The Forgiveness of God

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:1-5, 10-12 ESV).

 

Our reading today is one of the most beautiful passages about the true nature of God's forgiveness, written straight from David's heart. Not only does the Lord forgive and heal, He crowns our life with goodness and strength, renewing our daily steps as with the wings of eagles. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, slow to scolding. He does not keep score nor repay our backslidings and lack of fidelity as we deserve. Our sins are removed from our lives as high as the heavens are above the earth, the east from the west, and tossed behind His back into the depths of the sea, never to be heard from again (cf. Isaiah 38:17; Micah 7:19). Merciful, gracious, compassionate, long-suffering, steadfast in love is our God! Without God's forgiveness, there is no life, no salvation. With His forgiveness, the doors of paradise are open wide, but forgiveness has two faces: from God to you and from you to your neighbor.

God's forgiveness is not conditional. He did not seek your opinion nor ask for a demonstration to prove you are worth the sacrifice when He sent Christ Jesus into the world to save our souls. Our feeble attempts to amend our sinful lives are dwarfed by the immensity of God's grand forgiveness. Forgiveness isn't free. It came with a priceless price tag, the cross of Christ, and a sacred obligation. The ancient Romans used the Greek gods for their own religious purposes. The Roman god Janus was the exception. He was uniquely Roman. Janus was the god of the doorway, the god of entering and exiting, a two-faced god, looking forward and looking backward. For the Romans, January, the month dedicated to Janus, inaugurated new beginnings and marked out old departures. Janus, the two-faced Roman god, looked both ways.

Our God is infinitely greater. His eyes see the whole sweep of our life, backwards and forwards. The Lord looks upon our life and in Christ Jesus forgives all. Such unconditional forgiveness comes with a sacred obligation. We know the forgiveness of God and thus have the knowledge to practice grace and forgiveness towards others. Is this a time when you should do so?