Grow at Sonrise

The Bible tells us that God is love (1John 4:8). God's relationship with us is driven by pure love. Unfortunately, the sin in our world distorts the view we have of God and of ourselves and we see ourselves as unlovable. God's nature is also one of forgiveness and, like love, may be hard for us to comprehend or accept because sin distorts our view of God's nature. Many of us grew up in performance-based families where we had to earn everything. Because of sin in our own households, forgiveness may have been withheld or beyond our reach. Based on what was modeled for us, we believe ourselves to be not only unlovable, but unforgivable and in turn, cannot forgive others.

The truth from God's Word is that not only are we forgivable, but we have been forgiven. “And what God wants is for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. For by that one offering he perfected forever all those whom he is making holy. Now when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.” [Heb 10:10, 14, 18]. There is a recurring theme in the book of Hebrews: done, once for all. Our crime against God was the worst imaginable. Our sin was a stench to His nose. And yet, He sent His only Son to pay the price for our sins! By the shedding of His blood and death on the cross, all of our sins have been forgiven by God. Do you believe that? When we are free to receive God's love and forgiveness, then we are also free to give it.

This week in our Growth Groups, we learn how to receive God's love and forgiveness. By understanding God's nature related to forgiveness we are set free to experience the abundant life He promised.