Bill's Bible Blog

3. GOD’S FORGIVENESS:  From the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” and throughout the epistles, as here in Colossians, the message of “God has forgiven us, therefore we should forgive each other,” is repeated over and over again in the New Testament.

Forgiving others may not be the only key characteristic of being a Christian, but it certainly is one of the hardest!  I think the key to grow in forgiving others comes from reaching a deeper understanding of just how much God has forgiven us through the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Let’s look at that a little more closely, and it’s appropriate as we approach Easter.

Some Medieval European royalty had something called a ‘whipping boy.’ You see, a young prince was too privileged to be punished for the usual childhood misdeeds. So, they would find another child the same age and put the two boys together as playmates when they were very young. When the prince reached the age when physical punishment was considered appropriate, instead of whipping the prince, they would whip his playmate. Done properly, this was as effective as if they had whipped the Prince himself.

In the same way, Jesus physically suffered to pay the penalty for our sin. When you become aware that you have spoken or acted in a sinful manner, it’s ‘by His stripes that we are healed.’ Jesus was our ‘whipping boy.’

The healing has to do with sin and our relationship with God. When we act or speak in a manner contrary to God’s nature (sin), our closeness with God is broken. However, it can easily be restored because Jesus has already paid the penalty for it. We just have to confess and repent of what we did or said wrongly in order to claim God’s forgiveness.

WHAP! The penalty for our sin is another painful lash across the unprotected back of Jesus. Maybe that image will help you try a little harder to act and speak as God would like for you to.

Think about Jesus being pierced, crushed and punished as our ‘whipping boy’; and then thank Him for His willingness to take the punishment we deserve so that:

• We would be at peace with God,

• We could be healed from sin.

AMEN!