NO EASY FORGIVENESS

Last week I wrote about the parable of the Prodigal Son. No matter how far away from the love of his father he walked, it was there ready for him to enjoy when he “came to himself”, humbled himself and went home, seeking forgiveness. It is a parable focusing on the eagerness of God to forgive, the joy he has in forgiving and the change of heart that is required in people in order to enter into that forgiveness. What it does not address, and was not attended to address, is the cost of forgiveness.

It would be an abuse of the parable to deduce from it that God’s forgiveness of our wayward behaviour is simply dependent upon our coming back to him and saying sorry. As Jesus was to make clear, there is another aspect to the story of entering back into the love of God, a very critical and sobering aspect. This has to do with his death.

God is not able to simply and easily forgive and forget the moral failures that stain our lives. Their nature and significance is far too deep for that. Neglect of and rebellion against God cannot just be cast on one side no matter how deeply sorry a person may be. The very love of God itself, a holy love, has decreed the exclusion from God’s presence of those caught up in such behaviour. “Sin” is an eternal affront to a holy God, whose holiness is a blazing spotless love which will not look on evil except to destroy it. Sin is an extremely serious matter. It simply cannot be passed over; it has to be purged. No matter how broken hearted a prodigal may be, there is nothing he can do himself to remove the stain of sin that has marked his life. That is the whole thrust of Scripture from beginning to end.

Jesus knew this, of course, even whilst was telling the parable of the Prodigal, and his mind was already set on the cross. He knew that the love of God had found a way for human sin to be justly purged and forgiven, but that it was a way that would lead him, the Son of God, to bear the due consequences of sin in dying on a cross, derelict and cut off from God. He would “bear our sins”, he would be “punished for our transgressions”, and he would be “made sin for us” so that our forgiveness and restoration would be real.

Thus the patience and loving forgiveness in the heart of the Father as exemplified in the Prodigal story becomes wonderfully magnified into a love that found a way to bring meaningful forgiveness through deep pain both to the “Only Begotten Son” and the Father.What man could not do, they would do.

Our forgiveness was not cheap.






Bob




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WALKING AWAY FROM LOVE

None of the parables of Jesus is intended to convey the full theology of salvation. Rather each is designed to bring into sharp relief some particular aspect(s) of salvation; they should not be abused by “overstretching”.

This is the case with the parable of the Prodigal Son. What is brought into clear focus in this story is the fact that the father of the prodigal never loses his love for him, despite everything he has done to bring him distress. The father never ceases to think about his son, never gives up hope that he will return. He holds in his heart a deep well of forgiveness, deep enough to cover all the rejection and hurt that he has felt on account of his son’s behaviour. He is not unaware of the selfish motives of his son and his lust for money and pleasure, but none of that quenches his fatherly love. The young man is his son, made in his own image; his love remains strong. What a picture of the love of God.

What is equally clear on the other hand is that the son put himself out of the range of his father’s love. Indeed he had never really seen the love which was in his father, only the constraints and strictures on his freedom to do what he wanted. It never occurred to him that the constraints were the constraints of love and for his benefit. He wanted only the resources his father could give him, and he wanted “his own life”. His father allowed him to make the choice and leave the home. He walked away from his father’s love. That is the fundamental human tragedy where God is concerned.

It proved to be a devastating choice. Of course, like the apple in Eden, its first taste was sweet, but inevitably his selfish love of pleasure soured. His resources ran out, and he was alone. His own concept of freedom (freedom to do exactly what he wanted) had proved utterly illusionary. It had led him to penury and heartache. He was reaping the reward of his rejection of his father – it was his moment of painful judgement. Humanity can walk away from God. It has that option. There is, however, no option with the consequence of that. It is always deeply destructive and bitter. This is true whether we think of individuals or nations. This is an inherent and unchangeable feature of the nature of creation.

A final aspect brought into sharp relief in the parable is to be seen in the expressions, “He began to be in want” and “He came to himself”. The recognition of self inflicted penury brought about a change of heart which in turn brought about a change of direction, “I will go to my father.” Broken, he would walk back into the zone of his father’s love and would seek a restoration. He was not disappointed. He found that love overflowing with forgiveness, affirmation and provision. This “turning round and going back” is so crucial. It’s the great cry of all the prophets to Israel, “Come back to the Lord your God!” It presents a further moment of choice, one on which depends our present peace and our eternal joy. We are called to deliberately make that choice.


Bob




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THE LOVE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

“I delight in your commands because I love them” Ps 119:47

David was a “man after God’s own heart”. In Psalm 119 we see something of that heart. It’s a psalm well known as the longest of the psalms and as having for its main theme the commandments and precepts of God. It is much more, however, than a mere exhortation to obedience of those precepts. It is the overflowing expression of a heart which deeply loves those precepts, a heart that delights in the righteous ways of God, and a heart that is deeply grateful for those guiding statutes on the way to live.It's a heart in tune with God's heart.

Eight times in the psalm David uses the word “delight” in connection with the statutes and commands of God. He is delighted to read in God’s law the injunction to love his parents, keep himself from marital unfaithfulness, live at peace with others, tell the truth, keep himself from stealing, and be content with what he has. This is no “hard duty”, a pathway of life that is to be undertaken reluctantly and with gritted teeth. Neither is it an idealistic programme, an unrealistic and foolish aim in a cut throat world. It is, on the contrary, a delight. Elsewhere he says this way of life is the “joy of my heart”. He describes it as “wonderful”. He says categorically “you can keep all your money; it can never bring the delight that is given by this godly programme for real living”.

Isaiah speaks prophetically of Jesus (the greater David) in a precisely similar fashion, “He will delight in the fear of the Lord” Is. 11:3. The “fear of the Lord” is an expression linked directly in scripture to the commandments of God. This was the heart of the Son of God, therefore, a heart that delighted in God’s statutes, God’s prescribed ways for living an upright life.

Six times in Psalm 119 David uses an even stronger expression than “I delight in your law”, namely “I love your law”. In fact he says that the delight in the law comes out of his love for the law. He loves it “greatly”. To love something or someone is to pursue that object or person with dynamic eagerness. The “beloved” is the primary objective of life, and the love one feels is an overwhelming impetus in the direction of the “beloved”.

This inner “delight” and “love” of righteousness, felt at the depths of one’s being, is the real root of godly living. This and this alone, has the power to overcome all the other selfish tendencies that swarm around the human heart. This is what fills the human being with joy and satisfaction. This, to change the metaphor, is the “water of life”. It is, however, something that God alone can give. Isaiah, speaking of the delight that Jesus felt, made it clear it was there because “The Spirit of the Lord rested on Him”. Delight in and love for righteousness is an impartation of the heart of God by the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. That can only happen through full commitment to Jesus, who alone sends the Spirit.

It is this alone that is the hope for a godless, self-destructing world. It’s the hope we are called to share.

I haven’t given chapter and verse in writing of Ps. 119; may the Lord bless you if you decide to hunt down the quotes yourself.



Bob


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