God Forgot

"Love is patient. Love is kind." You don't even have to be a biblical scholar to be familiar with the description in 1 Corinthians 13, of all the things love is. Chances are, if you've attended a wedding, pretty much ever, you've heard these words. "It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (vs.4)" But did you know love is also forgetful?

True story. Listen to verse 5: "It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."

If there's a better description of forgiveness, I don't know what it is. It's not a mere matter of accepting an apology. Love eliminates the wrongdoing from the dynamic of the relationship.  

Now, we know from 1 John 4:8 that God, Himself, is Love. It's not just that he loves us, it's that Love is who He is. It's his very essence and nature. This means that, when we read 1 Corinthians 13 -- the Love Chapter -- what we're really getting is a crash course in the personhood of our Heavenly Father. God is patient and kind. And God keeps no record of wrongs. 

This means that, once we recognize the sin in our lives, recognize God for who He is, accept our blame for what we've done and the Grace of Christ who died as a final sacrifice, we are reconciled with God, and our past is gone. In our humanity, to be sure, we still deal with the consequences of what we've done... but as far as our relationship with God is concerned, our past sin is simply no longer a part of the equation. 

Now here's a mystery: we know from Scripture that God is omniscient -- that is, all-knowing. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 10 and Luke 12 that even the hairs on our heads are numbered. Yet, He does not remember our sin. How is this possible? How is it possible that a God who knows everything has separated us from our misdeeds "as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12)," and remembers them no more (Isaiah 43:25)? 

Put simply: Because, by the blood of Jesus Christ, and the grace of the Almighty, those sins no longer exist.

Eraser Smudge

The eraser is a wonderful invention, is it not? In the best cases, you can use the rubber eraser to remove a mistake or even simply change a word or two. But -- and maybe it's just because I write so hard -- I can never seem to completely erase the mistakes I've made with one of those rubber erasers, whether it's on the tip of a pencil or one of those big pink things. Try as I might, the ghost of my mistake remains. And no matter how hard I try, there it stays. I'm more likely to rip the paper than I am to remove that little, almost-invisible remnant of error.

Sin can feel that way at times. We know the blood of Christ erases our sin from our lives. And yet, we in our humanity keep finding those sticky little remnants (Romans 7:15). Errant thoughts, guilt, and constant temptation can keep us trying and trying in our own strength get rid of those little smudges until we finally tear an irreparable hole.

But 1 John 1:9 tells us, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Meanwhile, Psalm 103:12 reminds us, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."

If we continue to sin, that's not God having failed to remove the sin from our lives -- rather it is our own humanity, which will be exploited by Satan in an attempt to discourage believers and non-believers alike.

Praise God, however, because He has forgiven -- and not only forgiven, but cleansed -- our unrighteousness. And on the day we finally stand before His throne, it will be as pure, clean, and holy children.  

We All Fall Down

Today is Ash Wednesday. Traditionally, this first day of Lent, we begin our 40 days of sacrifice with sorrow and remembrance of our wicked lives. The ashes are representative of this deep sadness and regret -- a symbol sprinkled throughout the Old Testament of anguish.

More than anything, it is a sign of repentance. A way to humbly come before God with an expression of sorrow for how we have sinned against Him (Matthew 11:20-22).

These next 40 days we know as Lent are a great reminder of everything Jesus gave up in order to bring us closer to Himself. Of how He traded Divinity for Humanity, how He allowed Himself to hunger, thirst, and be tempted, so He could then lead a life of service before being brutalized and murdered -- all so you and I wouldn't have to suffer the eternal consequence of Godless lives. Ash Wednesday reminds us of the sorrow and humility with which we approach the Throne of Grace. We understand our position in comparison with God, and realize we haven't the right to even ask forgiveness -- but that He has freely and willingly offered it anyway.

I confess I have mixed feelings about Ash Wednesday. When I sin before my God, I am reminded of how little I have to offer Him -- that my deeds and what material possessions I have are as ashes before His glory. But at the same time, Psalm 103:12 tells us "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." 

So are we, then, to be sorrowful for a life God Himself no longer remembers? Now that we are forgiven, are we to drape ourselves in sackcloth and ashes, to continue to regret the sins which are no longer a part of who we are? I believe Christ removed that Sin from my life, and can't therefore grieve over it, but instead must rejoice in knowing I am clean. 

I can only conclude Ash Wednesday is indeed for all of us. Because we all sin and fall short of the Glory of God. And when we do, we must humble ourselves in deep sorrow, and come before God to repent. But once forgiven, Ash Wednesday is a way to remember who we once were, and rejoice that Christ has transformed us.

Nothing!

Today is Nothing Day. Ostensibly, it is a day to sit around celebrating nothing at all. So, in honor of this, today I choose to celebrate every single thing that limits God. Which is, of course, Nothing At All.

The word "nothing" is used more than 320 times in Scripture. Sometimes, it's used for mundane purposes. Very often, it is used to compare the trappings of this world with the Glory of God (they are as Nothing). And sometimes, it is used as a comprehensive list of all the things of which God is incapable (Luke 1:37 KJV).

We have a God so great, nothing will be impossible even for us, as tiny as we are, if He is our strength. 

And because Nothing can limit God, Nothing can limit His love for us. And because nothing can limit His love for us, nothing can separate Him from His children. Only we, in our sinfulness, can remain apart from Him. But, when we turn to God, Psalm 103:12 tells us, "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

He doesn't merely bury our sin, or sweep it under the rug. He lifts that burden off us as though it were nothing and throws it away; so far away it can never be found. 

There is nothing you can do to make it impossible for God to love you. No sin is so heavy He can't remove it. You and I are weak, He is strong, and in Him, all things are possible!

Not Who I Am Anymore

A quick story: My younger brother spent a good chunk of his life as the so-called "black sheep" of the family. Even in school, his tendency to talk first and consider the consequences later would draw the ire of teachers and administrators alike. He'd spend a Summer learning how to calm himself down, only to face another school year of the same old trouble.

The real problem wasn't in his behavior from the onset of the year, but with his reputation from the year before. Trouble was expected. He was treated like a troublemaker, and so acted like one. He expressed this frustration to me on more than one occasion: how can I hope to change my ways if they won't LET me -- and why should I bother?

In fairness to the school system, they had no way of knowing how he had matured during those summers, or the decisions he made to at least try to behave. All they had to go on was the past.

With God, it's different:

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:15-19)

Since it was Christ Himself who remade us, He no longer holds our past against us. In fact, as Psalm 103:12 says, he has removed it from us, "as far as the East is from the West."

Our past is no longer a part of who we are. He literally cannot hold our past against us, once He has taken it away, because we are no longer the same person! We are, thanks to the mercy and sacrifice of Christ, an entirely NEW creation!