In the Shadow of the Cross

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What is forgiveness?
First of all, I believe it is wise to mention that the Author, Inventor and Master of forgiveness is our Lord God. It is He that we are able to imitate, to follow His example and to learn to forgive out of obedience to the Lord. Sometimes this is an impossible task for a variety of reasons, one of which is we do so from our humanness which always falls short.

Forgiveness of God.
This subject is so massive in scope, so large to measure and so expansive in depth that it will difficult to put into words. Jesus displayed it so well in the story of the Prodigal Son. But I think we need to really look at ourselves – a true self examination of our sinfulness, our utter depravity to fully understand the forgiveness that we have been offered through the death of Jesus.
In the Lord’s Prayer, we are to ask for forgiveness. Why? Because we need it desperately! Forgiveness from what? Our sin! We need forgiveness more than anything else. (yes, food and water are essential to sustain us physically, but from a spiritual standpoint –forgiveness tops the list). It is the cause of every problem that ever existed from the beginning of the world. Sin is the one ever-present universal problem and issue facing us since Adam and Eve. From the time of Adam and Eve, the human race has never had a time in which we were absent from it. It is the problem of the world. Everyone knows what it is. Now the cure for sin is forgiveness and only One can truly and fully forgive- that is our Lord God.

But there seems to be some disconnection between sin and the forgiveness of God. A truly repentant sinner understands their depravity and the fact that they have come short on obedience of God’s law, and Jesus’ enhancement explanation of the 10 Commandments. The repentant sinner knows he/she cannot fully obey and keep all the laws and they miss the mark, often repeatedly. The throw up their hands and say, “I can’t do it”, I need a Savior and realize Jesus as that Savior welcome Him into their lives.
But, hardly anyone talks about it, outside the walls of a church (depending on the church). Sin is not a commonly used word any longer. It has been diminished in significance. It has been minimized to a relative measure, a comparison. One may say, “I haven’t committed murder or robbed a bank, I try to say nice things to people, so my sinfulness isn’t as bad as the other person’s, I think I’m okay compared to so-and-so.”

Sin is much more than that, because God is much more than that. Sin is anything that offends a Holy God. Our Holy God is indescribably holy, so much so, that words, especially my words are completely inadequate to fully describe. As soon as we realize that we are so far from our Holy God in regards to righteousness that only God in the person of His Son can bridge that gap. This is why I said early on that the full scope of this subject is massive… because God’s holiness is massive. In my opinion, understanding forgiveness first comes when one understands the tremendous gap between the sinner and God.

So here enters Jesus. Jesus is God. Jesus came to bridge that gap between God and man. He did so via His death. We heard that many times before. However, have you asked yourself- Why would Jesus die for me? What is so wonderful about me that He would die for me? I have wrestled with that question for many years. But the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) refreshes and reminds me that it wasn’t so much a story of the son as it was a story of the father. In the story, Jesus tells us that the father opened his heart, his house and feasted with a huge banquet when his son returned to him, broken and humbled. The story reminds me that I can’t keep all the laws, that I will miserably fall short, but just as the son in the story, if I return to the father, he will welcome me back. There are two noteworthy actions I see here, one is the return; the other is the forgiveness from the father. The returning of the son with humility, fully realizing his depravity and dependence on the father was a no-brainer. The welcoming back from the father was, in my opinion, the “WOW” part of the story. It described the father, his heart, his love for his son. It’s the story about the loving father; no matter what the son did the father welcomed him back –with a full party to celebrate the return!
God is the father portrayed in that story Jesus told. God is the one that is wonderful, God is the one that offers the forgiveness, God is the one that gives the forgiveness, and God is the one that deserves all the praise and glory because of His forgiveness. All we are – are the sinners. And God, as our perfect and Holy God has a perfect solution. It’s call salvation. What do we need saving from? Ourselves! Our sin! Who can do that? God, in Jesus.

Before the world began, God in the Trinity, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit knew of our sinfulness, our rebellion, the turning our backs on our God. Jesus saw the people that would later spit on Him, pull his beard and mock Him. He foreknew the men that would nail His hands and feet the cross. He foreknew you and me and what we would do to turn our backs on Him. God knew, in His perfect love that our sinfulness would be our greatest downfall, our greatest condemnation and utter separation from Him for all eternity. So what does He do? He sets up the ultimate act of love and with the unity of Jesus; they decide that Jesus would pay the price of our sinfulness. God as the Son paid the price for us. How perfect and loving is that? Jesus in His deity, saw us on the cross, He saw the sins of humanity. In his deity, he was able to put a face and name to every last one of them, and yet He hung and died there. In essence, saying I love you so much that I will do this for your sake. It is overwhelming. It staggers the mind. God saw the sin of mankind before it ever took place, but God rectifies it with his Son Jesus.
His Son took the place of sin for us. He died and with His death, He died our death. Our sins are so horrific that God cannot be in fellowship with us, His holiness demands separation from all evil and sin. God is Holy,Holy,Holy once again indescribably holy. The sooner we realize that the better we can grasp the monumental gap there is between our Holy God and sinful man.

Jesus offers to us the redemption, the cure- if you will…the antidote. Now it’s up to us. Do we take this free gift? What about us, what can we do to help our situation? Absolutely nothing! We can’t join a particular church denomination; we can’t spend hours praying repetitious prayers. We can’t do good works. We can’t do enough to merit forgiveness. We can either accept His free gift of forgiveness, or we can reject it. To reject this is to reject God. Remember what I said earlier, He is a Holy God, He cannot be in fellowship with sinfulness and as a result one will be completely separated from God for all eternity. Separation from Him is sheer torment but don’t take my word for it. God says it much better than I…read it yourself.
God will forgive you, not because of you, but because of Him and His Son Jesus. The story of the prodigal should be reworded to be “The Story of the Loving Father”.

Jesus’ death wasn’t for nothing, in fact, it should be the most meaningful thing in all of our lives.

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