The Power of Forgiveness

To what extent are we expected to forgive? How far shall we go in forgiving? How much can be forgiven? How often can we forgive? Peter’s Question Mt.18:21-22 Adding to forgiveness or multiply forgiveness? Daniel and the seventy weeks (Chapter 9) “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 9:24 (NIV) Seventy times seven becomes an equation connected with how humanity moves beyond transgression and retribution into a new world of forgiveness and restoration Point: If atonement is to prevail over transgression, then, according to Daniel’s prophecy, seventy times seven must be our vision for the possibilities of forgiveness. Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” Gen.4:23-24 Coincidental link? The lust for revenge and retaliation leads to a world filled with corruption and violence. The only way to put an end to sin and restore the world is if forgiveness can be multiplied exponentially, seventy times seven We are becoming more than a nation divided… A study published last year found that just over 42 percent of Democrats and Republicans view the opposition as “downright evil.” Some 20 percent of Democrats and 16 percent of Republicans think “we’d be better off as a country if large numbers of the opposing party in the public today just died.” When asked “how much do you feel violence would be justified” if the opposing party won the 2020 presidential election, 18.3 percent of Democrats and 13.8 percent of Republicans said such violence would be appropriate on a scale ranging from “a little” to “a lot.” The Dennison Report Jan.30,2020 “…Gather about you all who observe the law, and avenge your people. Pay back the Gentiles what they deserve, and observe the precepts of the law.” Matthathias Maccabeus I Mac. 2:67-68 The Hammer vs. The Lamb Some things never change… Luke 4:16-30 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn Isa.61:1-2 How far did this mindset go? Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. Luke 9:52-55 Violence in the name of God From-what-source are fights and from-what-source are battles among you? Are they not from-here— from your pleasures waging-war in your body-parts? You desire and do not have; you murder. And you are jealous and are not able to obtain; you battle and fight. You do not have because of your not asking! James 4:-1-2 (DLNT) “The Bible is not the perfect revelation of God; Jesus is. Perfect theology is not a system of theology; perfect theology is a person. Perfect theology is not found in abstract thought; perfect theology is found in the Incarnation. Perfect theology is not a book; perfect theology is the life Jesus lived. What the Bible does infallibly and inerrantly is point us to Jesus, just like John the Baptist did. The Old Testament tells the story of Israel coming to know the living God, but the story doesn’t stop until we arrive at Jesus.” Brian Zahnd “Specifically, Jesus came to establish a new covenant, a new command, and a new movement. His new movement would be international. The new covenant would fulfill and replace the behavioral, sacrifice-based systems reflected in just about every religion of the ancient world. His new command would serve as a governing behavioral ethic for members of his new movement.” Andy Stanley from Irresistible-Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World “Specifically, Jesus came to establish a new covenant, a new command, and a new movement. His new movement would be international. The new covenant would fulfill and replace the behavioral, sacrifice-based systems reflected in just about every religion of the ancient world. His new command would serve as a governing behavioral ethic for members of his new movement.” Andy Stanley from Irresistible-Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. \ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jer.31:31-34 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” Mt.26:27-29 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” Heb.9:15-20 “Specifically, Jesus came to establish a new covenant, a new command, and a new movement. His new movement would be international. The new covenant would fulfill and replace the behavioral, sacrifice-based systems reflected in just about every religion of the ancient world. His new command would serve as a governing behavioral ethic for members of his new movement.” Andy Stanley from Irresistible-Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World