The picture of sanctification is from the pottery shop. Obviously, the pottery industry was more common in ancient times than in our society. Today’s designs and manufacture of household goods like pots, cups, serving dishes, and other vessels can help us understand the imagery.
Each vessel made in the pottery shop was designed for a particular purpose. Its form was suited to its function. Many of the dishes could be used for other things than the potter had in mind, but the idea was to have it used as intended.
When a clay vessel was misused, it usually was ruined. Switching it back to its original use was not always impossible, but it was challenging. Harmful substances might have contaminated it. Its appearance would likely have been marred or discolored. Misuse could have chipped or cracked or disfigured it. Its beauty and integrity had been lost.
Not a Throw-away Culture
From a modern practical perspective, it might seem wise to merely discard the abused jar and start over with another one. Certainly in our society, throwing things away and replacing them is the normal approach. Our methods devalue even the products that don’t need repair. But a craftsman who is purposeful and respects his art would try to reclaim it.
Like God, who cares for his creation with love and sacrifice, the potter had reasons to rescue a piece that took so much work, care, and attention. Remember that each piece of pottery was unique, since mass production of identical pieces had not become common. The potter would want the spoiled vessel to be cleaned, repaired, restored, and possibly made more decorative. Then it could be set aside anew for its original design and usefulness.
This is why the word “sanctification” in salvation specifically means to be set apart for a unique purpose, distinct from other outwardly similar people.
Designed and set apart for a good purpose
The apostle Paul, in 2 Timothy 2:20-21, takes his readers into a fancy house filled with items from the pottery shop and other suppliers.
“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.”
By our sinful rejection of God and chasing after worldly things, we have been contaminated. We damaged ourselves and suffered harm from others. We need to be cleansed from the results of abuse. We need to be restored to the honorable use God had in mind when he made us.
But I want to be a different vessel!
Outwardly, we might undervalue our intended purpose as less important than someone else’s. God needs all kinds of vessels to fill his great house. We can humbly accept our set-apart role, whether it seems golden or woody by comparison. But, the invariable necessity is that we all have to be clean. We need the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The gospel does a deep cleaning of our souls by removing the sin we have been filled with previously. The work of the Holy Spirit is able to penetrate into the very pores of the clay to make us whole again. Depending on nicks or cracks or major damage we have sustained, the repairs will be made accordingly. Then, we are recommissioned. We are set apart from improper purposes and dedicated to the unique use God made us for.
We discover that God made us for glorious service. Our recommissioning is an upgrade to an eternally valued role in his kingdom.
Kintsugi
The ancient Japanese ceremonial tea rituals and the vessel repair called “kintsugi” is not mentioned in the Bible, but it gives us a picture of sanctification. A broken cup or bowl is repaired, not to hide the damage of its brokenness, but to highlight it with gold. The scars of the cracks remain in a way that increases the beauty and grace—and the value--of the piece.
Just as the glorified body of the resurrected Jesus still bore the marks of nails and spear, so our lives will carry visible reminders of our brokenness. In God’s eyes, they truly are beauty marks.
Romans 9:19-24 reminds us that the potter is the one who should decide what we are best at doing for his glory. “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?”
Extending the Idea of Sanctification
We sometimes talk about sanctification as a growth in holiness. “Holy” is another word for being set apart from others for God’s purposes. It carries the idea of uniqueness. We are no longer common or ordinary. We are a treasured possession of the master.
The process of sanctification is ongoing. God works in us to remove the spoiled parts that are not already like himself. He adds to us the things that are godly attributes. The Holy Spirit produces his fruit in us. It is kinda like the abuse we have caused by our rejection of God’s ways is undone, leaving us fit for being used in his great house.
A refrain throughout the entire Bible is the call and purpose of God: “Be holy because I the Lord your God am holy.”
We do not have to be perfect from an earthly valuation to be useful for God’s design. The idea is that we are a vessel to carry and deliver the precious treasure of God to others. “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).
Holiness becomes our lifelong pursuit. We desire to grow in holiness, getting cleaner as we work. We discover our unique purpose and grow into it through sanctification. He fills us with his love and mercy, his blessing and good news, his transforming artistry and significance. Through us he displays who he is. Through us he delivers his treasures to others.
Thank you for reading articles in this Pictures of Salvation series. We have only begun to look at this photo album of the gospel. But, I will be taking a break to consider other topics. The plan is to return to cover more of these amazing images.
Thanks, Jerry. I just learned about the kintsugi art recently, and it's amazing in its metaphor significance. I certainly need some of that in my life.