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5.  ABUNDANT LIFE-FORGIVENESS

John 8:2-11
June 13, 2010

    One of the most basic human needs is the need for forgiveness.  Queen Victoria once paid a visit to a paper mill.  The foreman who showed her around didn’t know who she was.  In the sorting shop, she was told that, when the rags were separated from the city garbage, they would make the finest white paper.  After she left, the foreman found out who she was.  So, a few weeks later, her majesty received a package of the most delicate white stationery having the Queen’s likeness for a watermark.  A note told her that it was made from the dirty rags she had inspected.  That illustrates Christ’s work in us as he makes us into new creatures.

I.  THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF GUILT.

    The negative effects of guilt are very destructive.  Every person needs forgiveness.  All of us are born with instincts that include self-preservation, selfishness and natural hostilities.  That’s what some theologians call, “original sin.”  These animalistic tendencies must be overcome.  Then, as soon as we become autonomous and begin making choices, all of us make errors in judgment.  All of us develop addictions and bad habits.

 
    In short, all of us have guilts.  Conan Doyle told of playing a practical joke on twelve people who were in positions of fame and power.  He sent a telegram that said, “Flee at once, all is discovered.”  Within twenty-four hours all twelve of the so-called virtuous men had left the country. 

    That’s what guilt can do!  Furthermore, people who feel guilty almost always become judgmental of others.  They project their own shame and distress onto everyone around them.  They try to justify their own problems by showing that others are worse.  Such a burden of humiliation and regret can destroy us.

    Once a speaker picked up a glass of water and asked, “How heavy is this?”  Answers were called out ranging from 20 grams to 500 grams.”  The lecturer replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter.  It depends on how long I try to hold it.  If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem.  If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm.  If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance.  In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

    The same thing is true of us.  Guilt is useful to warn us of danger, but if we continue to carry our burden of guilt, sooner or later, it becomes so increasingly heavy that we won’t be able to bear it.  God knows this!  That’s why he forgives and forgets.  A minister once carried the secret burden.  He had committed a serious sin many years before, during his college days.  No one knew what he had done, but they did know that he had repented.  Even so, he suffered years of remorse without any sense of God’s forgiveness.

    A women in his congregation claimed to have visions in which Jesus spoke to her.  The minister, skeptical of her claims, said, “The next time you speak to the Lord, just ask him what sin I committed as a youth?” 

    The woman agreed.  When she came to the church a few days later the minister asked, “Did he visit you?”  She said, “Yes.”

    “And did you ask him what sin I committed in college?” 

    “Yes, I asked him,” she replied.

    “Well, what did he say?”

    “He said, ‘My child, I don’t remember.’ ”

    In fact, that’s a Biblical promise.  In Hebrews, God said, “I will forgive them for the wicked things they did, and I will not remember their sins anymore” (Heb.  8:12,edb).

    Paul would have become mentally ill if he had dwelt on his past persecution of the church and participation in the murder of Steven and other Christians.  Instead, he said, “There is one thing I always do.  I forget things that are past I try as hard as I can to reach the goal that is before me” (Phil.  3:13).

    Forgiveness is essential for abundant life.  Jesus came to give us abundant life and no one can enjoy abundant life without forgiveness.

II.  THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF FORGIVENESS.

    Forgiveness is a very important theme of the gospel because there are many positive effects of forgiveness.  In fact, forgiveness is essential for abundant life.

    Jesus offers a life that rises above our unproductive traits and practices.  Our attitudes can change and our faults and mistakes can be forgiven.  In fact, Jesus absolutely abolishes guilt.  He said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. That person will not be judged guilty but has already left death and entered life” (John 5:24).

    His offers of forgiveness were a constant and definite part of his ministry.  He didn’t condemn the woman caught in the act of adultery.  When the crowd hauled her before him and shouted condemnation, he said, “ ‘Anyone here who has never sinned can throw the first stone at her.’  Then Jesus bent over again and wrote on the ground.  Those who heard Jesus began to leave one by one, first the older men and then the others. Jesus was left there alone with the woman standing before him.  Jesus raised up again and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one judged you guilty?’  She answered, ‘No one, sir.’  Then Jesus said, ‘I also don’t judge you guilty’ . . .”  (John 8:7-11

    The only hands without stones that day were the Lord’s.   In fact, Jesus specialized in forgiving sinners.  Luke gives one such incident:  “A Pharisee asked Jesus to eat with him, so Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and sat at the table.  A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume and stood behind Jesus at his feet, crying. She began to wash his feet with her tears . . . When the Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this, he thought to himself, ‘If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman touching him is a sinner!’  Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.  I tell you that her many sins are forgiven, so she showed great love. But the person who is forgiven only a little will love only a little.’  Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ ” (Luke 7:36-48).

    He even offered forgiveness to those who crucified him.  The Scriptures say, “The soldiers crucified Jesus and the criminals—one on his right and the other on his left.  Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing’ ” (Luke 23:33-34).

    He knew forgiveness is essential.  When questioned about our relationship with each other, Jesus said, “You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven” (Matt.  18:22, edb).

    He knew that people who feel forgiven have inner peace and therefore have no need to project their own flaws and faults and mistakes onto their associates.

    God promises total removal of all sins.  He uses dramatic analogies to describe this divine action. In Isaiah he said, “I have swept away your sins like a big cloud; I have removed your sins like a cloud that disappears into the air” (Isa.  44:22).

    God even overrides our own feelings when we can’t forgive ourselves.  John said, “When our hearts make us feel guilty, we can still have peace before God. God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:19-20).

    Forgiveness helps us experience an abundant life!

III.  HOW TO REALIZE FORGIVENESS.

    Now, if all of us have such a desperate need for forgiveness, then how can we realize it in our daily lives? 

    Well, we are fortunate, as Christians, because the Scriptures give us many promises concerning forgiveness: The Psalmist said, “He has taken our sins away from us as far as the east is from west” (Psa. 103:12, edb).

    Isaiah said, “The creature touched my mouth with the hot coal and said, “Look, your guilt is taken away, because this hot coal has touched your lips. Your sin is taken away” (Isa.  6:7).

    Jeremiah said, “I will forgive them for the wicked things they did, and I will not remember their sins anymore” (Jer. 31:34b).
    Paul quoted a Psalm saying, “Blessed are they whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned.  Blessed is the person whom the Lord does not consider guilty” (Rom. 4:7-8).

    The writer of Hebrews said, “Let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience . . .” (Heb. 10:22).

    John said, “If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done” (I John 1:9).

    When we believe the many promises of grace, we can begin to forgive ourselves for our past problems.  We can deal with our mistakes and rest assured that God has forgiven us and erased our guilt.  We can understand that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.

CONCLUSION:

    Let’s consider a spiritual analogy:  A new Christian said, “I see myself at the Last Judgment, and, as at an earthly trial, my identity has to be established. But there is an interruption.  The Supreme Judge has hardly put to me the question, ‘Who are you?’ before my satanic accuser breaks in and answers for me, ‘Who is he, you ask?  I will tell you. He is the one who has done such and such, and failed to do such and such. He has ignored the plight of his neighbors.  He has been silent when he ought to have confessed. The gifts you have given him have not made him humble but proud.’ He goes on for a long time in this strain. But then the Son of God who is counsel for the defense interrupts.  ‘0 Father and Judge,’ he says, ‘the prosecutor has spoken the truth.  This man has done all these things.  But the accusation is without substance.  For he is no longer what he was!’  And although the judge knows very well what Christ is saying, for the sake of the audience he asks, ‘Who is he then if he is no longer what he was?’  To this Christ replies, ‘He has become my disciple and believed me that you want to be his father, as you are mine.  Hence, I have canceled his past and nailed the accusations to my cross.

    Therefore, since this person has accepted me and thus gained the right of sonship that you have promised.  Look upon him, then, as you look upon me.  He is my brother and your son.’ ”

    Now, this is the story of our forgiveness.  Paul said, “We owed a debt because we broke God’s laws . . .But God forgave us that debt.  He took away that debt and nailed it to the Cross” (Col.  2;14, edb).

    So, how can we realize this wonderful gift from God.  How can we feel forgiveness and then pass that gift to others?  Well, in order to do this we must believe that Jesus offers us, not only life, but abundant life!  And abundant life includes forgiveness.

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(WC1935)

Copyrighted 2010 by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK.  PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THIS MESSAGE IN ANY WAY YOU THINK IS APPROPRIATE.  The only thing we ask is that you give credit for original material in PUBLISHED works. 

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