8th April 2025
We can have confidence in Jesus to know we need forgiveness
Part of a series for Easter Preparation
Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them…’
Luke 23:34 (NIVUK)
Jesus forgives. Which is just as well because I messed up yesterday and will undoubtedly mess up in some way or other today and tomorrow. I can make all sorts of excuses: I was tired, the person in the supermarket was so irritating, that driver cut me up, and on and on it goes. Yet at the heart of my actions, I made a decision to do or say the wrong thing. I missed the mark of my own standards, never mind those of God. Maybe this describes you too.
To decide to do what I want to do, independently without any reference to God, is really what sin is all about and is something Jesus takes seriously. Sin matters: it separates, spoils and spreads, it hurts and divides. We have all sinned, and ultimately it leads to death (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Something this serious requires a serious response.
Thankfully, we get that response from Jesus. In the healing of the paralysed man in Luke 5:17-26 Jesus demonstrates that the forgiveness of our sins is more important even than our physical healing. We are not to despair over our many sins because Jesus knows we need forgiveness for our sins, and in his sacrifice on the cross that forgiveness has already been given. All we have to do is realise it and accept God’s gracious provision for us.
To forgive, clean up, and restore is always costly. There is always sacrifice in the healing process, and thankfully Jesus was willing to endure the pain, shame and indignity of a brutal beating and an excruciating death to secure our reconciliation and bring us home.
John Newton, a former slave trader and writer of the hymn Amazing Grace, knew the seriousness of sin and what it was to be forgiven. Just before he died, he said, ‘Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Saviour.’1 A thought we can all echo.
Prayer
Loving Father, thank you for loving us so much that you sent your Son Jesus so that whoever believes in him experiences forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation, and will have eternal life in your presence. In Jesus’s name, Amen
1 Quote by John Newton: “Although my memory’s fading, I remember two thi…”
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Study by: Barry Robinson About the author: |
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Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2BA
Meeting time:
Sunday 12.30 pm
Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church