10-8-2024
God of Another Chance
I grew up in the church from about 5 years old on, so I’ve been familiar with most of the Bible stories for a long time. As such, I was aware of some of the details of Peter’s life – specifically, his denials of Jesus. Because I knew of his denials, I automatically assumed that, after such a disgrace, he lived out the rest of his life in guilt and shame.
When I got a little older and began reading the New Testament, I found it hard to comprehend that the Peter of Acts was the same Peter in the gospels. They seemed to be two different people. When I read the letters Peter had written, I was surprised that he didn’t mention – not even once – the time he denied Christ.
He didn’t seem to be a man overcome with guilt. Instead he spoke with authority and confidence. He told his readers to practice self-control, to be holy, to avoid hypocrisy, and to live for God. I wondered: How can he write with such boldness when he failed so publicly?
There’s only one reason. Peter experienced the restoring grace of God in his life. He found out what it truly, truly means to have your slate wiped clean and to be given another chance.
The critics of Peter could have said, “This man has no place in the ministry. Look at his history. He’s impulsive. He has a knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Jesus even called him ‘Satan’ once. He made a fool of himself when he tried to walk on water. He violently attacked a soldier in the Garden of Gethsamane. Worst of all, he denied Jesus before he abandoned him. This guy has been trouble since day one. He doesn’t deserve to be called a Christian, let alone be a leader in the church.”
Though everything these hypothetical critics said is true, one fact that negates it all: the restoring power of the grace of God. No matter how far you have fallen, you are never too far down to be picked up and cleaned up and given a new start.
One of my favorite verses in the entire Bible is something the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. It’s found in 2 Corinthians 5:17……here’s the verse from The Message paraphrase:
Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!
(2 Corinthians 5:17, MSG)
You may feel like your past excludes you from any hope of having a good life … but the restoring power of God’s grace changes that. Feeling like you need another chance today? Most of us do…….and the good news is that God is the God of another chance.