God of the Second Chance

My wife and I have always loved the music which Larnelle Harris has sung over the years. We became familiar with him in the 80’s when he would do duets with Sandi Patti. He also sang for many years with the Bill Gaither vocal band, along with a lot of solo work. Not only does he have a tremendous voice, but all of his songs carry a powerful, stirring message. There is one such song of which I would like to share the words with you. I believe that Jeremiah could have used these words as a prelude to chapter 18.

We give our praise to You the God of the second chance. We come before you now with trumpets and harp and dance. We adore You, rejoicing in the word you’ve done. The captive souls that you’ve redeemed, the battles You have won. We praise You our God; God of the second chance.

Oh Lord Who gives us life; the God of all the earth. You are the One Who made it possible to have a second birth. It was You, Your love, Your sacrifice, Your pain—that through the cross of Calvary gave us hope again.

Your heart kept reaching out though some refused to receive Your grace and mercy and the life You called them to. And even though it meant Your Son would bear my sin alone; Through death, hell and grave, Your love would not let us go.

We give our praise to You the God of the second chance. We come before you now with trumpets and harp and dance. We adore ou, rejoicing in the work you’ve done. The captive souls that You’ve redeemed, the battles You have won. We praise You our God; God of the second chance.

Our God is the God of the second chance.

Jeremiah 18:1–12 (NASB95)

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. “Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it. “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.” ’ “But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’

Picture Illustration of the Second Chance. - 18.1-4

Jeremiah is sometimes seen as one of the most picturesque of the prophets, with all of his visual object lessons. Some of them, he actively participated in, while others he was allowed to simply observe.

In these four verses, we have a unique object lesson. Jeremiah goes down to the potter’s house, following the Lord’s instructions, knowing that it was there he would get the message God had for him.

Upon arrival, Jeremiah sees the potter working at the wheel with a defective clay pot. The potter then proceeds to reshape this flawed vessel into another pot which was more acceptable to him.

For some, this may be fascinating, especially if you enjoy pottery, or arts and crafts. But when you are working full time for God and you know that your people are on a fast track to destruction, you might wish that God would get to the point.

That’s exactly what God does in the next few verses.

Personal Explanation of the Second Chance. - 18.5-10

It was after God let this visual object lesson sink in that He explained to Jeremiah what it was all about. God likens the clay pot to the nation of Israel. God Himself is like the potter Who fashions the clay. The clay actually has no say as to what shape it will take or how big or useful it will be. The clay is unable and incapable of suggesting to the potter how high a price it should be worth. In other words, the clay is completely at the mercy of the potter.

Here is where we must recognize a major difference between the people and the clay. The clay cannot reform or repent. The clay cannot feel sorrow. The clay cannot willingly serve and worship its maker. However, the people most certainly can.

God tells Jeremiah that when a people gets to the point of worthlessness; when they become an abomination and are detestable; God can simply announce that their time is up and move on to other things. Yet, if that people will recognize their evil; if they repent of their evil; God will relent. If the people will agree with God that what they have been doing is wrong before a holy God, they will be led toward repentance. There will be seen within them a genuine sorrow and a desire to turn away from practicing their evil. If that happens, God states that He will change His plans, as it were, and not destroy them. However, if they do that which is wrong, the good that God had planned for them will cease.

Purposeful Rejection of the Second Chance. - 18.11-12

In these last two verses we’ll be looking at today, we see the moment of decision. The choice has been given and the people must evaluate and decide what they will do. God has given them all kinds of warning. He has spelled out for them the fact that they will be destroyed if they continue on their path of evil.

God’s direction which He gave them was that they would repent. God genuinely wanted them to turn from their evil ways. This wasn’t only a plea for the nation, but for each individual person. It wasn’t just the political leaders that needed to turn from sin. It involved individuals, as well. It was just like today, where individuals need to turn from sin. All national revivals must begin with individuals getting serious with God and leaving their sinful ways.

Yet, one cannot stop at only leaving their sinful ways. There is also a need to reform ones ways and actions. You see, genuine repentance will be seen by a change of thinking and behavior. If a person’s thinking is still focused on evil, their behavior will be sinful, as well. If the actions and behavior are sinful, then repentance was not genuine; it is simply continuing on in a life of lies.

The sad part of this section is that the people didn’t recognize the second chance God was giving them. They basically threw up their hands and snubbed their noses, as if to suggest that they had come this far with their evil ways, they might as well continue doing the evil they were so used to doing.

Pondering

Let’s take some time now for a personal review.

All of us have been or could be right now that flawed, imperfect clay pot. In God’s sight, we were or still are unacceptable. You see, the reason for this is that God only accepts that which is perfect.

It would have been perfectly acceptable and legitimate for God to look at us and say “Reject!” Yet our God is the God of the second chance. God could have simply taken us and thrown us away on the scrap heap with all the other broken, worthless, useless items which have been marred and scarred by a life of sin and abuse. However, our God is the God of the second chance.

But, God has, or will, take us right where we are and reshape us to make us acceptable in His sight. Now, unlike that clay pot, you and I have a say in this matter, just as the people of Judah did. God needs us to recognize that we are marred; that we are sinners; that we are unacceptable in our sinful condition. If we will agree with Him on this, wanting to be found as an acceptable, useful vessel, we must repent and allow Him to re-form us. We will experience genuine sorrow. We will want to leave our old ways and take on God’s ways. We can be made into the acceptable person that God wants us to be.

However, we have to mean business. Humanity may tolerate mind games, but God will not. Churches may overlook a lot of indiscretions and insincerity, but God will not. On this earth, we may think we are doing just fine simply because we’re not as bad as most. Yet to God we’re just another marred pot that is fit for destruction.

Now if you mean business and are serious, you will have or will soon surrender your life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Remember your role in this object lesson—you are the clay pot. God is the potter. The clay pot cannot remake itself. It cannot become acceptable to the potter by just being itself and trying as hard as it can. It is up to the potter to reshape it to suit Him. By the way, having a certain stamp or logo or price tag does not make us acceptable to the potter. Just as belonging to a certain church, holding certain positions, saying a special prayer, or following a certain tradition does not make us acceptable to God.

Jesus Christ wants to shape us into His image. None of us truly knows what that is since we have so many cracks and blemishes. But as we submit ourselves to our loving Lord, He will do whatever is necessary to make us into a useful vessel that is acceptable to Him.

Aren’t you glad that we are not destined for the scrap heap? I am ever so thankful! We do not have to be thrown out and discarded, never able to enjoy a useful life for the Master.

Praise God for the fact that He is the God of the second chance.