10.05.2014 Transformation - Remembering Our Forgiveness

10.05.2014 from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

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Thank You Lord, for the cross that we might have life. We come with boldness knowing that we have been washed – help us to live in a way pleasing to You. Help us to step aside and allow Your word to speak into our hearts and minds. I pray we would learn to incorporate Your power that we might be transformed into Your image. You are present with us. Thank You for what You have done. We praise You and it is in Your name we pray.
We have been talking about how our lives can be transformed. Last week we looked at how we need to engage – God has His part and we have our part.
2 Peter 1:8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is an increasing thing. It is not like you are given each of these things immediately – we need to begin growing in each of these areas – and as we make progress, He provides more grace and power – and we can grow more. It is like a snowball effect in our lives.
We do our part – we start working – and then God’s grace and power enter in to help us to do more. That is how the transformation takes place. God starts it all – He makes us a brand new person - transformed on the inside. But then we have to work that out – it is a life-long process that should be taking place inside of us.
9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
BUT – if we don’t do the work – if we don’t do our part of the ‘God’s part and our part’ – then the grace and power don’t become productive in our lives. It is only as we appropriate it in our lives.
I’m sure you have seen it in your life – you have made steps and take more steps and God is giving grace and power to do it. It is that continually supplying our energy and effort – and in doing that, God supplies more grace and power.
Then He says this:
For whoever lacks these qualities…
Something has gone wrong if we are not experiencing this transformation – if we are not seeing this transformation and growth – something has gone wrong – he is saying we have lost focus – we have lost our vision – nearsighted to the point of becoming blind. What have we lost focus on? We have forgotten we have been cleansed from our former sins. If you are not experiencing change – you have forgotten these things.
To the extent, that you are no longer looking at what Christ has done on the cross –
There is a double meaning to being cleansed from sins – The first - God has transformed what has gone on inside of us. Romans 6 – we are dead to sin – no longer slaves to sin – we are regenerated, reborn, renewed – I won’t go into this too much here because we will look at it in-depth in a few weeks - but before you come to Christ, you are a slave to sin – you don’t have a choice. We think, no no no no – but it is true – we are enslaved to sin apart from Christ. When a person comes to Christ, the chains are broken and we are set free from those sins. Sin can no longer dominate your life. The only way it can dominate your life is if you give it permission to. You have a choice. Before coming to Christ, you do not have a choice. When you see someone who has not come to Christ, you often ask, why do they act like that? A more accurate question might be – why don’t they act worse?!
We tend to give permission without really knowing how or why or when. It is such who we are as humans – our tendency is to rebel against God – even as Christians, we tend to go that way – that is why we need to be involved in the transformational process – like Romans 7 – doing the thing we hate and not doing the thing we want to do.
2) Forgiveness. We have forgotten that we are dead to sin – and we have forgotten that we have been forgiven from our sins. When we sin, we live a life of guilt – and when we allow that guilt to control us, we cannot experience transformation in the areas we want. Unless you focus on the fact that God forgives you for every sin you have committed and will commit – you will not experience this transformation. Focusing on that power gives us the power to change. We think that feeling bad and trying to change makes us change.
Knowing that you are forgiven and celebrating that – can change you. Not celebrating the sin – but celebrating your complete forgiveness. That will help you change more than “I’m going to really feel bad so that I don’t do it again!”
How many times have you done that? All the time.
But this is what Peter is getting at. There is the fun one – which I just mentioned – and the not so fun one –
Colossians 3:13 – Bearing with one another and forgiving one another…
We need to understand that God has forgiven us – and the natural response is to forgive others.
“Just as the Lord has forgiven you”
How? How has God forgiven us?
What are some words that come to mind?
Freely! Unconditionally! Willingly! Gladly! Completely! He forgave all of our sins.
Forgive JUST as the Lord forgave you… How did He forgive me? And how am I doing at forgiveness? If we realize God has done all these things – freely, etc. – that is how we should forgive.
Some we don’t think of – How did He forgive? Painfully! Costly! With great sacrifice! It was hard for us to gain forgiveness from God. Forgiveness is hard, costly, and painful.
We will see that it has very good results.
October, 2010, Cindy and I gave a message on forgiveness – based on Lewis Smeade’s book, The Art of Forgiving – and it is really difficult to forgive when a person has been wounded significantly. It is not easy to come to a point where you can forgive.
It is hard.
We understand that it is hard to forgive as Jesus forgave – it cost Him His life! With great suffering!
Matthew 6: 12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
14 “For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.
This is a difficult saying!
“Our ability to experience God’s forgiveness somehow is connected to and dependent on our willingness to forgive those who have hurt us.”
Look at our world and all that is going on – is there any forgiveness? No – more like – you bomb us – we bomb you. You injure us – we injure more of you! And Jesus is saying there is something radically different about being a Christian.
Some pray the Lord’s prayer verbatim – others use it as a model – either way is a good thing.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name! Celebrate Who God is – and then pray that what He wants would happen… Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done…
We all pray: Give us this day our daily bread… or - Have you ever prayed that a bill would get paid – that is the same thing!
But do you ever pray – forgive me my sins as I forgive others?
Keep me from temptation – we pray that one a lot!
Deliver me from evil?
Just something to think about.
Forgiveness is good for us. When you come to Christ, all of your sins are forgiven – past, present, future – BUT – there is something about living this Christian life that these verses are vital.
Forgiveness is good – good for your spiritual health. When you forgive, it is good for your relationship with God. But studies also show that forgiveness is also good for your physical health.
Forgiveness heals wounds.
Forgiveness – you cannot begin the healing process unless you begin the forgiving process.
Forgiveness is between us and God and does not require the involvement of the offending party. Sometimes you will never get the offending party involved. That wound will fester.
“Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they have done”
Matthew 18: 21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
And that doesn’t mean 490 – it means completely. Expect to be sinned against more than seven times! Expect to be sinned against at least 490 times! If we don’t expect it… we should not be surprised.
The issue is not just that you will be sinned against – but you will sin against people not just seven times – but 490 times. Because you will and so do I…
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven [v]may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents (more than could ever be repaid) was brought to him. 25 But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the [y]debt. 28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred [z]denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 But he was unwilling [aa]and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from [ab]your heart.”
What are we supposed to be thinking when we read this? We are this man!
Just as the Lord forgave you…
The problem here – he lost focus on his forgiveness and was unable to focus on what Christ had done. All of us have a debt that could not be repaid.
The reality is that some have been so hurt – it seems impossible for them to forgive.
If you do the http://YouVersion.com/groups/gracesummit – John Ortberg does an interview with a woman whose son was shot and killed. And about 5-7 years later, God said – I want you to minister to the murderer – and she said no, and God kept saying yes – and she went – and there is this interview years later. I encourage you to watch it – very powerful.
“The debt we have been forgiven is infinitely greater than the debt we are asked to forgive” – Louis Smeade
The Railway Man – a man who was tortured – River Kwai –
When we forgive someone – we surrender our right to get even. We no longer want them to feel the pain they have caused us.
“Forgiveness - The decision to release the consequences of a wrong done to us, trusting God to be just” – Tammy Smith
When we forgive, we understand that we were hurt by a wounded person. We don’t deny the evil and wrong that they did – we must name clearly the evil – Joseph – you meant evil against me – God meant it for good.
This is a person Jesus died for.
When we forgive, we gain the freedom and the power to desire the other person’s well-being.
We forgive persons for what they do, not for what they are.
You must be specific in your forgiveness. It must be things that happened, not for what things become in our mind. You can’t forgive someone for mistakes, being annoying, personality flaws, being clumsy – you can only forgive for specific sins committed against you.
Love covers a multitude of sins.