|
|
Since
you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain manner
of life received by tradition from your fathers;
But
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot |
The
Healing Power of Forgiveness
Alexander
Pope, the English poet and essayist, famously remarked, “To
err is human, to forgive is divine.” The first part
is definitely true. We humans get straight A’s in messing
things up. We’re all on the honor roll of stupid statements,
cutting remarks, unkind comments, and broken promises. And
all of us have been on the receiving end of cruel mistreatment.
We’ve hurt and been hurt. To use biblical terminology,
we’ve sinned and been sinned against.
Sinning
comes naturally. Forgiving is another story. The key to forgiveness
lies in the middle syllable; forgiveness is something we give
to those who don’t deserve it. It is grace pure and
simple. If people deserved forgiveness, they wouldn’t
need it. Therein lies the fundamental problem: why in the
world should we forgive people who do horrible things to us?
What possible motive could we have to forgive people who hurt
us deliberately and repeatedly?
Consider
some of Jesus’ words on forgiveness
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not,
and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven”
(Luke 6:37).
“If
you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses”
(Matthew 6:14-15).
Last
Words
As he hung on the cross, knowing that death was near, Jesus
spoke to the crowd that had gathered to watch him die. Amidst
the howling, restless, angry mob, he had very few friends.
Some had come out of morbid curiosity. Others had come to
cheer the death of this rabble-rouser. And some came because
they hated him and wanted to be there to make sure he suffered
before he died.
What
happened that day on Golgotha, a hill in Jerusalem where Jesus
Christ was crucified, was unforgivable. That’s the definition
of what unforgivable is. When you kill the Son of God, you
have done that which is beyond forgiveness. It is truly unforgivable.
And yet Jesus said, in his first words from the cross, “Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke
23:34). No one standing near the cross expected him to say
that. A dying man might scream or curse or utter threats,
but you never heard a word of forgiveness when a man was being
crucified. Yet that is precisely what Jesus offered to the
men who were murdering him. He offered them forgiveness. He
asked his righteous and holy Father in heaven, the Lord of
all the universe, to forgive his murderers while they were
murdering him.
And
this is where the words of Jesus become very personal. We’re
included in his prayer. When he said, “Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do,” we were included
in the “them.” He was praying for you, and he
was praying for every other person on earth. You might say,
“No, you don’t understand. I’m not like
those people. I’m different. I’m not that bad.
I’m not the kind of person who would crucify anyone.
I’d never do anything like that.” At this point
we discover a hard reality that keeps us from forgiving the
people who hurt us: we think we’re better than they
are. We think we would never hurt anyone the way they have
hurt us. “I’d never treat anyone the way they
treated me.” How foolish. How deluded we are when we
think this way. It is our false pride that keeps us from the
hard step of forgiving others.
Just
Like Them
It’s not as if we are all good and the people who hurt
us are all bad. It’s not as if we’re totally in
the right and they’re totally in the wrong. That’s
not the way the world really works. We’re not as good
and righteous as we think we are. We get mad just like they
do. We break our promises just like they do.
If
the truth be told, we’re just like them. If we don’t
see that, we’ve missed the real point of Jesus’
first cry from the cross. If we think we’re so much
better than the people who have hurt us so deeply, we are
self-deceived. If only we could see that we’re all in
the same boat together. We’re all truly sinners in one
way or another. They fail in one way and we fail in another.
Jesus
Christ was pure, holy, and perfect in every way. He never
sinned, not even one time. Though he was severely tempted,
he never gave in. All of the rest of us fall so far short
that we cannot begin to be compared to him.
Experiencing
God’s Forgiveness
That is why your first step toward granting forgiveness
is to recognize that you are in need of forgiveness—God’s
forgiveness. “For all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Just as you were included
in Jesus’ “them,” so are you included in
this “all.” Let go of thinking that you couldn’t
possibly have done anything as bad as those people who hurt
you. Let go of thinking that the good things you do surely
outweigh the bad. Let go of thinking you don’t need
forgiveness.
Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross to rescue sinners
from eternal separation from God. He “suffered once
for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might
bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). He has done the work,
and now he offers you full pardon for every wrong thing you
have ever done and will ever do. Don’t let your hurting
heart or your false pride stand in the way of God’s
grace. Admit that you are a sinner, and believe that Christ
died for you. God will grant you eternal life, and he will
remove all your sins even mountains of wrong doings “as
far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).
When
you have experienced God’s forgiveness for every selfish,
hurtful, spiteful, rebellious thing you have ever done, how
can you withhold forgiveness from those who have wronged you?
God's free forgiveness is here for you. You can tell God in
a prayer like this...
"Lord,
I know that I have sinned and need your forgiveness. I believe
that Jesus Christ died for me and arose from the dead. I invite
Him into my life to be my Savior. I want to server you from
now on as my personal Lord of my life. Please help me serve
you and do the things you want me to do. Thank you Jesus for
giving your life for me. And now I give my life to you. Thank
you. I love you Jesus. Amen."
Here
is an outline of God's love
1
Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the
LORD revealed?
2
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as
a root out of a dry ground: he has no stately form nor splendor;
and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should
desire him.
3
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from
him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4
Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet
we did esteem him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised
for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon
him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone
to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity
of us all.
7
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not
his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as
a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his
mouth.
8
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall
declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land
of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in
his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any
deceit in his mouth.
10
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief:
when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall
see his offspring, he shall prolong his days, and the will
of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11
He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied:
by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;
for he shall bear their iniquities.
12
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and
he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has
poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the
transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession
for the transgressors.
Isaiah
53:
God
even shared this with others
using his apostles
in
Acts of the Apostles chapter 8 we see...
26
And the angel of the Lord spoke unto Philip, saying, Arise,
and go toward the south unto the way that goes down from Jerusalem
unto Gaza, which is desert.
27
And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch
of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians,
who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem
to worship,
28
Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Isaiah the
prophet.
29
Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join yourself
to this chariot.
30
And Philip ran to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah,
and said, Do you understand what you read?
31
And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And
he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
32
The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was
led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before
his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
33
In his humiliation his justice was taken away: and who shall
declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
34
And the eunuch asked Philip, and said, I pray you, of whom
speaks the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
35
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began
at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
36
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water:
and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what does hinder
me to be baptized?
37
And Philip said, If you believe with
all your heart, you may. And he answered and said,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God.
38
And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went
down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and
he baptized him.
39
And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of
the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more:
and he went on his way rejoicing.
40
But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached
in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.
Jesus
wants you to have his Best promises!