But the LORD was gracious and merciful to the people of Israel, and they were not totally destroyed. He pitied them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day he still has not completely destroyed them or banished them from his presence. [2 Kings 13.23]
I suppose it is good to know about Abraham and the covenant associated with him. As much as there is to be learned about Abraham's faith and how it blessed the Israelites, we are blessed with a new and better covenant:
But when God found fault with the people, he said: “The day is coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the LORD. But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the LORD.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already. And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear. [Hebrews 8.8-13]
Stay with me... The Old Covenant indeed was a covenant of faith. And, the New Covenant retains the same critical element of faith. However, what the New Covenant has that the Old Covenant did not is forgiveness. Notice above in Hebrews 8, verse 12: And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.
But there is much more than meets the dull eye here! What do we know about God's forgiveness today? We know something about forgiveness that takes faith to a level the Old Covenant could never attain:
But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. [Matthew 6.15]
The New Covenant provides forgiveness forever. It was made available through the blood of Jesus. While this grace of God (forgiveness forever) is indeed the result of faith, that faith must necessarily be the highest level of faith demonstrated only by forgiveness. Nothing "believes in God" more than forgiving an offending or offensive person. Forgiveness is the highest form of faith and was demonstrated to perfection by Jesus on the Cross (Father, forgive them...). We must have faith to the same level of forgiveness in order to enjoy God's forever forgiveness. Only the serious student of Jesus Christ will understand the significance of Jesus' demand upon His followers:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also similarly in Mark 8.34 and Luke 9.23)]
Jesus' constant push for faith in the lives of His followers was, and remains, much deeper than physically healing the sick or raising the dead. In fact, Jesus associated healing faith as forgiveness:
Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” [Matthew 9.5-6]
Jesus' ultimate demonstration of how our lives are truly "in Him" was the Cross. And, what He did on the Cross was forgive. What we do on our cross then is forgive. Unless we, on our cross, forgive, we will not enjoy the forgiveness of Jesus on His Cross. Again, But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
This is serious. And yet, many still fail to see its significance even in the most profound "miracle scripture" even though it is right there:
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” [Mark 11.22-25]
Pay attention to two uses of "I tell you" and "but" in the passage above. Jesus is repeating the same thing! Twice He says, "I tell you..." regarding believing for anything. The first "but" stipulates "really believing" to enjoy the benefit. The second "but" explains "really believing" as forgiving.
It wasn't Jesus' life that paid for our healing and salvation - it was His death on the Cross. Therefore we should never presume to enjoy the benefits of Jesus' death on the Cross unless we follow His command to take up our cross likewise. In its simplest, most profound definition, what Jesus did on the Cross was to humbly forgive those who did not deserve or even ask for forgiveness. Jesus' good works didn't save us - it was His humble forgiveness once-and-for-all from His position of perfection that saved us. The greatest work of Jesus was forgiveness. Now consider this:
I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. [John 14.12]
Again, the greatest work of Jesus was forgiveness - one time for all time. How could we ever do "greater works"? We do greater works not by just forgiving once, but by forgiving over and again. We can do so because our Example - the One we portray to the world - sits at God's right hand interceding for us!
If God was merciful to Israel because of Abraham, how much more merciful is He to us because of Jesus!
Father, may I be found in Christ - dying daily on my cross - forgiving daily on my cross - living in the resurrection of Christ so that I might die again tomorrow in perpetual demonstration of Your boundless love and forgiveness of mankind. So be it.
No comments:
Post a Comment