Forgiven, Punished, and Promised
4/18/08 Reflections Jesus is the essential light of God that fixed the relationship between God and man. It is finished.
But just as good things can still penetrate the sin-inspired imperfection of the world, we don’t escape the reparations we endure by existing with these imperfections, even though our sins are forgiven. Think deeply of the supernature of God and you’ll see it’s possible to know this – God won’t condone sin, but He can forgive it. You must understand the difference between the forgiving of sin and the pardoning from its punishment – they are two different things that can run concurrently.
Think of a parent and child. When the child does something wrong, the parent continues to love him and forgives his sin, but the child must still endure the consequences of his actions for his own good. Sin has turned the world that was our Garden of Eden into the scene of man’s punishment, but the message of Jesus is that there is a better place He has prepared for us.
I don’t understand it when people rant and rave at God for what has been handed them for the short time they’re here, if they believe in the ecstasy that will last through eternity. Fate, co-incidence, superstition, serendipity, chance, being at the wrong place at the wrong time, good luck, bad luck – no matter what you call the instigation of your circumstance, your circumstance is colored by the fact that you live in an imperfect world. This is not God’s wish, but because He is a loving God, He has tempered our pain by His promise, won for us by Jesus.
The pain and trauma of your own birth is meaningless to you – you don’t remember it and it won’t hurt you. It was the first occasion on which you accepted the inevitable and moved on. Getting over yourself is the most healing, positive thing you can do. It prepares you to recognize and enjoy the forgiveness and eternal promise that is what really counts in your life.
