Who is going to minister God’s great new covenant of forgiveness to the world? The Body of Christ is to do that. But how can we minister God’s forgiveness if we ourselves are unable to forgive others? First we must realize how much we need the ability to forgive. Then we must realize that our ability to forgive is based on having God’s nature of forgiveness within us. Let us appropriate His divine nature and be the forgivers He has enabled us to be.
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Show Notes:
When Nelson Mandela became president of the Republic of South Africa, many Black citizens were seeking to take revenge on the White population because of apartheid, and a bloodbath seemed unavoidable. But Mandela turned the tide of the inevitable violence and changed a nation. What he accomplished was a miracle. And the reason that miracle occurred is because he tapped into the divine nature of God. As someone whose own nature had been violent and unforgiving, Mandela took upon himself God’s nature of forgiveness.
We know from Christ’s teachings that God expects us to forgive others to the same extent that He has forgiven us. And God’s forgiveness of us through Christ was an intense, dramatic, proactive event. God’s forgiveness literally removes from us all the guilt for our sins against Him. I think we have to admit that we do not forgive others with that same determination, and we need to understand how much our inability to forgive others limits our effectiveness as the Body of Christ.
We should not be discouraged by that. God has provided for us that we might become partakers of His divine nature. Christ was able to forgive because He had the divine nature of the Father within Himself, and Christ is here to impart His nature to us. Let us hunger after His nature. Let us ask and seek and knock until the nature of God is imparted to us because then forgiveness will flow from us. If a single individual like Mandela could change a nation by laying hold of forgiveness, what could the Body of Christ do in this day?
Key Verses:
- John 3:16. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.”
- Luke 23:34. “Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them.’”
- 2 Peter 1:2–4. “By them you may become partakers of the divine nature.”
- Matthew 6:12–15. “If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”
- Mark 11:20–26. “Whenever you stand praying, forgive.”
- Jeremiah 31:31–34. “I will put My law within them. … I will forgive their iniquity.”
- Hebrews 10:16–18. “I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, … AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”
- Matthew 19:26. “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Matthew 26:39. “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
- John 10:17–18. “I lay down My life. … No one has taken it away from Me.”
Quotes:
- “Where is the power of our prayer and our prophetic proclamation? Where is the power that we should move in as true sons of God? Is it possible that it’s tied up in this whole thing of forgiveness?”
- “Everything that God did in Christ was about forgiveness. And forgiveness is something that is tremendously proactive.”
- “God wants you to take on His nature. What is His nature? His nature is forgiveness.”
- “Don’t start by trying to forgive. Start by seeking His nature.”
Takeaways:
- Without the ability to forgive, I believe that our effectiveness in prayer and in speaking the Words of the Lord are thwarted.
- Forgiveness is truly an aspect of the nature of God. As believers we should not regard forgiveness as simply a doctrinal concept, but we should literally appropriate this divine nature from God in order that we have the same capability of forgiveness.
- God promised that we can be partakers of His divine nature. Therefore, we need to seek God until His attribute of forgiveness is a part of our beings.
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