Forgiveness : Part 2

Craig and I spent some time really searching through scripture regarding forgiveness after we had experienced some deep hurt. Deep hurt doesn't cut it, we felt almost destroyed. People would boldly tell us how to behave or what to do without even understanding the situation.  This actually caused more harm than good.

I have been reading through Job and it just hurts when I read it. We experienced  Jobs 'friends' when they spoke into a situation assuming truth was what was needed when in reality we needed someone to share grief, listen, give a safe place to vent the pain and suffering, show some compassion and understanding.

Thankfully our community also provided us with good people who listened over months of hurt and processing who loved us as we healed.

It started us on a journey of looking into what God set out as the forgiveness process. Last week we took a look at how God modeled forgiveness with Adam and Eve. Today we will look at how God reset forgiveness with Jesus and how that impacts our lives when we follow the Biblical model.

There are scriptures throughout the new testament supporting these steps.

New Testament: Jesus brings in The New Covenant
For salvation it is required that we go through these steps, consistent with the requirements in the Old Testament.

Recognition of sin and Confession:
We have lived independently from God
Romans 1:20-21
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
(Luke 13:3,John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:9)

Repent:
Accept his Lordship
Romans 10:9-10
...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
(Acts 16: 31, Acts 20:21

Restitution:
Jesus paid this price for us
Hebrews 9:22
...and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (NASB)
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

This is the end of the sacrificial system. Over and over in the new Testament we are told that Christ died once for all sin.  This price has been paid in full, never to be paid again. This is the reset that Christ began.
(Romans 6:10, Hebrews 10:10, 1 Peter 3:18)

Forgiveness:
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (NASB)
(Psalm 32:1-6, Proverbs 28:13)

Reconciliation:
When we do this we are given the relationship of sons and daughters.
(John1:12, 2 Corinthians 6:18, Romans 8:16, 1John 3:1)
We are invited to know, pray and relate to God.
Hebrew 4:16
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

The pattern is the same as what we saw last week when God related to Adam and Eve.

The difference here is that Christ paid for us. He made restitution to appease the price sin demands.

How do we live this out? we will take a look next week.

Forgiveness Part 1

Have you ever had to forgive someone?  Have you ever been in a position where you were wronged, hurt or so blatantly sinned against and been told by others to forgive?

There is a lot of misunderstanding around the topic of forgiveness.  As believers, we often pile together the things we have heard and sometimes forget to go back to Truth to get a proper understanding. Even significant things like forgiveness.

Scripture is meant to be used as a whole. We are never to take one verse, or one idea and build a theology around it, yet this happens all the time. It is a dangerous use of the word of God and we need to guard against it. Instead, we study the entire scripture to get a thorough understanding.

I fear we have an incomplete, incorrect understanding of forgiveness. 

Mark 6:5 says "But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."  So we work hard to forgive no matter what and yet something doesn't sit right in our souls. 

When you have been grievously sinned against, something inside of you cries "NO!" 

To forgive when there has been no recognition of wrong, no restitution or reconciliation diminishes the wrong you have experienced. It makes little of sin, and God never does that.

In Luke 17:3-4 we are called to forgive as God forgave us.  So we now have these two verses about forgiveness. What do we do?? This last one is echoed in Colossians 3:13 and Ephesians 4:32.

How did God forgive us?

Sin separates us from God. We don't like that, it feels offensive. Yet we are comfortable with the concept of sin when someone has wronged us. Human nature, don't you love it??

Over and over we see God patiently explaining what wrongs have been committed against him. He gently spells out for his people the way back. Stubborn as they are, they rarely take it.

Before we can forgive others as God forgave us, we need to understand how God forgives. The whole Bible is full of examples of how God has dealt with people when sin has come between.  I cannot form my Theology of Forgiveness from just the New Testament or the verses I find most significant. I need to search the whole Scripture.

Right away in Genesis, we are given our first example:

Old Testament: Under The Law, before Jesus

Adam and Eve

The relationship is broken by sin.

Eve had been tricked by the serpent to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and gave some to the Adam who was with her. That expectation was articulated clearly in Gen. 2:16-17

Genesis 3:8

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Recognition of Sin and Confession:

Genesis 3:11-13

And he (God) said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

So here we are. They had freely walked and talked with God and now they hide from Him. The relationship is broken.

Because this is the first act of sin, God does the work to show them what is required

Repentance and Forgiveness:

Hebrews 9:22 tells us that the shedding of blood is required for the remission of sin. This is supported by the Bible in the Offerings and Sacrifices required from the Jewish people and it is echoed in Psalms 51:7.

That blood has to be shed for forgiveness to happen tells us how seriously God takes sin.

Genesis 3:21

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. (NASV)

In making garments of skin, the first blood was shed as a requirement for covering sin. The fact that God does this is a foreshadowing of his plan to send Jesus. The debt was Adam and Eve's and God took care of it. The debt is ours and yet God took care of it by having Jesus pay it. 

Restitution:

Revealed in the next chapter. God has instituted Offerings as restitution. Adam and Eve’s sons Cain and Abel live under The Law which now required offerings. Living in obedience rather than in disobedience is contrasted in their offerings and responses (Genesis 4).

Genesis 3:23

The Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

No longer did they enjoy the produce provided, they are now required to work the ground, bear children in pain.

Forgiveness & Reconciliation:

Genesis 3-4

We see Adam and Eve are driven from the garden, they no longer walk and talk freely with God. His presence withdrawn by the sin that has now entered. Relationship is maintained through the introduction of Offerings.

In chapter four Cain and Able demonstrate the difference between repentance and rebellion.

Forgiveness does not mean there is no consequence, they are driven from the Garden of Eden. Reconciliation does not mean there are now no boundaries. God no longer walks and talks with them face to face. God takes sin seriously. There is a change in the nature of their relationship.

Sin is what separates us from God and what hurts and separates us from one another.

The steps God requires for us are

1. Recognition of Sin and Confession
2. Repentance- turning from sin
3. Restitution when it can be made
4. Forgiveness
5. Reconciliation

The goal is alway to recover the relationship through reconciliation.

This is one of many of the Old Testament examples. There are many throughout in which you can see this pattern.

As we study this it becomes clear why, maybe, it is not so easy as just forgive and forget. Move on! Because the seriousness of sin requires more than that. Forgiveness isn't cheep.

Part 2 Next week

What Can I Do?

I heard a gentleman talking about visiting a developing country. He had met people who had barely enough to eat that day and lived in an 8'x10'house. That is as big as my bedroom. They were happy. Like deep, real, cannot lose it joy.

It made me think about how many people I know who have so much. More than they can eat, more than they can wear, more than they need and yet they aren't happy. In fact, they are deeply, deeply unhappy. It makes no sense.

The people in the 8x10 home knew Jesus, had a personal relationship with him. They knew what it was to have no hope and then experience redemption. They had found true happiness and desired to share that with others.

It is interesting that the people I know that have more than they need also know Jesus.  Why do they not have the same joy?

What are we doing wrong?

I read an article the other day that stated: "Christians who do not use their gifts are bored."  Sorry, I have tried to find it again and can't. It was a great article! I totally agree with its premise. I would maybe push it further and say if followers of Jesus are not, using their gifts, developing those gifts and exploring the potential of those gifts they are bored.

God does not intend for his people to be bored...

Maybe the comfort we live in robs us from what it really means to live. Maybe being self-sufficient and not lacking anything can take the adventure out of life.

What part of our life do we desperately need God for?  What can we not do with out him? Really.  If we are not completely dependant on God in something or in some area, there is no stretching, no adventure, no risk. We just get comfortable, lazy and in my experience, miserable.

Have you read through the accounts of the early church lately?  When I do, I cannot help but think we are doing something wrong.

As I read about the early church I am challenged to reflect on my priorities. I am forced to ask what the use of my time and money indicate about my priorities. How are those priorities different from what I am called to as a follower? What is distracting me from my true purpose?

If I am bored, I am doing something wrong.

Really wrong!

I find the biggest danger of our culture is distraction. There is so much to keep us from what really matters. We are lulled into complacency by so many distractions.

Technology, hobbies, sport, information, entertainment, all of these are not inherently bad, but they can use up too much of our time. They can derail us from what we should really be doing. It is a sly tactic of the enemy.  Unfortunately we are easy prey. These distractions can make us complacent about the priorities that should really be driving us. They make it all about us instead of about God, our spiritual family and those around us. Do you know why we are unhappy? Because life isn't meant to be all about me.

How do I put these things back into their proper place?

1. Look at what my time and money tell me are my real priorities.
2. Confess to God the things that have snuck in where they do not belong
3. Ask Him to renew me
4. Explore through listening prayer what God wants from me
5. Share it with someone who will check in with me for accountability
6. Do it.

If we really want to live, something has to change.
Do you really want to change?
What can you do?

Do You Have A Happy Place?

Do you have a happy place? A place you can't wait to get to? A place you can go to get away from the world?

When I was a little girl, my parents bought a lake lot. I was devastated. I thought we would never take a holiday again. I loved camping and holidaying as a family. I was sure if my parents bought this lake lot, all our money would be gone forever and we would never get away again. 

I was 9.

Cloudy or sunny, if it was 20 degrees we were there. Friends, water, fun. 

It was hard for me as a student to miss that family time out there when I started working. As a young Mom,  it was a refuge, a place my kids could play and be happy.  A boat makes an excellent safe space for little explorers. I could jump in there, visit with the adults on the dock and not have to run everywhere to save my toddlers from impending doom. It is where my parents patiently taught me to ski. Where we had the pleasure of watching our kids learn to wakeboard and ski. 

It has given us countless hours of fun with friends and family.  

Turns out that place I never wanted them to purchase has become my happy place. I am so thankful that they bought it, kept it, invested in it and have been crazy generous to us with it. I wait all winter for the days we can go relax and be there together.

It is my place to get away from work and our house. The dust doesn't demand to be dusted, the laundry doesn't niggle me to be laundered. The books don’t beg to be…booked???

It is where I love to be if I need to work things out. The splash of the waves, the rustle of the wind help to quiet me to get to the root of my unrest. 

I have mentioned that when I am hurt, my emotion of choice is anger. It is a red flag to me that all is not right in my world. It makes me step back and unpack everything to get to the route of my unrest.  The lake helps me get there faster. It takes me out of my space so I can't be distracted. It clears the clutter.

It is hard for me to face my hurt. I feel overwhelmed by it. Somehow in that peaceful place God can help me face it.  

In reality, God is my safe place. He gives me the courage to face my pain and not be overwhelmed by it. The lake just gives me space to hear his soft whisper. It sweeps away the noise so God can lead me through it.