Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
The statement of Revelation 18:5b is unequivocal: “God hath remembered her [Babylon’s] iniquities.” As we have seen this week, He also remembers to forbear and to forgive: He gives all of us numerous opportunities to repent, just as He will do for Babylon. In addition, it is Biblical to say that our Savior remembers to forget: “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34c). He knows, of course, of all of our sin. However, He chooses not to remember it as sin that requires His judgment. God promises, “I, even I, am He [Who] blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine Own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” With our Savior God, we can be certain that He always does more. He forbears and forgives; then He goes a step further and forgets our sin, forgets it as that which separates us from Him, “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross” (Colossians 214). May each of us enter into His full, free, and forever forgiveness today.