Talk 4: The Real Superpower – forgiveness and new hope

Theme:  Forgiveness and that it only is offered fully through Jesus Christ

Aim: The help people grasp what Christ did to offer us forgiveness of Sins

Passage: Col 2: 13-15

Intro

Have you ever felt a burden lift when you were forgiven by a friend or a family member? I have had many disagreements with my mother, and she will normally get very angry and won’t speak to me for a long while even if I was in the right.

We argued and it made it unpleasant by some things we said to each other. Well after going away and thinking about it I realised that I shouldn’t have argued with her and went back to seek forgiveness. It was a conscious decision that I had to make to forgive her as well as take a step of faith to ask for forgiveness.

When she forgave me it felt great, like a burden was lifted off me. The forgiveness offered by God is much more powerful then what we offer to each other, but we can forgive each other because God first forgave us.

Over the last few days we have looked at that deadly attraction: Sin and how this affects our world, our relationship with God and with each other.

Today being our last talk we are going to look at what it took God to forgive us and so we should be forgiving others.

Let’s read our passage:

I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature,  not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,  God made you  alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

1)    We were once dead in sin now alive in Christ

In the first few talks we looked at sin and its devastating consequences on our world and relationships especially with God. We are a broken people, always falling short of God’s glory –

Illustration:

We are spiritually dead; we can’t revive ourselves by doing anything. I don’t know if you have ever walked through a cemetery, if you ever get the eerie feeling that maybe the dead might jump out at you or something else might happen. Well that never happens it’s the same as going to a funeral and seeing a friend or loved one in the coffin, they can’t talk to you anymore, nor can they smile, laugh or cry. They are cold and still and quiet. Dead people can’t raise themselves to life. We were dead in sin, there’s nothing we can do here.

What does the other half of verse 13 say?

 God made you  alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins

2)    God’s action cancelled our debt

Verse 14:

having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

This written code or regulation had to do with the commitment the Jews and gentiles had to their laws. It was basically a type of slavery that has now been done away with. But not just that.. Jesus whatever it was that was against us that stood in the way of a relationship with God. Jesus destroyed it by nailing it to the cross. In doing so he took the punishment that we deserve, all of God’s wrath, all of our sin upon Jesus nailed on the cross destroyed for all eternity.

The best thing about salvation is that we don’t need to do anything to receive it; God gives it to us because he is gracious.

Illustration:

Imagine a court case, you are on trial for things you have done wrong. You stand in front of the judge and you know what’s coming because with every crime there needs to be punishment. The judge passes judgement, it was fair and you deserved the punishment, you wait for the officers to take you away. Then the judge says wait, I will take the punishment for you. The slate is wiped clean now go lead a new life.

What would you think? Is this guy crazy or is he really going to do this for me? Well Jesus did this for you and me. He stayed nailed to that cross; he took God’s wrath upon him as he took our sins.

In the parable of the lost son you will remember that at the end of the story the Father did not show anger towards his son as he had returned. Instead the Father showed love, robed him, put a party together for him and forgave him for all the terrible things his son had done.

Application:

God will have compassion on you. There is no sin too big that God cannot forgive, if that is stopping you from having a relationship with Jesus today then the first thing you need to do is admit that you are sinner, say sorry to God for the times you’ve done wrong and God promises that if you genuinely confess your sins to him he will forgive you.

Our final point for today:

3)    Jesus wins through the cross and so we can also graciously forgive

15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

The cross is a message of hope, although it was a terrible Roman execution tool for criminals and Jesus was no criminal, but by the cross Jesus has been made victorious for the whole world to see.  See Jesus didn’t stay dead he rose again and is now seated at the right had of the Father ruling the universe and he will come back, isn’t that awesome news.

Ultimately if you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour then you’re on the losing team Jesus will win in the end and when you stand before the judgement seat of Christ you will need to account for everything that you have done in your life. However if you have a relationship with Jesus then rejoice because heaven awaits you, no pain, no disease, no tears and you will be with God forever.

We must also understand that if you are a Christian then we should also seek to forgive others. Do you remember the parable of the unmerciful servant? There are terrifying consequences if we don’t forgive others and we should do it because Christ first forgave us.

Read Ephesians 4:32

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

God has given us a free gift of forgiveness. That is, it costs us nothing, but it cost him dearly. We then must also give forgiveness as a gift-freely-to those who have wronged us and sinned against us.

Over the Line

Have people stand at one end of the stage, read the statements below, describing sins someone has committed. As I read each one, you need to either step forward if they would immediately forgive the person, stay where you are if you would forgive eventually or take one step back if you don’t see yourselves forgiving the person.

·        Someone bumps into you in the hallway, knocking your books to the floor. The person didn’t even try to step to one side or apologise.

·        Someone mispronounces your name over the school intercom and causes some embarrassment.

·        Someone cuts you off or tailgates you in traffic.

·        Someone spreads false rumours about you.

·        Your Youth Pastor commits a sin for which he must resign from the church. Your friends leave the youth group as a result. Your Youth pastor asks for forgiveness from group members.

·        You find out that your younger sister’s ex-boyfriend was abusive to her, even physically beating her at times. For some reason he asks for your forgiveness.

·        You’re falsely accused of a felony, and you serve 10 yrs in prison from age 19-29. The witness against you later comes forward, saying he lied, and you’re released from prison. He asks for your forgiveness.

·        Someone murdered one of your family members. He laughed about the killing then, but now the murderer is on death row and is asking for your forgiveness.

The bottom line is that forgiveness is hard so how can God help us forgive?

God can help us through his Holy Spirit, to forgive anyone of anything. Forgiving others frees us from the restraints of pain, bitterness, and revenge.

What an awesome gift. How can we not want to share this with others?

Conclusion

We’ve talked about being dead in our sins but made alive through Christ, we’ve learnt about God’s action to forgive us through his Son dying on the cross, and finally we see that Jesus is victorious by the cross and it the means to our salvation and hope for a new future.

We have seen the action of the father to his returned son, now we also understand that God calls us to forgive each other just as Christ has forgiven us.

If you’re already a Christian today great, challenge here today is to think about how you can apply this truth to your life, how can you forgive others like Jesus.

If you’re not a Christian today, that’s ok. The challenge for you is to assess where you stand with God. You can be forgiven from today all you have to do is ask for the free gift.

Let’s pray.