"He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." Micah 7:19
As I sit here on the deck of our rented house, I gaze over the vastness of an ocean that stretches off into the horizon, far beyond not only my vision, but my imagination. I've always been a mountain girl, but goodness gracious, what a glorious gift the Lord has also given us in the beach and sea. What an extravagant, gift-giving Father we have. Thank You, Lord.
But my thankfulness for the beauty of His creation pales today as I consider the boundless depths of His salvation. And sitting here on this deck, gazing at the pounding waves and reading a wonderful book by Levi Lusko (The Last Supper on the Moon), I am staggered to silent and tearful awe at the stunning gift Jesus' forgiveness on the cross.
The first of Jesus' seven last statements on the cross was "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do." (Luke 22:34) As Levi points out, "The first time He spoke, it was to pray." In fact, three of His seven last statements were all prayer...meaning nearly half of His words at the very end of His life were praying to His Father. Is that how we begin our days? On the most horrific day in the history of mankind with the most momentous work ever to be accomplished riding on His bloody, beaten shoulders, Jesus prayed..and prayed. Oh Father, help us to pray. Teach us to pray. Thank You for the gift of prayer.
But here's the thing--He didn't pray for Himself. I certainly would have. No, He prayed for those who had betrayed Him, beaten Him, tried Him, stripped Him, shouted insults at Him, rejected Him, mocked Him. No, not just the soldiers...or Pilate...or Herod...or the screaming crowd. He prayed that God would forgive you, forgive me, as well. Forgive us of the monstrous, seemingly infinite load of sin and selfishness and pride and envy and ingratitude and gossip that we bear, but He took. Oftentimes we fail to see it. We paint our sins with muted colors of gray and sepia--all our excuses our rebranding (e.g. not gossip but giving helpful information, not selfishness but being my authentic self and on and on) our minimizing.
But our sin really is that bad, that hideous. If you doubt that, look at the price that was paid for your forgiveness. Revisit the cross in all its horror, cruelty, injustice. And remember that on those crossbeams, we crucified Perfection Himself...perfect love, grace, joy, hope, forgiveness, justice.
And remember, as Lusko points out--"At the cross, He was actually paying for what He was praying for."The only One who could truly pay for our forgiveness, also prayed for our forgiveness. In full. "It is finished."
"As far as the east is from the west. "
"Cast into the depths of the sea."
So here's my question: if we have been forgiven of such an infinite, unfathomable amount, how on earth can we not forgive the relatively infinitesimal amount of sin against us? I say this to my shame, because put me right up there with the best when it comes to holding onto unforgiveness when a person has hurt someone I love. Yeah sure, you can hurt me, but heaven help you if you hurt one of my loved ones! I can greedily clutch my forgiveness tighter to my heart than Scrooge with his beloved money (before his redemption!). "Nope, you devastated my child...my sister...my best friend. No forgiveness for you ever! As in NEVER!"
News flash--wrong answer!
Because here's the truth: as Jesus shared with Peter, we are to forgive, not seven times, but seventy times seven! In other words, never ever, ever will you get to the end of the amount of times you are to forgive, because your Savior has forgiven you "as far as the east is from the west"--i.e. endless! We are to forgive...and forgive...and forgive...again...and again...and again. Because that's what Jesus did for you, for me...literally to infinity and beyond.
So today, will you pause to truly consider the riches of the love of God that would go to such depths and heights to purchase your forgiveness. He offers you the treasure of infinite forgiveness and glorious grace. If you've never accepted this gift of all gifts, please do it today. Today is the day of salvations, and oh my what a wondrous day it will be!
And for all who are reading this, please take time right now to ponder anew the wonder, the stunning extent of Christ's forgiveness. The oceans depths cannot even begin to contain the breadth of His forgiveness.
Thank You, thank You, thank You Lord Jesus. You are worthy of all praise and glory and honor. Please show each of us today where the infection of unforgiveness hides in the recesses of our heart. Help us to focus on Your cross, to fix our eyes on You so that as we remember all You have done for us, we will be enabled to forgive the relatively minuscule amount of offense against us. How dare we who have been forgiven so, so much, be unwilling to forgive so, so little.
To God be the glory.
