God the Father sent His Son and that this was only one part of God’s looooong plan—a very crucial part, but still one part. He is still working on this earth in the form of God the Holy Spirit. Many of His works on this present earth have already taken place. No human being can say whether or not most of it has taken place since the New Testament is clear that no one knows when the promised end is coming. As a human, Jesus said He didn’t even know but that only the Father knew. But the end of God’s work with this old earth, this broken vessel is coming. We can be certain of that because Jesus promised it was the case.
It will not be until the very end of human time that the plan will culminate in a new earth and heaven. Scripture gives us the details. In Revelation we are given a description of several trumpets of judgment that affect all of physical nature in some way. It is there in the very end that the work of the original creation is being revisited. The book of revelation will build up to a crescendo, resulting in the creation of the aforementioned new heaven and new earth (see Revelation 21).
The Remaking of a Masterpiece
It is now our choice whether or not we as renewed human vessels will join Jesus on the renewed earthen vessel. This is where the subject of hell comes in. God’s judgment of man is part of his divine plan. We will certainly all be judged in the end, but not all of humanity will be redeemed and reunited with our Maker, the Divine Potter. We must choose to be reunited with the Divine Potter through Jesus.
The Divine Potter shaped the formlessness and emptiness of the earth into the masterpiece of masterpieces; He can certainly shape the formlessness and emptiness of any human soul.
Accepting Jesus is not the end of the Christian’s work on this broken earth, though. It is just the beginning of a life of sanctification, a life of striving for that perfect vessel-ship. There are those Christians, called perfectionists, who believe that the believer can reach this level of Christianity in this life. In this level, they say, they will be a Christian who never sins. The Bible seems to be clear that we who are Christians will never attain the end of sanctification in this life. Still, this does not mean that we should not continually strive for greater righteousness and holiness. It does not mean that we should do nothing for the cause of Christ at all but just wait around until we are judged for eternal life with Christ. The complete opposite is true. James 2 tells us that faith without works is dead. In reality, we should always seek to do more for Christ regardless of how difficult.
Let’s do our best to be molded by the Divine Potter to mankind’s original perfection. The Divine Potter shaped the formlessness and emptiness of the earth into the masterpiece of masterpieces; He can certainly shape the formlessness and emptiness of any human soul. God shaped and filled the universe; let Him shape and fill you.
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Thanks for the great reminder, Ben.
Agreed.
I especially love this part, “Accepting Jesus is not the end of the Christian’s work on this broken earth, though.”
Thanks, Lytle guys!