Section 12
that God's purpose in creating man was to make man His vessel to contain Him. We all must thor oughly 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 purge ourselves from dishonor able 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. His selection depends upon His sovereignty.
"What if God, willing to show forth His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted for destruction?" (v. 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.