“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you” – Psalm 86:5
“As far as the east is from the west, so
far does he remove our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:12
Do you know how far the east is from the
west? Take a globe, one of those big round ones like the ones that were in your
geography class in school, and put your finger on the any spot and spin the
globe to the east. You know what happens, you will always be going east! You
can spin the globe a million times, but east and west never connect. However if
you go north, eventually you will begin to go south. But thankfully that’s not
what scripture says. Isn’t it amazing to think that our Savior has gone so far
as to completely separate us from our sin?
There is so much more to forgiveness than
just being separated from past sin. It is being forgiven of present sin, future
sin. It is freedom from sin! The penalty for sin is death. Jesus paid that
penalty in full when He died on the cross. Paul in Colossians puts it so
beautifully, Colossians 2:13-14 “And you,
who were dead in your trespasses and uncircumcision of your flesh, God made
alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling
the record of debt that stood against us with it’s legal demands. This he set aside,
nailing it to the cross.” Imagine a list of your sins, your past sins and future
sins nailed to the cross, stamped with “Paid in Full” and covered by the blood
of Christ. It’s a beautiful picture! We are forgiven, and we are free. We are
no longer held to the penalty of sin because Jesus took that from us, and
forgave us! He sets us free from sin, “So
if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36. We don’t
have to struggle to be free from sin, if we’ve trusted in Christ we are set
free indeed.
What does this mean for us? We need to be
humble before the Lord, we are forgiven, but we still need to go before the
Lord daily and ask for forgiveness. It is a continual process, Christ’s death
on the cross was once and done, but His forgiveness is ongoing. It also means
that we should forgive others. Ouch! That hurts a little bit, doesn’t it,
forgiving others is not an easy task. But that is what we are called to do.
Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” And
Colossians 3:13 “…forgiving each other,
as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Because the Lord forgave us, we can do
nothing more than forgive others. No matter what it was, no matter when it was,
no matter how hard it is. We are called to forgive. It isn’t easy because we
don’t have the perfect love that the Lord does, but it is possible through His
love.
Heavenly
Father,
Thank you for
your forgiveness; I’m continually humbled by your willingness and ability to
forgive me of all my mistakes and failures. I am so grateful that I am free
from sin and that my debt is paid in full. I ask that you help me to do the
same for other and forgive them like you have forgiven me. Allow me to show
forgiveness and kindness to others. Amen!
