The Gift of Forgiveness: The Present That Sets You Free
PRESENTS FOR YOUR FUTURE • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Main Texts: 1 John 1:9, Isaiah 1:18, Colossians 2:13–14, Luke 23:34
Big Idea: Forgiveness is God wiping the slate clean through the cross.
The Gift of Forgiveness is the third gift
We discussed the Gift of Joy
We discussed the Gift of Grace
We are able to expand our JOY from JESUS, through GRACE to others
The MIRACLE of GROW of JOY AND GRACE IS FORGIVENESS
IF patience is the place where GRACE WORKS
and JOY comes from Christ through GRACE, then our response to these GIFTS
is FORGIVENESS
Jesus wants US to USE this GIFT daily.
LACK OF FORGIVENESS places us outside of CHRIST’s WAY of LIFE
and puts us in BONDAGE.
Can you think of an example in your Life where NOT forgiving produced a GOOD RESULT?
Imagine trying to pick up a hefty backpack full of stones. Each stone represents an offense, something that weighs us down. When we choose to forgive, it’s like unpacking that backpack and finding it light again! Just like Colossians 3:13 reminds us to forgive, we can lighten our load and bring joy back into our lives. Forgiveness is a delightful gift we give, not just to others, but also to ourselves!
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FORGIVENESS releases us from guilt and empowers us to release others—preparing our hearts for eternity.
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
God is the MASTER OF FORGIVENESS and THE MODEL for US
This is GOD’s TRUTH —- it is simply us or others that seeks to remind us of OFFENSEs
We confess to GOD, and REPENT and GOD REMOVES it
We should be MODELING THE SAME
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How much water can you pour into a cup?
into a 12 oz cup
or is it true that you can pour and infinite amount and it will overflow?
THIS may be the error we have in Forgiveness?
We think we should LIMIT IT
if i have a cup filled with blue dye
and start to run more water into it, eventually the blue will be gone
the force of the NEW will force the old to be pushed out
Jesus paid the price to wash us from our sins
This is a MODEL OF FORGIVENESS IN OUR LIFES
we keep pouring Jesus into the situation until the WATER in that CUP is PURE AND CLEAR
This is the Core of FORGIVENESS
to work at it DAILY using the LOVE of CHRIST
FORGIVENESS is not always FORGETING
We can learn from the INCIDENT
We can GROW in ENDURANCE
We will INCREASE in the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
KNOW that GOD will USE offenses to BUILD our CHARACTER IN CHRIST
Think about them a moment
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
THESE are the INGREDIENTS of FORGIVENESS
God doesn’t simply empty the SIN out of our lives as a NEW Believer
but He supplies the force to remove it
and here is the PARAMOUNT THOUGHT of forgiveness
We are FORGIVEN, Therefore we FORGIVE
Ephesians 4:32 “32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
You see we are forgiven by GOD because of our FAITH
so we must live a LIFE
Aligned with HIS DESIGN
Opening Illustration:
Share a story about cleaning out an old storage closet or garage
—how freeing it feels to remove what has been piling up for years.
Forgiveness is God cleaning the storage room of our souls.
Forgiveness Promised (1 John 1:9):
Confession leads to cleansing.
God forgives quickly, completely, and consistently.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Forgiveness Makes Us New (Isaiah 1:18):
18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
God transforms “scarlet” sin into “white as snow.”
The miracle of the gospel is not just pardon but purity.
Forgiveness Cancelled Our Debt (Col. 2:13–14):
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Jesus took the record of our sins and nailed it to the cross.
It no longer exists in God’s courtroom.
Forgiveness Modeled by Jesus (Luke 23:34):
34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” ....
On the cross, Jesus forgave His executioners.
If He can forgive that, He can forgive anything you’ve done.
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
What is Jesus’s point here —- we forgive
PRESENT FOR THE FUTURE
PRESENT FOR THE FUTURE
Tie to Future Gift:
Forgiveness prepares us for eternity by giving us a clean conscience and a restored relationship with God.
FORGIVENESS IS NOT FORGETFULNESS
Let us go back to Psalm 103:12
“12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
God Forgives
Satan Reminds
What is in your Heart?
Separation can be a RIGHTEOUS THING - and THERE IS A PROCESS.
Look at Matt 18:15-18
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
After a long day, I found a friend trying to untangle a knotted necklace.
Frustrated, she tossed it aside, but I picked it up, smiled,
and said, 'Let’s work at it together!'
Sometimes, forgiveness feels like the complex knots in our lives—hard to navigate,
but with a little effort and grace,
we can untangle those difficulties
just as Ephesians 4:32 encourages us to, and restore the beauty that lies beneath!
Restoration may not be your Responsiblity — BUT IT MAY BE
Work at it together,
and if the other party will not HELP you untangle the mess
THEN......
14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Application / Take-Home
UNFORGIVENESS is a Cancer that wreaks our WALK
We can NOT FULLY be IN CHRIST DAILY
without FORGIVING
There are so many things to do with WARNING LABELS
yet we use them anyway
God DESIRES you to HEED HIS WARNINGS
FORGIVENESS is the CLEANSING work in your HEART
FORGIVENESS CLEANS OUT THE DIRTY SIN
and ALLOWS you to CREATE SPACE in your HEART FOR MORE JESUS
THIS PRESENT FROM CHRIST IS TO BE USED DAILY
Identify one area where you need to receive God’s forgiveness.
Identify someone you may need to forgive—an invitation, not pressure.
Practice a “forgiveness prayer liturgy” daily.
Forgiveness is freedom—for your past, your present, and your eternity.
Next Week Teaser:
Christmas Eve Service is an Illustration of the FLOWING of GOD’s BLESSINGS TO BELIEVERS
“Next Sunday—Christmas weekend—we unwrap the greatest gift of all.”
