The Forgiving and Accepting Christ

Our meditation throughout the Lenten season has a specific focus on the purpose of Christ’s visit on earth. Jesus Christ was sent to earth by the Father to save and redeem humanity from sin and to offer eternal life to everyone who believes in him. Further, Christ’s visit reveals the Father’s love for humanity; establishes the kingdom of God; gives us redemption, forgiveness and acceptance as the children of God; offers us eternal life. Let us now focus on the forgiveness and acceptance offered by Christ.

The Forgiving Christ

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:24). The fall quickly followed the dawn of man. But, the grace of the Father sustained humanity. Throughout history the nature of the LORD has been revealed to select few who sincerely seeked Him. But through Christ, the Father revealed his love and character to all humanity. Jesus Christ demonstrated this matchless love of the Father by humbling himself even unto the cross. Thereby, offering hope and salvation to the lost and broken who truly believe and seek in faith.

Forgiveness is the act of pardoning someone who has wronged us. Forgiveness also provides a means to reconcile, heal and renew a relationship. Thus, through forgiveness the Father gives a way for us to rekindle our relationship with him. So how does our sin factor into this? What made sin so bad that it required the blood of Christ to wash it away? And why does sin drive us away from the LORD?

Consider the life of Cain. He is the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, undoubtedly special. However, sin found a way to creep into him. In Genesis chapter 4, we see the progression of Cain’s sin from jealousy to resentment to murder of his own brother. Even after which, he tried to deceitfully answer the LORD. Sin multiplies. Unless it is put in check, it would take over. The first sin was disobedience. That resulted in Adam and Eve being exiled from the garden of Eden. To kick start the first sin, there was Satan’s involvement. However, in the case of Cain it seems like the sin was self grown without any external influence. Additionally, we see that Cain was directly warned by the LORD.

So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Genesis 4:6,7

The sin which entered humanity through Adam, now coursed through Cain, waiting to take over. Had Cain listened to the LORD, then the situation would have played out differently. But alas, Cain opened the door and let sin rule over him. The immediate result was the death of the righteous Abel, whose blood now cried to the LORD. The consequence - curse.

And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” Genesis 4:10-12

The sin of Adam and Eve brought forth hardship and death to mankind. The sin of Cain led to his exile from the presence of the LORD in addition to other things. Cain seemed to have realised what it meant, for he pleads with the LORD.

And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. Genesis 4:13-15

Notice how Cain highlights that he would be hidden from the LORD. This meant that the protection of the LORD was no longer in place. The relationship was now broken. Yet, the LORD set a mark on Cain, a mark reminding him of his guilt and shame, while also showing the ever persevering love of the LORD. The LORD’s righteousness demanded punishment for the sinner and the LORD’s mercy offered forgiveness. But someone still had to take the punishment meant for the sinner, which Christ took on himself, as an atonement - exhibiting the love of God which is beyond our understanding. Paul writes about this in Romans chapter 5.

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Romans 5:6-11

We had no redeeming qualities of our own, and yet Christ died for our sins while we were sinners, before we even asked. By this Christ demonstrated his own love towards us. Therefore, when we believe and ask for forgiveness, we are justified by His blood and we are saved from our punishments through Him. Not only that, we are also reconciled with the Father such that we can rejoice for eternity. All this joy and hope for all believers through the unconditional love of God and the redemption through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross by which our sins were forgiven.

Oftentimes, more than our physical ailments and illness, our spiritual anguish due to sin would be more burdensome. At times, when tormented with the guilt and shame of sin the physical pain would not even register. But the LORD who sees our heart knows this, and is always willing to help us, provided we ask in faith. Consider the incident recorded in Mark chapter 2 where Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic. There are a lot of specifics in the whole incident, but consider the paralytic and Jesus’ reply to him.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” Mark 2:5

Good friends of this paralytic who went above and beyond to get this man infront of Jesus, showed tremendous faith that the paralytic would be healed. Jesus also notes their faith. But Jesus' response addressed the heavy heart of the man. He no doubt wanted healing. He would be grateful to be healed by Jesus. But his heart’s longing was more than the physical healing. He wanted to be cleansed from his sin as well. Sin which had chained him and dragged him down to the depths of despair. He wanted freedom from sin and this was offered by Christ.

Lastly, Christ also taught us to forgive others. Just as we have received forgiveness from the LORD, we have to forgive the ones who have wronged us. Thereby, we can truly represent the LORD and reflect his love for humanity.

The Accepting Christ

During the time when Jesus was preaching, there was a very strong social stigma regarding sin and sinners. This was propagated by most of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees who enjoyed making outward appearances through which they portrayed themselves as being “holier” than their fellow humans. On the other side, the “sinners” were deemed as outcasts and were despised and hated. Jesus teaching the acceptance of everyone by the Father challenged the views of the Pharisees. Throughout his ministry, Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, healed the needy (lepers, blind, mute, sick) and showed compassion to all those who were troubled. The preachings of Jesus offered a message of hope and acceptance to all who had been marginalised by the society and encouraged the people to love their neighbour and to treat fellow humans with kindness and respect. This echoes Hosea’s prophecies from the Old Testament.

“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In loving kindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the Lord. “It shall come to pass in that day That I will answer,” says the Lord; “I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth. The earth shall answer With grain, With new wine, And with oil; They shall answer Jezreel. Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ” Hosea 1:19-23

Israel had a cyclic relationship with the LORD. One generation would sincerely seek the LORD, the following would still seek but not wholeheartedly, the next generation would forget the LORD and openly sin at which point a prophet rises up to warn the people about the consequences, to which the people do not listen and the subsequent generation suffers the fall. During this time the people seek the LORD again to varying degrees of sincerity and the LORD delivers them. And the cycle repeats again. Through Hosea the LORD shows a future where Israel is once again on good terms with Him. Betrothed in righteousness and justice, in love and mercy, in faithfulness. Wherein this time, Israel would not fail.

The next step after forgiveness and before reconciliation is acceptance. In this case, acceptance by the LORD into his kingdom and in the case of the person, acceptance through faith that one is transformed into a new man who is dead to sin and alive in Christ. This process of acceptance is made clear by the LORD through his willingness to have an eternal relationship with us. Acceptance involves a certain few things and Paul’s letter to Philemon remarks on these.

The primary concern of this letter is regarding the issue of Onesimus, a runaway slave (of Philemon) who had become a Christian under Paul’s ministry. Paul appeals to Philemon to receive Onesimus back not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ. Paul moreover acknowledges that Onesimus had wronged Philemon by running away, but he argues that Onesimus has now become useful to both him and Philemon as a fellow believer in Christ. Further, Paul also offers to pay any debts that Onesimus may owe to Philemon. We see that the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges and transforms the social relationships and the social stigma of the times. Paul in his appeal to Philemon breaks the master-slave relationship and emphasises the unity and equality of all believers in Christ, regardless of one's background. Essentially, Paul urges Philemon to forgive Onesimus and reconcile their relationship and to receive him back with love and acceptance.

Our acceptance by the LORD is granted because Christ has vouched for us. In other words, the punishment which was meant for us was taken by Christ and thus, the LORD no longer is angry against us. Thus, to be accepted, we only need to remove ourselves from the sin and ask for forgiveness and express our desire to reconcile.

Finally, we need to remember that our acceptance is based on our faith in Jesus Christ and the LORD. This faith of ours will also be tested. Consider the incident in Matthew 5:21-28, where a Canaanite woman comes to Jesus seeking healing for her daughter. Here, the person who approached Jesus is non-Jewish, a Gentile outsider who is culturally and religiously different from Jesus and his Jewish followers. It is surprising that Jesus initially rejected her plea for help. He doesn't even respond until his disciples ask him to send the woman away, and when he does respond he just states “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But when the woman is insistent He gives this reply, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” Shocking. On the surface it is rebuke. But by making this statement, Jesus was testing the woman’s faith and persistence in seeking His help. Jesus was sent to save all mankind. In fact, the promise given to Abraham, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:18), is fulfilled through Jesus Christ. The woman’s response shows her great faith and humility (and maybe to an extent the universality of Christ's purpose beyond Israel), as she says, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” She reveals that she understands her reality and recognises Jesus as the source of her daughter’s healing, regardless of her own status as a Gentile outsider. Jesus then acknowledges and commends her and her faith and heals her daughter, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” It could have been very easy for Jesus to do this initially, and on the other hand Jesus could have never healed the child even after the exchange. But the purpose of the whole exchange is for the benefit of all believers.

Our faith and perseverance are two key aspects of our belief and practice. Faith is the foundation which involves trust and belief in God’s character, promises and salvation through Jesus Christ. Perseverance involves our continued commitment to living in faith and following the LORD’s will, even in the face of challenges, difficulties and trails. The Canaanite woman showed persistence of faith and perseverance in prayer. Lastly, this incident shows the earliest example of Christ’s universal message and salvation. John writes about this in his gospel and points out that whoever receives Him (Jesus) through faith and believing are given the right to become children of God.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:10-13

The acceptance shown by Christ must also extend to us believers, to inspire us to love and accept others, regardless of their background or circumstances. Like in the case of Onesimus, forgiveness and acceptance is better than the alternative. Through Christ all are made equal. While it might be hard for us to forgive and accept those who have wronged us in the past, letting go of the anger and forgiving them will give us inner peace. If suppose the person truly changes and asks for acceptance, then offering it is a way to reconcile and renew the relationship into a better one. Our faith might be challenged, but the grace of God will help us overcome any challenges, trials and tribulations. Whatever may be the struggles, it will only help us to persevere, and enable us to inherit the eternal life which is promised.