The second characteristic of God that I chose to study was His forgiveness. Wow! Where do I even start with this attribute? The Bible is full of instances in which God has shown forgiveness. I could literally take the entire Bible from cover to cover and copy and paste it here in this blog post. Even though I could do that, this blog post would end up being a lengthy one, so I’ll just name a few.
God chose to show forgiveness to Moses after he murdered an Egyptian by using him to lead the Israelites to freedom. (Exodus 32)
God chose to show forgiveness to Aaron after he created an idol for people to worship by giving him a position of leadership in the church. (Leviticus 8)
God chose to show forgiveness to Manasseh after performing many immoral acts as king of Israel by restoring him to his kingdom after captivity. (2 Chronicles 33)
God chose to show forgiveness to Matthew after being a greedy tax collector by giving him the opportunity to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 9)
God chose to show forgiveness to Peter after he denied Christ three times by working in him to bring many to the love of Christ. (John 21)
One of my most favorite models of forgiveness, though, is when God chose to forgive Saul (now Paul), who was considered a “chief of sinners”. He mocked and persecuted believers, yet God showed him forgiveness and transformed his life. Paul became an avid believer in God and devoted his entire life to sharing the good new of Jesus Christ. (Acts 9)
And most importantly, God chose to show forgiveness to me and you. John 3:16 says:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only son, and whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
Since the beginning of time, when Adam and Eve brought sin into this world, our loving God has been paving a way for His forgiveness and restoration for the world. Because we are sinners, we were eternally separated from God and condemned to death. But the entire Bible shows God’s path to forgiveness by leading up to the point of the birth and death of His son, Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life – one without sin – and was put on a cross to die for us. He did this so that we could receive His forgiveness and have the relationship with Him that He desired.
He forgave us because He loves us. All we need to do is accept that love and forgiveness.
If God was able to forgive Moses and Aaron, Manasseh, Matthew, and Peter, and even Paul, why couldn’t He forgive me and you too?
No one is too far gone for forgiveness. In fact, the more I realized and acknowledged the weight of my sin, the more I experienced the love and forgiveness of God. It is because I am so hopeless and so undeserving, that His forgiveness has completely changed my life.
God chose to show forgiveness to me after I disobey and fall away from Him again and again by giving me the opportunity to share about His forgiveness with people all over this broken world!
