Christ came to forgive.
Hebrews 10:4-10 For the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God,
“You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. 6 You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin. 7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”
8 First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses).
9 Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. 10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy
God's "Perfect Gift of Love" for us wouldn't be perfect if it didn't prompt him to do something to meet our desperate need. It is only natural for any lover to meet the needs of those that he loves. How could anybody see their beloved headed for destruction and just sit back and watch?
Our God is a generous lover that has been willing to meet our needs ever since he first created us. God made the perfect environment where we lived without any unmet needs, there wasn't anything that we lacked until the day that we rebelled against him. But this wasn't a surprise to God, he knew that we would make the wrong choice and suddenly for the first time we had an unmet need.
As soon as we made the wrong choice back in the Garden of Eden we knew that we needed forgiveness from God but we didn't know how to get it. Adam and Eve didn't know anything about forgiveness or mercy yet.
Genesis 2:15-17 The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the LORD God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
They didn't know that there was a path to forgiveness that God would accept. Ever since the first sin back in the garden there has been blood shed to cover the sin, animals were killed to make clothes for Adam and Eve to cover the shame of their nakedness and after the nation of Israel leaves Egypt, God gives them the sacrificial regulations that are a foreshadow of the work of the coming Messiah.
My need for forgiveness is never going to stop while I am here on this earth, but the need for a sacrificial lamb has been taken care of forever, Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of the shedding of innocent blood to cleanse us from sin.
God has so been so merciful to offer forgiveness to us so freely and he expects us to do the same for each other. How willing to forgive would we be if somebody had done us wrong hundreds of times? Yet Isaiah says that God will forgive us generously. (Isaiah 55:6-7)
Re-gifting is required
Colossians 3:13-14 Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.God forgave every single one of the crimes that I committed against him, how can I possibly refuse to forgive those few people that have done me wrong? The people around me haven't done as much to offend me and their offenses are so minor in comparison to the way that I have treated God.
Christmas is all about forgiveness, God sent his only son to earth so that we could receive this gift and now that we have it we need to also give it to others. It may take some work to consider letting somebody off the hook, to swallow our pride and allow somebody to wrong us without seeking justice but we need to follow God's example and restore broken relationships. (John 3:16, Ephesians 4:32)
Thank you Lord for the gift of forgiveness, thank you that you never stop giving it, forgiveness is something that I am never going to stop needing.
