Forgiven First
The origin of forgiveness is in Genesis 3. What consequences happened after Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden? First, the couple was sentenced to a life of pain and hard labor, neither of which they ever experienced before in Eden. Then they were expelled from the garden paradise they had always known and thrust into a sin-laden world to fend and provide for themselves. That’s the bad news.
But the good news is that God forgave the sinful couple that He created in order to have sweet, intimate, perfect fellowship with Him. Furthermore, He clothed them and sent them out to have a new life, as opposed to the death their sin merited. Though their new home in the world was nothing as lovely and perfect as what they had experienced in the garden, God provided for their needs.
Forgiveness began with God. God took the initiative to forgive Adam and Eve’s sin. His first act of forgiveness toward them was to clothe them with the skins of sacrificed animals. The physical deaths suffered by the animals should have been theirs, but it was the animals that died — a preview of Jesus’ substitutionary death for our sins.
In this act of providing animal skins, God set up a system for forgiving the sins of His people. It found its final sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin in the death of Jesus. Throughout the Bible, God the Father refers to Himself as the God of forgiveness. And this forgiveness was modeled for us in the life and death of Jesus, God’s Son.
What confidence is yours when you know that you are forgiven in Christ! When Christ is your Savior, God’s Holy Spirit comes to reside in you. That means you can exhibit Christ-like behavior (Galatians 5:22-23). In Christ you are capable of not only withstanding great pain and suffering inflicted by others, but you also possess the strength and power of Christ to forgive — with His love — those who cause the hurt.
RESPOND:Lord Jesus, thank You for forgiving my sin, and help me in turn to forgive others. Search my heart for situations in which I’m not fully forgiving a wrong inflicted upon me. Whenever I recall the injury, pain, or memory of that hurt, let the beauty of Your forgiveness wash over me. Give me your love and perspective to forgive. Amen.
RENEWING RESOURCES:Find more encouragement to follow in Jesus’ footsteps in Elizabeth's book, A Woman Who Reflects the Heart of Jesus. You will find a treasure trove of truths and applications that enable you to follow well.
REFLECT:Where do I hold on to bitterness or unforgiveness? How can I let Christ’s forgiveness of me change my heart towards others?
REMEMBER:Because God loves and forgives us, we can love and forgive others.
