Skip to main content

God’s Gracious Forgetfulness

                I like those “Spot the Difference” puzzles where you are shown two almost identical pictures and then must figure out what changed from one to the other.  In a Biblical version of that game, I am going to give you a passage of scripture that retells an Old Testament story.  Your job is to tell me what detail has been left out.
                “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age – and Sarah herself was barren – was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.  And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore” (Hebrews 11:11-12).                
                  What is missing?  In the original telling, Abraham and Sarah laughed when the promise was given.  However, they did not laugh with joy.  Instead, they laughed in doubt.  “Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?  Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety-nine?’” (Genesis 17:17)   Genesis 18:12 says, “Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn our and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?’”
                Importantly, when God retells their story in Hebrews, he highlights their faithfulness and not their failure.  He remembers their trust and forgets their doubt.  Now, this should not be surprising because God said that a time was coming when “I… will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).
                God does not overlook our sins because is he soft or forgetful.  He negates them because he dealt with them.  He paid the debt.  They no longer exist (see both Hebrews 8 and 10 where the phrase “I will remember their sins no more” is expanded and explained).   If we have put on Christ in baptism (Galatians 3:26-27), we are washed clean. 
                Therefore, if God does not remember your sins and failures, why do you?  Why are you holding onto that list and beating yourself for things that happened years ago? 
                Your past does not have to be your future.  At the cross, God offers a new start and a new life for this new year.
                “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Terrible Trade

            I used to have a Wayne Gretzky rookie card.               However, when I was 12 years old I did not like Wayne Gretzky, so I traded the card to my brother.   A few years ago, I remembered that incident, so I went looking for the card. Sure enough, there is was in a box in my mom’s basement.   Now here is the thing:   even in bad shape, Gretzky rookie cards sell for around $250.   Needless to say, that was not a good trade on my part.   I simply did not recognize what I had and so I traded away something valuable for something with almost no value at all.             With that in mind, notice how the letter to the Galatians starts: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which...
Post a Comment
Read more

Don’t Be a Tourist

                  From the moment that God told Abraham to leave his home and follow him (Genesis 12:1-3), God’s people have understood that they are on a journey.                 That being true, the essential question becomes, “How are you making that journey?”   T here are two options: You can be a tourist or you can be a pilgrim.                   Tourists leave their real life behind for a little while so that they can visit another place.   Generally, they travel in groups and do not mix much with the local people.   They hit the highlights of various regions, but they do not really experience what it is like to live in that part of t...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Good Funeral

As I write this article, it is Monday morning and I am getting ready to go to a funeral. As I think about the day ahead, I am not anticipating a sad day. There will be sadness in it, some tears will be shed for sure, but this will be a day of celebration. For as long as I have known them, and for many years before that, George and his wife Doris have been faithful followers of Christ. Their faith was not just something that they talked about or something that they had in name only. Rather, it was something that influenced how they lived, what they valued and how they saw their entire lives. George was not a very vocal man, but he was influential. His home was always open to anyone who needed a meal or a place to stay. In fact, that is how I first met them. When I was an intern, preaching in the town of Wawota , I stayed with George and Doris. When our Bible camp needed a place to go for a hayride, George and Doris were the first ...
Post a Comment
Read more