Focal Passage for 2010:
“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 (NKJV)
Weekly Passage:
“And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
This year, we are on a journey to learn to love as Christ loves. This week’s focal passage is Ephesians 4:32. We have spent several weeks taking this verse apart and studying each portion of God’s command. Last week, we explored Scripture to learn what it means to “forgive one another.” We realized that God desires for us to forgive others REGARDLESS if they apologize to us!!! WOW!!! When we begin loving as Christ loves, then forgiveness is something that we will freely offer anyone who hurts us, harms us, betrays us, abuses us, rejects us, judges us, and/or refuses to forgive us. Forgiving others does not mean that we condone their sin. Forgiving others demonstrates God’s glory by freeing us from the bondage of sin and reveals Christ to that person. When we love others in a way that allows us to freely forgive them, then we are also ministering to their deepest spiritual need.
This week, we will conclude our study of Ephesians 4:32 by focusing on “forgiving even as Christ forgave you.” In order to forgive as Christ forgives, we must search Scripture to learn how Christ forgives. “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin” (Romans 6:5-7). “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace” (Romans 6:14). “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). “And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations” (Isaiah 61:4-5). So, how does God’s Word promise us that Christ forgives? COMPLETLEY!!!
How can God forgive us completely? We are vile and sinful creatures and HE is a Holy God!!! Because “God is love” (1 John 4:8b), HE prepared a way for us to stand before Him holy, pure, righteous, sinless, and blameless. In the garden of Eden, we see the first sin (Genesis 3:6) and in Genesis 3:15, we witness the grace and mercy of the One True Living God being revealed as HE promises the coming Messiah!!! “So the LORD God said to the Serpent…I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; HE shall crush your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” God forgave us completely through the blood of Christ Jesus!!!
As Christ Jesus hung on the cross, HE cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Praise the Lord, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2). “For God so loved the world that HE gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). God’s love for us set us free. When Christ hung on the cross, His blood bought our freedom from sin and death!!! We can “boldly approach the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16) and confess our sins to the Lord God and repent of those sins!! When we do that, we are totally and completely free. God’s Word promises us that “As far as the east is from the west, So far has HE removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).
My Friend, we can stand before the Lord God completely forgiven through the blood of Christ and we CAN FORGIVE OTHERS COMPLETELY through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is hard to forgive those who hurt us but as a believer, we do have the same power living within us that raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20)!!!! If we desire to love others as Christ loves us then we MUST learn to forgive others as Christ forgives us!!! In doing so, we are again ministering to the deepest need of those people without Christ Jesus. When we love the way Christ loves, the Lord God is reflected in us and through us and others will be drawn to Him!!! We were created to bring honor and glory to the Lord God. When we forgive others as Christ forgave us, we are a testimony to the One True Living God!!!
