Sermon
Scripture: Jeremiah 18:16, especially verse 6
The Remolding Hand of God
Introduction: Have you ever heard the term dumpster diving? This describes the activity of people who are either thrifty or desperate, making the rounds of garbage cans and dumpsters to salvage items that others have thrown out. Our lives are like items tossed in the garbage. We’re ruined and broken. But God can reach down, pluck us out of the garbage, and remold us into something beautiful and useful even after we think we’ve blown it. I call this the remolding hand of God. God can take your messed-up life in His hand and say to you, "I want to give you another chance." I thank God for a hand like that, because all of us have messed up at some point. All of us have ruined something in our lives. Maybe you’ve ruined everything. I want to show you several examples Of God’s remolding hand from Scripture.
1. The Wicked King (2 Chr. 33). Second Chronicles, chapter 33 is the story about a king who was horrible until God got hold of him and changed his life forever. Manasseh was the wickedest king in the history of Judah. He did everything wrong. In fact, it says in verse 9, he made Israel sin more than the nearby pagan nations. God punished Manasseh with imprisonment in Babylon. There he implored the Lord his God, humbled himself, and prayed. God heard his prayer, gave Manasseh a second chance, and brought him back to the kingdom. When you look at the story of Manasseh, you’ve got to believe in a God of second chances. If you’re struggling with the issue of past sin in your life, I offer you a God who has a hand that will remold you just like it remolded and shaped this man.
2. The Rebellious Preacher (Jon. 1). Now, let me take you to another story. God calls Jonah as His preacher, but Jonah rebelled, went the wrong way, and sailed into a terrible storm. He was thrown into the ocean and a whale swallowed him. Jonah turned his heart to the Lord and was expelled from the whale. Jonah 3:1 says, "Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time." Listen, God’s hand is the kind of hand that can pick you up from the sandy beach, clean you up, and forgive you for the mistakes you have made and give you another chance to serve Him.
3. The Ruined Disciple (Matt. 26). I want you to see one of God’s star players who needed another chance. Matthew 26 tells the story of the apostle Peter who denied the Lord. He was the Lord’s star player. This proves that any of us can mess up. That’s why I’m so glad that in John chapter 21, the Lord Jesus gave Peter another chance. Peter denied the Lord three times. Three times Jesus asked him, "Do you love Me?" Peter went on to become the principle preacher of Christ to the Jewish nation.
4. The Marred Vessel (Jer. 18). I want to close today with this passage from Jeremiah 18. This is among the tenderest passages in the Bible. The nation of Israel is represented as clay in the potter’s hand. If you’re here today in need of God’s remaking; If you want God’s hand to remold you, reshape your life, redirect you, and make you into something useful for Him; draw comfort from Jeremiah 18. The clay was useless, but the potter picked out the impurities from the clay, put it back on the wheel, and made a useful vessel out it. If a potter can do that with clay, the Lord can do that with you.
Conclusion: Do you need some reshaping today? You need the tender hand of God, like the potter at the wheel, to take the marred clay of your life and remold it; to give it a second chance. God will do that for you. Confess your sin, turn to Him, and let Him shape you into something beautiful.
