Let us commence this meeting with God by declaring openly to one another and
to God:
Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the
mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Psalm of praise:1, 6
Prayer
Psalm 25:2, 9
Scripture reading: Ephesians 1
Scripture
text: Ephesians 1:7;
Catechism Lord's Day 51
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses, according to the richness of his grace . . . (Ephesians 1:7 ESV)
He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of
his Son, and our sins are forgiven. (Ephesians 1:7 NLT)
. . . Forgive . . .
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against
us!
It is very difficult to pray this prayer in all sincerity as it goes against the grain of every
human being.
- We are very much focused on revenge. We want to take revenge when somebody has hurt us.
- The matter of payback and getting back at someone is part and parcel of our being;
subconsciously we probably think we can only reach the top of the ladder if we trample on
others, or maybe we think so much of ourselves that we want most of God's sun to shine upon
us only.
In the Scriptures we find examples of people who hunted one another to satisfy their own
emotions.
- This is what Cain did when he killed Abel. Cain was actually angry with God and then he
killed Abel.
- Remember the parable of the man who owed the king a large amount of money? When he could
not pay, the king he begged the king to be patient and promised to pay his debt. The king was
filled with pity and forgave his debt. But then the man went to a servant who owed him a much
smaller amount. He did not listen to his servant's plea, grabbed him by the throat and had
him arrested and jailed.
The disciples were probably also involved in conflicts while in the company of
Jesus.
- This is why one of them asked Jesus whether it was sufficient to forgive his brother
seven times after he has trespassed seven times against him on one day. The Lord replied that
one should forgive seventy times seven times on one day.
In order to understand this inborn weakness correctly we must find the origin of it. Where
does it come from?
- The answer is: from the devil. This is one his character traits he has passed on to
everybody.
- One of his strongest considerations that made him tempt Adam and Eve to sin, was because
he hated God and his hatred is reflected in the revenge he took on God.
- He tried to take revenge by making people disobedient to God so that they would receive
the same punishment he received. In other words he wanted us to be associated with him.
- This is why we still have that attitude, and it also explains why hatred is still, to a
greater or lesser extent, associated with revenge.
But God did not let Satan have his way.
* God punished Satan and us in different ways. Satan was sentenced to
eternal death.
* And he can never again be forgiven or saved.
* We also received the death sentence, but we can be saved from eternal
death.
o And we were saved.
o God, who is a loving and forgiving
God, punished Jesus Christ for our sins and forgave us all our trespasses.
Now God requires that we should display the same forgivingness.
- Hence the prayer is such that we pray to the Lord to forgive us for our sins against Him
like we forgive others who sin against us.
- The prayer should be a confession that we do what God requires of us. In a way our
attitude of forgivingness should be a test to measure our own hypocrisy.
The benefit of our salvation through Christ is that we can repent when we
realise how insincere we are in respect of this matter. Honest repentance and an actual change
in your relationship with your neighbour is the short cut to obey this command to forgive
others - with all your heart.
This is a matter that requires prayer, because you can only pray to God if you know exactly who
you are.
- We stand before the Lord as redeemed. This true, but remember that the word redeemed
tells us something:
-
- We are actually guilty before God and our neighbour, and we are hypocritical and also
dishonest because we do not confess many of our sins and, also, we do not comply with
God's requirements regarding forgiveness towards our neighbour.
- We only do what suits us - exactly according to our own will.
Against the background of truth this Bible passage sounds rather odd:
- God forgave all our sins.
- Abundantly. Through his blood - his death and much grief.
Application
Just as we continuously sin against God, our fellowmen continuously sin against us.
- In our religious life we should remember that we have to live with people who are
imperfect. We should therefore be prepared to live with these imperfections, just as the
others have to live with all our shortcomings.
- Then the real meaning of our redemption through Christ gives us insight into the
magnitude of the grace we received from God through Jesus' redemptive sacrifice on the cross.
Let us read together Catechism Lord's Day 51.
126. Q. What is the fifth petition?
A. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. That
is: For the sake of Christ's blood, do not impute to us, wretched sinners; any of our
transgressions, nor the evil which still clings to us,[1] as we also find this evidence of Thy
grace in us that we are fully determined wholeheartedly to forgive our neighbor.[2]
[1] Ps. 51:1-7; 143:2; Rom. 8:1; I John 2:1, 2. [2] Matt. 6:14, 15;
18:21-35.
Amen.
Closing prayer
Closing hymn: Psalm 32:1
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.
Amen.
Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
Date: 12 June 2005 (evening)