“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

From the very beginning, God demonstrates His nature of forgiveness to all of mankind, who have followed their own desires being prompted by the tempter. God shows His willingness to bring forgiveness as He brings judgment, by covering Adam and Eve, protecting them from the tree of life, and cursing the one who tempted them. However, the results of their sin would be evident through death.

In God’s revelation of Himself through the Old Testament, His nature of forgiveness is seen. Even after the Exodus and the rebellion at Sinai, God shows His nature of forgiveness to the people of Israel. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and covered him to protect him, then God revealed His forgiving nature. “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7) Even with His forgiving nature, His justice must be maintained.

The Psalms gives us the forgiving nature of God from a personal perspective. David would pen, “Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you. You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, LORD; listen to my cry for mercy.” (Psalm 86:4-6) David has experienced God’s forgiving nature after his own sin and repentance. He asked God to restore their relationship. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. . .. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”  (Psalm 51:1-2, 12)

The greatest picture of the nature of forgiveness in God is seen through the cross of Jesus Christ. It is here where God makes the way for all to experience His forgiving nature by receiving His forgiveness. At the Last Supper, Jesus would say, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28) After His resurrection, Jesus would tell the Disciples before His ascension, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:46-48)

It is through God’s forgiving of each of us, that we are to show God’s forgiving nature. We are to follow Jesus’ instruction to the Disciples and tell the world of the hope which His forgiveness brings. We are also to show His forgiving nature to each other in the church. It is through God’s forgiveness that we show the transformation which God’s forgiving has made. Paul would tell the Ephesian believers, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32) Now, we can fulfill God’s command made specifically to the followers of Jesus Christ. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

We enter the Kingdom of God because through Jesus Christ, God forgives us. We present the hope of Jesus to a world without Him by our forgiveness of each other. It is here that everyone can know that God is a just God and in His justice, through the cross of Christ, offers us forgiveness. All because God is a forgiving God.

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block