Forgiveness in light of the cross

Intro:

Never are you more like God than when you forgive…..JMAC

Forgiveness is Vertical

Isaiah 53:4–6 CSB

4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. 6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

(4) Surely he has “bore” the root cause of your physical and emotional sorrows. The Root cause of human suffering both cosmologically and personally is sin. Isaiah tells us “he bore” that means he carried them like a backpack.

(4) “Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” In our sins we made a mockery of the one who has carrying our sins on his back or in our who carried(past tense) can you imagine the audacity of this text that prior to salvation all of us in our sins were making a mockery of the one who has actually dying for our mockery.

Isaiah 53:5 CSB

5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.

(5) Isaiah takes us behind the veil and tells us what’s behind this humble, non-descript son when he was made a pariah in front of the world.

“he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities” Saints Isaiah is using a form of Hebrew parrellelism to describe the torture our Lord went through. The form of writing is used to crystalize a point and to help us to remember what he did. This text tells he was physical pierced through:

“our transgressions our rebellion”- a crime

Who was that crime committed against?

The crime was against God. God was the offended party in our rebellion.

In most normal situation when you have offended someone your are responsible for the reconciliation and repair of the relationship, but in this case Yawheh was the offended party but sent his son to bear the sins of the offender and willing to the consequences of that party. Listen to him in Isaiah 1:18

Isaiah 1:18 CSB

18 “Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.

(18) this is an astounding mesmerizing truth that in his plan of salvation who be both the offender and the offended.

So that he could do what?

Take our sins and transgressions which are red, and make them white as snow. Back in Isaiah 53:5

Isaiah 53:5 CSB

5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.

What did he beating produce?

Healing for our wounds. We were bleeding out with an unfixable wound and through his death he closed up the wound.

Dear Family at the cross Jesus provide the means by which God could satisfy his justice and offer forgiveness and absolution to us who were estranged from God.

Saints when we avail ourselves to this blessing our vertical relationship with God has been restored.

This most naturally leads to our horizontal relationships with our fellow man both believer and non-believer.

Ephesians 4:30–32 CSB

30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

What grieves the HS?

When believers let their flesh drive or lead them to bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting, slander and malice. Saints we don’t have time to define all these terms, but they are deeply relational these are all the things we do to tear our fellowman down.

Paul gives us “an imperative” which is a command. Put all these things away, and judging by the next scripture all of things seem to be the response to someone else’s bad behavior. This is call to not repay evil or evil. This is a call to a higher stander. It is easy to repay slander with slander, it is easy to repay anger for anger it is much harder to repair slander, with honor and anger with kindness.

Paul knew this that is why he penned (32). Ephesians 4:32

Ephesians 4:32 CSB

32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

(32) Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

Michelle Obama many times said “when they go low we go high” in some ways she is co-opting this principle from Ephesians 4:32

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that…MLK

Paul tells us in these two last dependent clauses that we are to forgive one another, “just as” This conjunction is doing all the heavy lifting in this text. It means in the “same manner”

How did God forgive us?

Freely-in Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8–9 CSB

8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

Completely-in Isaiah 1:18

Isaiah 1:18 CSB

18 “Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.

Universally-in Matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 11:28–30 CSB

28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Eternally-in Luke 23:39-43

Luke 23:39–43 CSB

39 Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other answered, rebuking him: “Don’t you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment? 41 We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Pray