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Forgiveness

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act it is a permanent attitude” - Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Most of us keep a list of the wrongs others have done to us. Does that foster or even allow an attitude of forgiveness to develop? The answer is no, because what’s on the list influences everything we do, think and want to become.

 

And if we’re not careful we can end up living off of our friends list too and not God’s script.

 

Ephesians 4:31 - 32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and  compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

 

There is enormous freedom if you live life with an attitude of forgiveness. But forgiveness is hard because we struggle with those attitudes of: What about my rights; my entitlements; how I’ve been hurt; that they don’t deserve to be forgiven. They don’t deserve to have their wrong crossed off my list, because they hurt me.

 

Forgiveness isn’t a gift you offer to those who have hurt you, forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself.

 

To forgive someone is to begin to heal the hurt we never deserved. That’s why forgiveness needs to be more than just an occasional act, forgiveness has to become a permanent attitude. As forgiving leads to living. That’s why God is so hugely into forgiveness.

 

Jesus displayed this attitude of forgiveness because that’s the attitude that God has.

 

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

 

“In him” is talking about Jesus, who is God.

 

“We have Redemption” is the same process as that of redeeming a gift certificate. That when you redeem it with God he’ll give you life and that gift is Jesus. So when we follow Jesus to God we’re given life. We’re given an alternative to living with the list. Jesus is God’s gift, that we can redeem for God’s life in ours.

 

“Through his blood” is a metaphor that explains what Jesus Christ did on the cross. To have blood spilt was a way of saying to have someone die. Whether there was much blood wasn’t really a factor. So “Through his blood” means that when Jesus died he made it possible for God to no longer hold onto the list of wrongs we’ve committed and pain we caused him. Jesus created a way for God to erase all the things that are on our list, of all the wrong we’ve done, ‘sin’, the Bible calls it.

 

In affect God changed his own rules so that now there was an option B. Option A was you are judged by the list: what’s on the list is what you’ve done to hurt and betray God, and that’s what you’ll be judged by. But option B, option B is where God said: “If you like, I’ll erase everything on the list. All the stuff you thought you’d never be able to escape, now in God’s eyes is gone. It will never be held against you. You will never be called to give account for it. You will never have to be in fear that one day God’s wrath will fall upon you,  or banish you to hell, because I want to be in a relationship with you.” Because that’s how God approaches us, with a permanent attitude of forgiveness

 

“The riches of God’s grace” mean that Jesus can do the unthinkable. He can perform the miracle and erase all the things we’ve ever done and he has this deep well of rich grace from which to draw from.

 

“Bitterness imprisons life; love releases it.

Bitterness paralyzes life; love empowers it.

Bitterness sours life; love sweetens it.

Bitterness sickens life; love heals it.

Bitterness blinds life; love anoints its eyes.”

-    Harry Emerson Fosdick

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: Forgiveness

Part 7 of The Missing Piece: Salvation

This week marked the final installment of our series The Missing Piece.

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: The Missing Piece Part 7: Salvation

The video shown afterwards can be viewed here also:

 

 

Andy Flannagan and Ash Barker at 12two, Newlife

If you didn't make it to 12two last night you missed an amazing night. We were lead into God's presence by Andy and Jen Flannagan as we conversed and dwealt in the Spirit and then we were called from that place to the hurting places of the world through prayer and through Ash's words. Many 12twoers responded to a deeper and more commmitted life of surrender, so to hear part of what happened have a listen...

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: Andy Flannagan (music) and Ash Barker Message

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: Just Ash Barker Message

If you want to hear the full recording of the service, then order a CD from the office. It will be well worth the effort!

Part 6 of The Missing Piece: Righteousness

God created us to live righteously in the Garden in continual abiding relationship with God. Our choices as people meant that this could not be possible, and so God set out on a quest to invite us back to the garden. This quest could be known as righteousness. Check out the 6^th piece of faith!

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: The Missing Piece Part 6: Righteousness

Understanding nasty theological language...

The reason we need to grapple with these terms is so we can understand what it is that we believe, and be equipped to share our passion and understanding of Jesus with those who do not yet know him.

 

Gospel= The equivelant to a Facebook status update that something good is on its way.

 

Saviour = One who has the right to punish but the grace and love not
to.

 

Kingdom = God’s restoration.

 

Justification = God making us holy before a Holy God, so that we can be justified as holy.

 

Messiah = A Jewish man (that every Jew was waiting for and looking for and wanting to be) who was to bring the Israelites out of the oppression they were in.

 

Atonement = The act of God to pay sin’s penalty so that we atoned by God’s act of grace.

 

Sin = Violation of god’s nature.

 

Sanctified = God sets us apart making us holy, which is a process of transformation, forgiveness, freedom and direction.

 

Repentance = To re-align our priorities so that our allegiance is given to Christ.

 

The Gospel Message = That God hasn’t forgotten us, that his plan and desire is to restore all that is broken in this world. And he does that through the life of a man called Jesus.

 

Shalom= a complete wellness and favour of god that rest on someone. It’s a reflection of God’s righteousness.

 

God’s Righteousness = IS God making the stuff that is wrong right, saving those who are destined for a Godless eternity, bringing hope to the hopeless. It’s about restoring everything to the way it should be.

Part 5 of the Missing Piece: Repentance

To repent is to change your priorities and thus change your allegiance to something.

When Jesus calls us to "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near" he is saying, give me your allegiance for my restoration is to follow.

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: The Missing Piece Part 5: Repentance

Part 4 of the Missing Piece: Sanctification

Jesus said "I am the Way and the truth and the Life." (John 14:6) 

So what did this mean to his listeners? What does this mean for us? And what does it mean for a hurting world? Take a listen to discover how Jesus cleans, frees and guides us, meeting us where we're at and restoring us.

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: The Missing Piece Part 4: Sanctification

Part 3 of the Missing Piece: Sin

Craig spoke of the powerful grip sin can have on us and what God's response to that was.

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: The Missing Piece Part 3: Sin

Part 2 of the Missing Piece: Kingdom

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: The Missing Piece Part 2: Kingdom

 

After chatting with a couple of you this week I figure the best way to explain it for those of you who don’t read the news is... Gospel = facebook status update or Latest Tweet

The reality is, if we were ruled by an individual king who ran their kingdom as Australians we would rebel against them. It’s the Australian way In this day and age, in our culture the word “Kingdom” isn’t helpful language. We rebel because we don’t want to be ruled. But if we began to understand it – not as a kingdom but as a restoration to put things right and as they should be.

 

The Kingdom of God is a living, breathing movement of God that will eventually encompass the entire world, restoring everything in it’s path! God’s kingdom is not a kingdom as we might think but a restoration of what has been broken.

 

We have the term today because it’s language that was common place in Jesus day because people were ruled by the present incumbent kingdom, Rome. It was vast, unconquerable, they ate up people groups, language, ideas, culture, lands, It was so powerful, that it controlled the finances, governments, decisions, it determined people’s worth and status.

 

The Jews were facing this empire, this kingdom, this movement that could not be stopped. Which got this way through: Military Conquest; Severe taxation; Abusing the poor and disenfranchised.

 

Those who felt the brunt of it were not Romans. They were Jews, Samaritans, Gentiles. They were subject to but not part of the movement. They lived in the Kingdom but they were not of the kingdom. If you had a chat to any of these people they would say that the Romans weren’t here to restore they were here to rule and gain.

 

But Jesus turns up and says ^{Mt 5:3} “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The real kingdom, the real restoration belongs to those who you say don’t fit in. Jesus is unapologetic about using language that directly challenges the powers of the day. When Jesus used the word kingdom in this context all his listeners heard “I am challenging the present kingdom.”

 

You can imagine what Rome thought about this. That’s why Jesus ended on a cross. That’s how Rome dealt with political revolutionaries.

 

Jesus the anointed one, the Messiah, ushered in the reign of God. And Jesus ministry and the ministry of the Holy Spirit are about the expansion of that reign in this world, through the lives of people in this world. Jesus is the beginning of the in breaking of God’s kingdom.

We hear about God’s kingdom, we read about God’s kingdom, we even can understand what it means. But it’s all 2D until we experience God’s kingdom for ourselves. It’s through what Jesus did on the cross that we are able to be part of and experience God’s kingdom. Because what Jesus did was enable us to experience a further dimension of life.

 

One of the words that Theologians use, is the word atonement to refer to God’s act of dealing with the primary human condition of sin. It was our sin that broke things; It broke our relationship with God; It broke our relationship with each other; It broke our creation; And It broke us.

 

And so God began a process of restoration between himself and us through Jesus death. In other words it was an act of sacrifice that God made. That his son, himself in fact, would choose to pay the penalty of our sin, paying the price that sets us free from sin.

Justification is about God making us holy before a Holy God. We are justified as holy. Atonement is the act of God to pay sin’s penalty. We are atoned by God’s act of grace. They are different words that speak of different dimensions of God’s action.

 

God justifies us as holy, and God atones for our sin with his life. God makes us holy and acceptable when it is otherwise impossible to be and God deals with the penalty we deserve because we have sinned.

 

And to realise this and accept this and embrace this is to align ourselves with Jesus’ kingdom. A kingdom that sits in direct opposition to the kingdoms we are surrounded by.

God’s kingdom is expanded one act of kindness, one act of service, one word of encouragement, one sharing of our faith at a time. That was the model Jesus gave to us as he did his ministry.

 

Jesus began his ministry. Talking about the kingdom of God. Challenging and threatening the Roman empire. Resetting the boundaries of his new kingdom. Moving the goal posts. Setting a different tempo. He shows the people the life that God had in mind for them. He reveals his kingdom by restoring the things that were broken. He does it by including those who were excluded. He heals the sick. Has dinner with the unworthy. Forgives sinners.

 

All the things that Jesus did were to show people what his kingdom would look like. And all those things were just one act of love built on another that lead people to see who Jesus was.

 

The kingdom of God only works if you embrace it and live it and take your cues from Jesus. So this week when you have those faith conversations, and you say: “Let me tell you about God’s newsflash or Facebook update, the latest tweet.”

 

You can then go on to talk about the Kingdom of God. But don’t use that archaic language simply say “God’s wanting to, trying to, in the process of restoring all the things that are stuffed.”

Part 1 of The Missing Piece: Gospel

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: The Missing Piece Part 1: Gospel

 

Do people who aren’t a part of this Church know that your passion is Jesus Christ… Do they know that you love Jesus? Christians should be clearly distinguishable because we’re in a relationship with Jesus.

Martin Luther said that John 3:16 is the entire Gospel, the summation of both the New and Old Testaments in miniature... ^{John 3:16} For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Paul shortens it again… ^{1Co 15:3} Christ died for our sins.

The purpose of this series, is that I want you to begin using the stuff you’re learning at 12two...

• I want you to think about the language you use to talk about Jesus.
• I want you to wrestle with how you understand what you believe.
• I want us to fire the spiritual passions that lie within us, so we burn so hot that people start asking us questions about why that’s so?

If we went old school, in trying to explain what Christianity was we might say... “To be saved you have hear the gospel message, repent of your sins, invite Jesus into your life (pray ‘the prayer’) and by being born again you are no longer under sin, you are forgiven and receive your salvation with the promise of spending eternity in the Kingdom of God (heaven) when you die.”

There are many pieces that come together to form a Christian world view. Let’s begin by focussing on the world gospel.

Listen to this birth notice that was written in the original Greek, which the New Testament was also penned in…

“The providence which has ordered the whole of our life, showing concern and zeal, has ordained the most perfect consummation for human life by giving to (him)… by filling him with virtue for doing the work of a benefactor among men, and by sending in him, as it were, a saviour for us and those who come after us, to make war to cease, to create order everywhere... ; the birthday of the god was the beginning for the world of the gospel that have come to men through him.” 

Whose birth does that announce? Not Jesus’.

It’s the official birth announcement of Octavian, otherwise known as Caesar Augustus. Written almost 60 years before the birth of Christ.

Saviour: a king/ruler who invaded a city but chose not to spare the people’s lives.

god: name used for a king or ruler, who was also thought to have the powers of a god.

Gospel: News Flash or Headline.

In this case the news flash is that a saviour, a king has been born who will keep the people from the death they deserve, who will save his people.

What we might think is explicitly Biblical language, has a far more expansive use. These are cultural terms not Biblical ones.

Now parallel this with Jesus’ birth announcement… ^{Luke 2:10} I bring you good news (The gospel, The News Flash) of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior (someone who will have the right to punish you but the power not to) has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

Luke uses the same language that the writer of Octavian’s birth announcement used.

Language that made sense to people who were to read it.

And Luke uses the same language for a reason: He wants to put Jesus in the same stadium as the ruling king at the time: Julius Caesar

When talking to a friend who doesn’t know Jesus you could say: “It all boils down to the gospel message about Jesus.” or you could say “It all boils down to God’s News Flash.”

I think God wants us to be glued to his story so much that it becomes our story.

I think that God wants us to be so captured by his life that we choose to forsake our life and live his.

I think God wanted to suck the whole world into the story, by tempting them with a newsflash…

So what is the newsflash all about?

Isaiah wrote his words to a people who were in exile. Who were struggling to know freedom. Who were oppressed by the rulers of their day. Who had lost their land and identity. Who were ultimately struggling to know that God still cared about

I wonder how many of you would feel like you’re in that situation? If that’s you, You are who Isaiah had in mind when he wrote these words.

^{Isa 40:1} Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. ² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD'S hand double for all her sins. ^{Isa 40:3} A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. ⁴ Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. ⁵ And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Just before Jesus began his ministry John the Baptist wandered around recalling these words. These words from Isaiah are what frames Jesus’ ministry.

^{Isa 40:9} You who bring good tidings (good news, newsflash, we’re about to hear about the gospel) You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings (there it is again) to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

So the newsflash or the gospel has something to do with God being revealed…

^{Isa 40:10} See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. ¹¹ He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Isaiah is talking about how God is going to respond to our exile. He is talking of God’s coming,  which is the good news. Isaiah is saying God is coming to respond to the darkness and mess and pain you find yourself in.

And the good news is, the gospel is: “Here is your God!” God is here! God is arriving! God is coming to Jerusalem! God is coming to Zion and he will reign!

Now for a people who are in exile, who are lost, who are broken, that’s great news… That’s a newsflash that would grab people’s attention.

Now aren’t Isaiah’s sentiments the same as echoed in Luke’s birth announcement, when Luke says a saviour is coming and he will be the fulfilment of the gospel. People thought back to Isaiah’s words and heard… a ruler,  a victor, a saviour, a King is coming who has the right to kill us but the mercy and power to spare us from the punishment we deserve.

And this saviour who is coming will challenge and take the kings throne and he will reign. He will be the new ruler and he’ll do it by kicking the Romans out. That’s good news for the Jewish people oppressed by the Romans.

But to get a fuller appreciation of just what is going on we need to read ^{Isa 52:7} How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring the gospel, who proclaim salvation, who say to Jerusalem, “Your God reigns!”

The word gospel in the Greek is euangellion, it’s the word from which we get evangelism. That word: euangellion had three main uses: a) to announce a great victory, b) an important birth, c) or the enthronement of a new king.

In other words, God is coming to rule… Not Caesar or Herod, but God almighty. And when God does, things around here will be different. A new world order will be put in place. A new Kingdom will emerge. As a new king takes control.

That was the good news. That was the God’s news flash… That he hasn’t forgotten his people. That he still loves his people. That he intends to heal the brokenness. To bring into community the lonely. To find the lost. To feed the hungry. To clothe the naked. To visit the prisoner.

That’s what God’s intention is… To restore this world to everything God intended it to be. That’s good news.

And that was good news to the Jews back then, just as it is good news for us today.

It’s good news because we live in a time after the coming of this saviour. That saviour being Jesus Christ

Christianity holds that we understand that Jesus is God’s son, whilst at the same time being God.

And this is important because if God’s desire as we have seen is to reconcile us to himself, then the thing that stops this happening is sin. The only way this obstacle can be negotiated is if God takes it away, which seems pretty straight forward except Romans 6:23 "The wages of sin is death,” There are consequences to the fact that we sin, both physical and Spiritual.  Spiritually our sin creates a debt that we owe to a Holy God. Because of our unholy actions and that debt has to be paid with a life. But the second part of Romans 6:23 says “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The second part of the verse introduces us to a theological term called Justification. Justification is a legal term related to the acquittal of a guilty party. Justification is how God makes it possible for us to be acceptable in his eyes, when we actually deserve to be condemned for our actions. Justification happens... I am justified through what Jesus did.

When I believe and accept that Jesus, who was actually God died in my place. That he took the punishment I deserved. That he paid off the debt I owed. That he justified my life as being worthy, by his act of sacrifice for us. This is what the Gospel means for us. This is the headline: God saves!

And Jesus is God coming to save us. To justify us as Holy in the eyes of a Holy God so that we could know and live in the life of God.

“What’s the newsflash?”

“That God hasn’t forgotten us, that his plan and desire is to restore all that is broken in this world. And he does that through the life of a man called Jesus."