Forgiven Forget

The Bible says a definite 'yes!' But it requires us to redefine our view of love. Paul Bolton, who spoke at yesterday's wedding, urged us to look at God's love to learn how we should love.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins

1 John 4:10 (NIV)As he explained God's love, shown in Jesus' death on the cross, he gave Tom and Lily (and more widely, all married couples present) three key characteristics of the love they should learn to show each other.

Spontaneous. Not so much a wacky 'rabbit out of a hat' spontaneous love, that, for instance, randomly suggests a last minute picnic in the meadow on a summer's day. More a love which takes the initiative to love. God loved us, even though we didn't love him. We did nothing to earn his love - he gave it freely and spontaneously.

So in a marriage, there shouldn't be an attitude of keeping tallies - 'Actually, I think it's your turn to be loving this week dear...' - but rather freely giving love, even when it's undeserved and even when it's unreturned.

Sacrificial. A love that lasts makes sacrifices. God made the ultimate sacrifice in giving up what was most precious to him - his Son. It was a demonstration of his love for us, and the means by which he might draw close to us to love us with more intimacy.

In marriage, there should be no 'give and take' as if a couple are constantly battling, finding a precarious balance. Rather, each person, husband and wife, should be willing to give up habits, possessions, attitudes which cause the other person displeasure. This is hard! But in marriage, the greatest personal pleasure comes from seeing delight in the other person. Love which puts the other person first really is the most wonderful, and God has set the ultimate example.

Saving. Most amazingly, God's love for us in Jesus has provided an 'atoning sacrifice for our sins'. That means that, because Jesus has died and faced the punishment from God that we deserve, we can be made 'at one' with God - we can be united with him as his friends, children, lovers. This is ultimate love - there is no other way to be brought into relationship with God except through Jesus.

And that includes love in a marriage. A married couple should not be looking to each other for what only Jesus can provide. True love in marriage will point the other person first to Jesus, from whom comes all love.

This God-centred view of love from the Bible flatly contradicts our culture's view of love. True love is based on commitment, not fluttering feelings. True love is shown in giving, not in just taking. And true love must have its root in, flow from, and always return to Jesus Christ, as the demonstration of God's abundant, overflowing love to us.

Faith is: acting in line with the unseen reality that God will entirely fulfil all his promises, based on the seen reality of what God has done in the past.

Faith is, more than anything else, a life attitude which combines belief and knowledge in the head with real, resultant action. The two are inseparable - where there is real faith in Jesus, a life that imitates Jesus must follow.

Hebrews 11 is the great faith passage in the Bible. The writer takes us through a whole heap of characters from Bible history, culminating in Jesus himself at the start of chapter 12. For each character he lays out specific actions which demonstrated their faith in God. In each case, the outcome is beyond their control, but the reason they act as they do is because they believe with their head, heart and actions, that God is very much in control, and will do what he has promised.

Whilst not always the case, faith is predominantly future-focused. For us now as Christians, we have a vast mountain of past 'proof cases' of God's faithfulness in fulfilling his promises, on which to base our faith.

At the pinnacle of these is the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus really died, and really came to life again - there's enough evidence to convince anyone with an open mind of that (see the excellent bethinking.org for starters). But believing those things does not equal true faith. True faith is taking that monumental death and miraculous resurrection as a foundation, and living with the certainty that, when Jesus returns, because of those past certainties, we too will be raised up for joy, as the fulfilment of all God's promises to us.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart

Hebrews 12:2-3 (NIV)Hebrews throws down the challenge - the path has been trodden before me, by Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and ultimately and perfectly Jesus. Will I take their examples as a pattern for my life, and rest all my hopes and ambitions in the reality of life forever delighting in God?

True faith is rooted from start to finish in God's promises. It's no clumsy 'suspension of reason', or 'wishful thinking', or even a 'crutch' to get you through a tough spot. It's the life-transforming realisation, brought about by God, of how things really stand, and the life-consuming passion of turning every action, conversation, thought and decision into something which points boldly to him.

Even for a Christian, it can be hard to see obedience as a chore sometimes. I either tend to over emphasise my 'freedom' as a Christian (which doesn't actually mean I can do whatever I like), or tie my faith too tightly to my performance in 'obeying' set rules which I imagine help me love Jesus more.

True obedience is neither of these.

Living in obedience to God brings two things. Firstly, it brings glory to God as we demonstrate in our attitude that we are only creatures and that he is the creator - the only one capable of running the universe. Secondly, it brings God's blessings as we live as he wants us to live.

Think of how God set up the world. Adam and Eve, in wonderful relationship with God, were given one rule to live by. Obey, and they both acknowledge him as ultimate rulemaker (so bringing him glory), and also continue to experience relationship with him (so enjoying his blessings).

That's where most people who aren't Christians trip up. Obedience is about obeying rules.. but only in the context of a relationship. True obedience must have God at its heart, otherwise it is not just worthless, but offensive to God. There is no reluctant keeping rules "because I have to", but rather because I love the rulegiver and believe that life was meant to be lived along the path of freedom he has laid out.

Nowhere will you find a better example of obedience than in Jesus. In every way he kept and fulfilled God's way of living, showing us what real life is really about. Real life lived in joyful obedience to God.

Sin made us believe that it was humiliating to be always seeking to know and do God's will. Christ came to show us how noble, how blessed, how pleasing to God a life of obedience is. When God gave us the robe of creaturehood to wear, we did not know that its beauty, its unspotted purity could only come from obedience to God. Christ came and put on that robe himself to show us how to wear it

A Life of Obedience, Andrew MurrayLet obedience to God be motivated by your relationship with God through Jesus, rather than by routine, habit, or fear, and you'll see that the way of obedience is the way of joy - life lived to its fullest.

Know your side. If you're a Christian, you're fighting for God now. One of the biggest tricks of your ex-commander, the devil, is to persuade you that you don't belong on Jesus' side. Guilt can bring you back to Jesus in tears for forgiveness... but it can also be used by the devil to convince you that you're beyond God's reach. Don't trust his words, or even your own words - trust God's words. Be strong in the Lord.

Keep up your strength. In a battle situation, it's crucial to keep taking on plenty of food, to keep energy up. It's just as crucial in the fight against sin, to stay alert. But the best food we can get is the sweet bread of God's words in the Bible. The Bible gives us a word picture of Jesus - so as we feed on and chew over the words in the Bible, and as, through those words, he makes himself more real to us, we are strengthening our faith in him. Regular, prayerful, thinking-through of the Bible will keep us sharp by showing us Jesus.

Stick together. The time I most realise I need other Christians is when I'm apart from them. On my own I get sluggish and short-sighted. I get sloppy with truth, and in my mind I begin to blunt the painfully sharp edges of sin. Temptation becomes less a danger, more a vague threat... then less a vague threat and more an annoying companion... then less an annoying companion and more a friend. Close Christian friends help me stay sharp by their own example, and by their conversation and encouragement. God has set up the church to be a close knit team - serving and helping each other; not competing.

God's army isn't made up of trained commandos. Perseverance is the keyword for the everyday weaklings, rejects and losers which Jesus has hand-picked to be his followers. As we fight a daily battle against sin, we'll learn to rely on God's armour, not our strength. We'll become stronger in him as we become weaker in ourselves. And we'll keep going because he'll show us more and more just how certain his ultimate victory is.

Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other the fragrance of life

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NIV)I've found that some Christians view the opinion of their unbelieving friends towards them, as a barometer of how successfully they are sharing their faith. If colleagues at work are friendly, and relationships stay sweet, then that must be a good sign - they are effectively reaching out to those around them. The flipside of that is that if one of their friends or family make a negative comment about Christianity, then they immediately slam on the brakes and pull back, thinking they must have pushed the whole Jesus thing too far.

The big problem with this, is that it turns reality inside out. It makes the most important issue the opinion of people - and people who are living life in opposition to God at that - rather than centralising and upholding the value and honour of God.

Those verses in 2 Corinthians encourage me - I smell and I should not be trying to cover it up with any silencing deodorant!

I don't know which of my colleagues God's Spirit is already working in to eventually bring to know Christ, or which will perish, permanently separated from his goodness in hell. But I can be sure that everything I do and say which points to Jesus is from God - it's part of him spreading the fragrance of Christ to the whole world.

Paul, the author of these verses, wrote them to spur Christians on, and that sure encourages me! Do I hang back and keep quiet, or do I speak out for Jesus? I should speak out, every time, and he'll use it for his glory! Do I wither up under a pressure decision which I know is wrong, or do I obey my greater boss? I should obey God, every time!

It's discouraging when people don't want to hear, or even when they laugh, and whisper about you behind your back. But we're not to take that as a sign to stop speaking and living for Jesus! Both reactions - wonderfully accepting the fragrant message of Jesus, or turning noses up in disgust - both are to be expected, and neither are to be taken as a sign to stop smelling for Jesus.

Every little part of our day can be part of our Jesus fragrance, to glorify God and to see people saved. That's truth which gives us a reason to live and speak Jesus to those around us.

God is ultimately doing the work. That's truth which gives us a reason to keep speaking and living Jesus to those around us.

But I'll make sure I take in a spare change of clothes tomorrow...

The fact is, our image of what makes a real man is based on precisely that - an image. Something detached, a marketing strategy. You can see it, and even touch it... but that's when you realise it's glossy and printed on paper and not connected in the slightest with reality.

I've been reading Every Man's Marriage with Sophie, my wife. While it's stacked high with good ol' American cheese, it is also refreshingly honest, and practical. Here's the authors list of ten character traits that men specifically bring into marriage. See if you can see any of them in yourself.

1. Men are rebellious by nature
2. The Male ego is bigger but more fragile than the Female ego
3. Men are relatively less sensitive to the needs of others
4. Men are less able to express emotions and feelings verbally than women are
5. The male brain is more oriented to facts and logic than to emotions and intuitions
6. Men are sexually stimulated visually
7. Before marriage, males take responsibility for nurturing the love relationship - after marriage he sees the bride as someone to look after him
8. Men need less romance than women
9. The male shield from inferiority is his work
10. Men desire peace from marriage, while women desire oneness

These all probably fit most of us men, to a lesser or greater degree, so in that sense, they define 'man'. But ultimately I see the definition of true man in one person. Jesus - who is both fully man and fully God. The Bible wonderfully describes him as 'the image of the invisible God'. When we see his character we see more fully what our unseen God is like. But he's also the perfect image of man, untainted, and uncorrupted by sin. And unlike the James Bond-a-likes of the movie and marketing world, Jesus is real and far from distant.

At the heart of a Jesus-based view on manhood, I see humility.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many

Mark 10:45 (NIV)Jesus as the glorious Son of Man, promised authority and rule over all creation, instead shows the height of his glory by serving, by humbly laying down his life. There is no finer view of what being a man is really about than in Jesus. In obedience to his Father, in love for us, in a desire for God's glory he served.

For me as a male who desires to be a man, that means my pleasure should come from seeing others helped. In my marriage, seeing Sophie grow in wholeness of character, growing closer to Jesus, as I serve her lovingly. As part of a local church family, setting the needs of others as highest on my priorities. At work, in town, out with friends, the attitude extends - I am here to serve. To be an apprentice servant, treading in the footsteps of the great servant - not disregarding my own happiness, but rather finding it multiplied as I serve others joyfully in love.

Forgiveness is: undeserved love, to guilty offenders, at personal cost, for restored relationship.

The goal of forgiveness is relationship. If a friendship or marriage has no space for forgiveness, it will be a downward spiral of bitterness, as each argument takes another chunk out of those involved.

True forgiveness brings healing. In forgiveness the offender recognises the wrong that has been committed, whilst the forgiver chooses to sever the cycle of revenge, in favour of a renewed relationship with the offender.

God's goal in forgiveness was to restore the relationship between us and him. The bricks in the wall naturally dividing us from him are the bricks of sin - our own individual inclination to go our way, and not his way; to hold up ourselves as gods, and not him as our God.

The death of Jesus on the cross therefore stands at the very centre of not just the Bible, but of all history - as Jesus demonstrated God's undeserved love for us, in taking punishment we deserved on himself. It was the price of forgiveness, paid in its entirety by God himself.

And the relationship that God invites us into, through the forgiveness brought by Jesus' death, is beyond our comprehension. Let's briefly look at the scale of the relationship that is now possible with God.

From dead to alive. Prior to placing our lives under God as king, the Bible describes us as being dead. In the true reality of things, as I stood before God, I was dead - facing his punishment, and ultimate separation from him. And since God is the source of all life, to be cut off from him, is to be dead. But now, having trusted in Jesus, I am alive in him - my future is bound up with his, and so I have eternal life. To know Jesus is to have life to the full.

From strangers to sons. Without Jesus, I could not know God because of my sinfulness, and he could not draw close to me, because of his holiness. Like oil and water, a holy God, and a sinful creature can never mix. I was a stranger, and one with no means of winning God's friendship. But now, because my future is bound up with Christ's, I am completely adopted into God's family and I share the privileges of a son.

From poverty to riches. The point cannot be made too strongly: without Jesus we have nothing. If it were possible to attain all the world's wealth, enjoy every pleasure, experience every thrill, excitement and acclaim on offer... yet all of it without knowing God, I would have nothing. Poverty is life without God, or life with God squashed and limited to one corner. But, through Jesus I now experience a living relationship with the God who gives all life, and who created all good things. And in the future, I will inherit, as a co-heir with Jesus, God's new creation, from which sin, suffering and corruption will all be permanently banished.

God could just hand out a stingy-wooden-spoon forgiveness, that cleared our sin, but left us as insignificant, downtrodden servants. But he has not. The expanse of the treasure I have through God's forgiveness is equal to the cost which God paid for that forgiveness - that is, infinite. Even into eternity, I will never grow bored of Jesus; each day I will see more of his glory, and have a deeper personal experience of his intimate friendship, as my frail grasp on the dimensions of his love grows stronger.

Forgiveness is never for the proud, for those who overlook their stubborn resistance to a God who loves them. Forgiveness is for those who see their failings and their faults and cry out to God for mercy. He will always hear a desperate heart's cry, and, because he is rich in his love, will never fail to forgive completely even the worst of offenders.

Undeserved love, to guilty offenders, at personal cost, for restored relationship. That's forgiveness.

Forgiveness is: undeserved love, to guilty offenders, at personal cost.

Forgiveness as it stood defined previously was unjust. Justice demands that for every wrong act there must be appropriate punishment. Like weighing scales, when once side is weighed down by wrongdoing, punishment must be served to correct the balance.

Cases where a guilty person gets off scott free are not uncommon however, and at first forgiveness appears to be in the same category.

But I want to argue that forgiveness is just, not because punishment is dealt out to the offender, but because the person who forgives must absorb the punishment themselves.

To forgive is no easy thing. To restrain desire for revenge, hatred for the offender, and be content that, even if they never face punishment, you will treat them as if they had never wronged you... there's nothing light and easy about that.

For those who are the victim of serious wrong, there is no such thing as 'forgive and forget'. Yet in true forgiveness, even the most viscious criminals are treated as if the crime was forgotten.

Gordon Wilson, whose daughter was killed in an IRA bomb in 1987, famously gave an interview with the BBC in which he expressed his complete forgiveness to the killers. That cannot have been easy, and it's naive to suggest he was just shrugging off such a tragic loss. But Gordon Wilson was a Christian, and so with God's strength, he was able to forgive, because he knew that he himself had been forgiven much wrong by God.

The only way forgiveness can be just is if the cost of justice is bourne personally. No more so is that true than with God, who is perfectly just. God could not simply brush our sin under a carpet, or try and ignore it. The law and order of the universe would be broken at its very source and core.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness

1 John 1:9 (NIV)No, the Bible promises that God is able to forgive, and be just in forgiving, because the huge cost of wiping our slates clean is paid for by himself.

Ultimately, Jesus died because God desired a relationship with us. This could only be possible if our sins were forgiven, wiped off the record. And that forgiveness entailed a personal cost for God - one that satisfied the demands of his justice. Blood had to be shed. Life had to be taken. In human form - God's own blood, God's own life.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace

Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)It's not possible to grasp the staggering dimensions of what God did that day, when Jesus died on the cross. But we can be thankful and joyful - and delight in our new lives, as children of our great Father God, enjoying the riches of his grace!

Forgiveness is only ever required in situations where someone has hurt someone else, whether intentionally, or deliberately. In most human situations, it is obvious who has caused the offence, and forgiveness is usually granted as a response to the apologetic offender asking for it.

For example, in the school playground, the offender could be the mischievous freckled boy, who fancies the girl with pigtails, but ends up making her cry by tugging rather too sharply on them. In his desire to be friends again (and probably encouraged by the teacher), the boy rather sheepishly approaches her (once the teacher has calmed her down, and mopped up her tears) and says "I'm very sorry, please forgive me." Five minutes later, he's made her cry again by kicking dust in her eyes...

Sometimes forgiveness can be taken forgranted. And other times I can't see even see why forgiveness needs to be sought. Both cases are a result of me assuming the world only works in the way I want it to. The boy is reluctant to apologise because in his eyes, pulling the pigtails was just a bit of fun. And he upsets the girl again so soon after, because he didn't really see a genuine need for forgiveness in the first place.

Trusting our own blinkered vision is a sure route to disaster when it comes to us and God. The Bible says a great offence has been caused by us directly against God:

There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one

Romans 3:10-12 (NIV)From my default point of view, in the society I live in, there is nothing wrong with (in fact I'm encouraged to be) living life 'looking after number 1'. 'It's my life, my body, my time, my choices' - so I can spend my money how I want, hang out with the people I want to, express my opinion, and to hell with anyone who tells me otherwise.

Unfortunately, this seemingly logical viewpoint ('I own myself - therefore I can choose what I do with myself') comes from a limited, blinkered, and flawed perspective. God says we owe him everything - he created us, and so we actually belong to him. We owe him respect, honour, recognition and allegiance. Therefore, in reality we are naturally guilty, for failing to fulfil our true purpose as humans. We're the guilty offenders in need of forgiveness.

It makes no difference if I don't think I've wronged God, or if I can't imagine that the way I've lived my life is a stinking offence to him. The fact is, God rules this universe because he made it, and he says clearly, we've turned away and have become worthless.

Understanding true forgiveness hinges on whether we understand the true offence we've caused God. If we don't recognise our sin, we won't see a need to be forgiven, and the Bible says that road leads to death and separation from God and all his goodness.

The true beauty in the message of the Bible is that despite our naturally guilty and rebellious hearts, God is willing to forgive. So willing in fact, that he gave up to death and separation, his only, much loved Son Jesus. Only then could he offer utter forgiveness, without compromising his perfect justice.

So here's the first part of a working definition:

Forgiveness is: undeserved love.

Forgiveness is what happens when a wronged party chooses to act towards a wrongdoing party as if no wrong had been committed. It is a one-way choice of a person who has been the victim of offence, to treat the offender as if he had done nothing.

As an example, imagine I've agreed to meet my wife Sophie in town after work, but I turn up an hour late. She's understandably hurt, and I've been wrong to not value her enough to turn up on time, or at least let her know I'll be late.

Even if I repeatedly apologise - "How many times do I have to say it? I'm sorry!" - she does not have to forgive me. Even if I try to make up for my wrongdoing - "Look, I've made you dinner. Now will you forgive me?" - I still can't demand her forgiveness. Forgiveness can't be earned, or bought. It's undeserved.

And it's loving to forgive, because the person who has been wronged must put aside all thoughts of personal hurt or revenge, and treat the wrongdoer as before.

In human situations, the waters of forgiveness are often muddy. Sophie might grant forgiveness, not solely out of undeserved love, but because she knows it's unlike me to stand her up. She might forgive for the sake of keeping our marriage steady. Or she might forgive because she's too tired to be angry and just wants to go home and get some sleep.

But God's forgiveness to us is truly undeserved, and the more we appreciate that, the greater we will value what he's done as a result.

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us

Romans 5:8 (NIV)It was not after we'd pleased God by attending church twice every Sunday for 2 years that Jesus died to provide forgiveness. It was not once our charity giving passed a certain point. It was not even once God saw that we were nice people and treated others as we wanted to be treated. It was while we were still sinners.

Sinners are not just criminals, or people having affairs, or even just people who steal and lie and cheat. Sinners are people who make all the choices for their lives - who have no real time for God or his plans. To sin is to put 'I', 'me', 'myself' first, and not God.

And while we ignored him, and rejected him, and showed no respect, regard or delight in him, he still sent Jesus to die to accomplish our forgiveness. Wow! That's forgiveness: undeserved love.

I liked his attitude, which is why I remember that conversation so clearly. For those who trust in Jesus, there is absolute security for the future.

Maybe to you 'heaven' seems not too different from the fluffy-clouds-in-the-sky-with-harps picture that gets painted in cartoons. The reality blows that pathetic imagery to smithereens.

O God,
Thy main plan, and the end of thy will
is to make Christ glorious and beloved in heaven
where he is now ascended,
where one day all the elect will behold his glory
and love and glorify him for ever

The Valley of Vision, Arthur BennettHeaven will not be focused around angels, or clouds, or harps or an eternity of sitting twiddling thumbs. It will be a joyful celebration of all the wonder and splendour of our Saviour Jesus. It will be a community of forgiven sinners together rejoicing in the one King who, through his blood and his death, shattered the chains of our slavery to corruption. It will be tasting in a deeper and more real way then ever possible before, how loving, how generous, and how glorious Jesus is. And it will be an eternity of together as a family, from every language, every nation, growing more and more in love with Christ.

I just want to make two points to counter that view, which I hope hold up the truth of what the Bible says about God. In doing so, I realise I'm only skimming the surface of what is a very big pond, so I hope people will respond with comments and questions on this issue.

First: the good things in life point to a God who loves.

[God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous

Matthew 5:45 (NIV)Both the rain and the sun are from God, and are given to both those who hate God (the evil/unrighteous) and those who love him (the good/righteous). In the flow of Jesus' teaching here, he's saying, "You want to know what real love looks like? Well look at God! He gives good gifts even to people who hate him."

In tough times, when I feel dejected because of hurt or circumstances, it's easy to turn sour on God. That makes me a fair-weather friend for sure! It helps to remember all the goodness he does give, right down to the rain and the sunshine, friendship, daily food, even a computer on which to read blogs! All these good gifts point to a God who gives, even to those who don't deserve it - a God of love.

But what about horrific disasters like tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes and famines? Are they really from God too?

Second: the bad things in life point to a God who judges.

It's a tough question. But the Bible, God's communicated words to us, leave us in no doubt: God is all-powerful, he is ruler over all creation, he holds all things in the palm of his hand. So at the very least, God allows tsunamis, earthquakes and other disasters.

But I think the Bible goes further than that. These disasters we see, these 'acts of God' as they are often called, are part of God's plan. They are a very visual demonstration that God is displeased with the state of his world. They are his acts of mini-judgment against sin. A sensible response to them should be to throw ourselves at the feet of the all-powerful God, and beg for mercy from his ultimate judgment.

Revelation, the last book of the Bible, looks forward to the future. It speaks of the last days before Jesus returns finally, to end suffering and complete his perfect kingdom. But those days before are described as days of terror and disaster, great famine, and destruction. And all as warnings for humanity. Each earthquake is another sign of God's greater judgment to come, and another chance to turn to him while there is still a chance.

However, I find this verse perhaps most chilling:

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Revelation 9:20-21 (NIV)That is humans in a nutshell. The problem lies not with God, and his plan, but with us and our stubborn, arrogant hearts that by nature protest, "I don't want a God to help me, I can manage just fine!" Even faced with just a fragment of God's fearsome power in the plagues of destruction, there are people who do not turn to God (repent) for ultimate safety. They still think they can make it on their own.

No flippant comments by a radio presenter will change the fact that God rightly demands for his creation to follow him and love him. Whether it's the good times which point you to his love, or the bad times which give you just a glimpse of his judgment, you need to follow the signs to safety!

Forgiveness is free and available from a God who loves, and longs for people who will follow and love him. But terrible judgment is promised for those who try and spin the universe on its head by placing themselves as God, rather than the rightful King, Jesus.

What's more, God is a good communicator. He has provided us with his very words in the Bible, and he himself guides us as we read them. The Bible paints one united picture of God the Father, his Son Jesus, and his Spirit, through whom he speaks - a focused and deliberate picture, not open to interpretation. God's truth is understandable by the smallest child, yet so deep, that we will continue to dive deeper into its glorious depths for the rest of eternity.

So as a Christian, with God's own Spirit living in me, I have a duty both to seek with all my might to understand God's revelation of himself in the Bible, and also to communicate that truth simply and effectively to those around me.

Wayne Grudem is the author of 'Systematic Theology', a big fat book which many have found useful in understanding some of the great truths of the Bible. Others have found it useful to prop open doors. Having begun reading it recently, I've found it filling (in that it gives me lots to think about), and yet also warming (in that it has enlarged my heart with joy towards God, and not just my head). In an interview with Adrian Warnock he says:

I am surprised, and thankful to God for the way the book seems to continue to be a blessing to people – and not just to pastors and seminary students, but lots of other Christians from all walks of life. As you know, I believe that God intended His Word to be understood, not just by specialists, but also by ordinary Christians. The "blessed man" in Psalm 1 is held up as an example for all of us: "His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:2)

Interview with Dr. Wayne Grudem, Adrian WarnockIt's crucial that Christians have a passion for truth, especially when the idea of real, universal, life-changing truth is so unpopular today. It's also crucial that we don't end up distancing ourselves from everyday life in attempt to provide a reasoned defence of that truth.

The stakes are too high. God's forgiveness and rescue from sin is needed for all people - children, students, OAPs, those living in council estates, those living in palaces, men, women, those on the dole, city bankers, single mums... Each person needs to hear the good news of Jesus in a language they understand, with terms they identify with.

In following in the steps of my creator, I need to continually put the effort into understanding the people I live alongside, so that I can better explain the life-saving offer of Jesus' forgiveness to them. And as the jargon gets stripped away, I find the truth hits home afresh in my own heart as well.

O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!

Psalm 139:1-6 (New Living Translation)These verses have the tone of a child before his Father, completely known by him, and utterly cared for. It's a joyful truth that brings us to our knees in thanks - God knows our secrets, our mistakes, our regrets, our failings and our sins... and yet even while our hearts were filthy with the bitter rejection of him, he sent Jesus to fully bear the crushing weight of all our sin, so that we might be cleared of all guilt.

To be forgiven is to have exchanged the burden of insecurity, self-centredness, and miserable, inescapable sin, for uncountable blessings, undeserved love, and the protection of an all-powerful Father.

That the God who shaped the contours of the universe should hand-pick children to love and to rescue for himself is staggering. Perhaps the reason I don't pray more is because I spend too much time 'playing' at being grown-up and self-sufficient, when really I just need to stop wriggling, and rest in the arms of the Father God who loves me, and knows me better than I'll ever know myself.

As a Christian my life is guided by God's very words, recorded in the Bible. And it's a book which demands an incredible amount of thought. Philosophers (people who study ideas) and theologians (people who study God) have for centuries grappled with the ideas and concepts contained in the Bible. And there's a great deal of enjoyment to be had in thinking through and discussing God's truth.

But it cannot end there. At the end of one of the hardest sections to understand in the whole Bible, Paul, the writer cannot contain himself to mere logic and reason.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?
Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen

Romans 11:33-36 (NIV)It's one of my favourite bits of Romans. It's the direct result of incredible truth on Paul - we see him bursting forth in delight, praising God, marvelling at how wise, and great, and utterly beyond our grasp he is!

And it seems to me it's something we need to do far more, particularly in our conservative evangelical churches. We are BIG on truth... but we cannot allow that truth to remain in our heads. It has to affect our hearts, and our emotions, and spill over into joyful praise to our God! Otherwise, the stark truth is, it is nothing more than idolatry.

If the biblical discussion which occurs in our Bible studies, and after our Sunday services, and even over our truth-filled blogs, does not lead us to delight more fully in Jesus, then we are no better than the Pharisees, who studied the Bible diligently, but stopped short of worshipping the true Word of God to whom the whole Bible points.

Here's a picture which might help express my point. How crazy would it be if a husband spent all his time talking about his wife, puzzling over why she acted in certain ways, debating with his friends her character... and yet hardly ever spoke with her, rarely spent time simply admiring her beauty, and never said 'I love you'? The imbalance in our churches and our Christian lives needs to change.

Don't let all that discourage you from leaving a comment below!

The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharoah king of Egypt

Deuteronomy 7:7-8 (NIV)One of God's promises to the forefathers (Abraham, Issac and Jacob), had been that he would make their offspring into a great nation, with as many people as there are stars in the sky, or grains of sand on the seashore. By the time Jacob died, his little nation of the 'Israelites' numbered just seventy. God was starting small - he chose the fewest of all peoples.

Why? So that he could exhibit his great power to the people he had chosen, as time and time again, he made possible the impossible. He didn't choose a great nation, already large in number and rich in wealth. It would have been far too easy for them to look at God's fulfilled promises and say, "50/50 - we achieved half, God achieved half". God wants all the glory, and God deserves all the glory.

And that gives me joy! God doesn't work on a 'survival of the fittest' basis. In fact it's the stubborn human desire to be self-sufficient that stands at the heart of sin, and cuts us off from God in the first place. I'm not a particularly strong person, I'm rubbish at persevering, and so far in life, I haven't achieved anything to set me apart as a 'great' person. If God was picking his 'dream team' of followers according to highest earners, best achievers, and most popular, I wouldn't make the cut.

Instead God picks the inadequate and the weak and the broken, because in those people he can most display his glory, leaving no doubt to onlookers that it is him working. If you trust Jesus, you are chosen, in spite of your faults and failings, to be a channel for God's glory! That's amazing!

The truth of God's unnatural selection should flow out of my life in two ways. Firstly, joyful thanks, that the God who made the entire expanse of the universe has stooped down to choose insignificant me. And secondly, humble commitment, to the God who forgives my many sins, and uses me to be a shining light of his glory. Let's replace the pride that says, "I can make it on my own", with thankful hearts that proclaim, "Let my life be used to bring glory to God!"

How should Christians make those kind of decisions? You can look for the easiest way... but that's not always the 'right' way. You can take the 'right' way... but it's not always clear which way that is.

It's good to weigh these kind of decisions against rules and principles found in the Bible. And yet I get the feeling that sometimes even that misses the point.

We cannot forget that God's law found in the Bible is inseparable from God himself. The law is a definition of God's character - for instance: we should love each other, because God is love. Too often I search the Bible for a specific command or principle to guide a situation, when actually on the other side of the command is a God who has brought me into relationship with himself.

So here's my suggestion for decision-making. Not easy/hard. Not right/wrong. Instead, will the action I take please God, or displease him?

I'm basing this idea on what I see happening in God's decision to die on the cross to save us. He certainly wasn't taking the easiest way. It would have been far easier to not bother. He also wasn't choosing between a clear cut right and wrong. God would not have been in the wrong if he hadn't sent Jesus to save us - we had rebelled against him and deserved punishment, not forgiveness. No crime would have been committed if Jesus had never gone to the cross.

No, the Father sent his only Son for the sake of his own pleasure.

Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer

Isaiah 53:10 (NIV)

Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God

Ephesians 5:2 (NIV)Not some kind of sick pleasure that delighted in the suffering itself, but a pleasure in what Jesus' death brought forth - a people saved for himself, forgiven, living as his children and bringing him glory and pleasure.

If God makes decisions to maximise his pleasure, and if God is the one being in the universe who rightly deserves perfect pleasure, then surely it is right and best for us to aim at the same in our decisions? I've found it begins to take the fretting out of decision making, as our goal becomes pleasing a person, rather than just adhering to a set of standards.

It was an immense achievement - I can't begin to imagine how you go about coordinating something as big as the Olympic Games opening ceremony! And it was an immense way of saying, "Hello world, we are China, the greatest, most impressive nation on earth!"

It's easy to come to God with a similar attitude. That I need to impress him, mentally tick off the things I have and haven't done that will put me in his good books. "I've prayed every day this week... I go to church twice on Sundays... I just handed in my giving form... I don't swear, or gossip, or get drunk like my colleagues..."

The Bible tells us that the reason we're saved is by grace, it's God's gift, not by our achievements... And yet I still play the Opening Ceremony game, as a way of convincing myself, if no one else, that things are 'OK' between me and God.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise

Psalm 51:17The truth is, God doesn't want a fireworks-and-flourish relationship with us. He wants humble hearted people who will serve him in love. He wants broken hearted people, who have given up digging themselves out of the mess they've made of their lives. He wants people who have clear sight to see that, when it comes to greatness, power, and dependability, there is only one place they will find it. The arms of God.

That's why God is willing to forgive. So that his people may see his love, know his protection, and trust in his greatness. I'm looking forward to the Olympics, and all the excitement it brings. But I sure am thankful that it's the weak, feeble and unimpressive losers like me whom God turns into champions.

Loads of people believed in Jesus as a result, but living in a city with a very anti-Jesus culture, found it hard to work out the practical issues of daily life among people who still didn't believe. Paul sends quite a strong letter to them to warn those who were blatantly living with no regard for Jesus.

It was controversial. It raised hackles. It bruised egos. It hurt, deeply. And at first Paul regrets sending it. But then, as he sees the Christians in Corinth respond to his warnings, and change their attitudes, he is happy, because their initial sorrow led them to turn back to Jesus.

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV)It was those words "...leaves no regret" that struck me. Sure Paul's referring partly to himself no longer regretting having written the hurtful letter. But surely those words are for the Corinthians (and therefore for us) too?

Being forgiven by God means you can forget your sin. That's the statement I've founded this blog upon. It needs qualifying a million and one different ways (!) but at its heart, and at the heart of 2 Corinthians 7:10 is the glorious truth that Christians, more than any other people, should be free from guilt and the emotional and spiritual imprisonment it brings, precisely because Jesus, in his death on the cross, has provided absolute cleansing from all sins, past, present and future.

Phew! What do you think?