The Gift of Forgiveness
2013-12-22
Mt 1:18-23, Lk 1:30-35
Matthew 1:18-23
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother
Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to
be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And
her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame,
resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But
as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in
a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife,
for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you
shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:23 “Behold,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and
they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Luke 1:30-35
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found
favor with God. 31 And
behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his
name Jesus. 32 He will be
great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give
to him the throne of his father David, 33 and
he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be
no end.”34 And Mary said to
the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the
child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
Everything that was to be
known about Jesus the Christ was revealed before He was born. He will be "Great,
set apart from all rest.
Jesus
is not simply the revealer of God but God Himself revealed. Col 1:15 & 2:9, Heb 1:3
·
When Jesus took on the form of man His appearance changed but He did NOT
set aside His deity but rather the voluntary use of His power as God.
Incarnation
began with God’s earthly phase of reconciliation
with man: Jesus Christ came to restore man’s broken relationship with God.
·
Like a gift
freely received, Salvation is free to the receiver, but Jesus paid the highest
price to obtain it …His very life.
o Greatest gift anyone can ever receive is the forgiveness
of sins from God thru Jesus Christ.
One of surest signs we have
received gift of forgiveness is that we forgive others.
·
We do NOT:
acknowledging that what they did was OK.
- Assume real offense, not unrealistic level of
perfection from ordinary.
- Do NOT: pretending
you’re not hurt or it didn’t happen.
Forgiving is Christ-like & sets the forgiver free.
- The unforgiver primarily gets hurt: emotionally stuck in a CAGE.
- unforgiveness hinders our relationship with God
& others. Mt 6:14-15
God calls us to
have a lifestyle of forgiving ALL people who offend us.
·
He commands us
to forgive no matter what, who, when or where, & leave the justice to Him.
o
Through
the help of the Holy Spirit we can forgive anyone of anything.
§
CORIE TEN BOOM
story…Nazi guard.
But no greater example for
forgiving those who hurt/offended us than Jesus Christ.
·
He never did
anyone wrong (never sinned) yet was constantly, unjustly accused &
mistreated by everyone...including you!
o
The violence you
& I brought upon Jesus by our sin.
Passion of the Christ.
o
This does not
diminish your pain and hurt but puts it into proper Biblical perspective.
Our debt to Jesus is far
greater than others debt to us, yet He forgives us completely!
- The Word says that understanding that truth will
enable you to forgive others…no matter what they have done against you. Mt 18:21-35, Col 3:12-13
Forgiveness must be exercised to become a working,
powerful muscle of love.
·
Forgiving little
things makes it easier to forgive big ones.
- Ask God for His help
to forgive the person(s) you have in mind.
·
A valuable &
significant gift you can give anyone this Christmas is your forgiveness, because it will allow you both to grow.
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