Lesson 6: God’s Compassion is Revealed in that He Forgives Our Continuing Sins

Jesus’ death, as described in our last lesson, does not seem to be a very fun way to die. Who in their right mind would volunteer to die like that, especially for people who wanted you dead! But that is exactly what Jesus did! He came to die for those who wanted Him dead!

What an amazing love of God! We all deserve to die and go straight to hell, but through the cross of Christ we can be forgiven and go straight to heaven! Just think - this is not only free for the asking, but we do not deserve it!

That is what I call love! Oswald Chambers put it like this: "All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell is terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning."

When you and I realize that we all deserve to be crucified ourselves on the cross for all our sins, yet out of compassion God crucified His Son instead, it is impossible to ignore.

 The second way the Bible reveals the Compassionate Love of God is that He continually forgives our continual sins.

Hebrews 7:24-25 "He holds His priesthood permanently, because He continues forever. Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

Jesus not only died on the cross to forgive us of our sins, but He always lives to intercede for our sins. Do you understand the significance of that statement?

It is not just that God Himself came to the earth to die for our sins. That is only half of it. He also continually forgives our continual sins.

The One who died for those who wanted Him dead not only forgives them once, but again and again! Put this into its context. For an example, we return to the prodigal son story. There we saw how that father demonstrated an amazing amount of compassion to his son.

He did not give him what he deserved. He gave him a party instead. So now imagine that after the party and they ate the fatted calf, the son went off the next month and did it again. And then he went out the next week and did it again. And then he went out the next day and did it again! And he kept on doing it!

If most of us were that father we would be tempted to say, "Okay son, this is the fourth time I have killed the fatted calf this week. What is your problem? This is getting expensive!"

Believe it or not, this is exactly what God does for us every single day. He never runs out of cows! Why? Because Jesus is always interceding on our behalf!

This means that Jesus not only died to save us from our sins, He continues to forgive so we can be presented to the Father as if we had never sinned! That is exactly what Jesus did!

May we never rush by in this life oblivious to what God has done for you and me! Remember, He did not have to, because we do not deserve it! When we understand the depths of God's love, not a day can go by when we will not praise His Holy Name and tell everyone we meet to do the same!

Thought Question: Why is God so generous and forgiving to us?