On Saturday morning I was listening to Bill Johnson speak and he quoted two different scriptures when discussing our need to put our past in right perspective. They are from Romans 8, and 1 Corinthians 3 - as follows:
Romans 8:37-39 NASB:
[37] "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. [38] For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
1 Corinthians 3:21-23 NASB:
[21] "So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, [22] whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, [23] and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God."
Reading these verses carefully, the thing missing from both lists is the past. It is interesting, especially if we are to read into the verses from Paul to the Corinthians, all things belong to us today and into the future, but the past apparently does not belong to us. If we look at the list of things that are listed as not being able to separate us from the Love of God, again the past is left off of the list. The question is why?
We can gain some wisdom regarding this from 2 Peter 1:5-9 NIV:
[5] "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; [6] and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; [7] and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. [8] For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins."
In Christ, our past has been paid for, our sins have been expunged, our wounds have been healed. It is the application of these truths that must occur, or as Peter indicates, we need to remember these truths. Each day we have fresh mercies, a new start with the Lord, and as we ask forgiveness for our sins and wrong ways the Lord, forgives us completely.
Regarding this forgiveness, a couple of verses come to mind -
Isaiah 1:18 NIV: “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
Isaiah 53:4-5 NIV: "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. [5] But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."
Psalm 103:10-12 NIV: "he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. [11] For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; [12] as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
These are such great verses to meditate upon and allow the truth to settle deep into our hearts. The Lord (in Isaiah 1) wants to settle the matter. In other words, it is finished, it is completed, it has been paid for by the Lord. In His view, these are true. We need to get His view into our mind and hearts. He does not hold our sins against us, so why should we?
The enemy tries to convince us that these truths are false. He tries to get us to hold onto our pasts, to live in the shame and regret of things we did or didn't do. These are all in the past, and if they would be considered sin, they are forgive and the matter is settled. We can't change the past, it is settled. We can learn from the past and do better next time. In God's perspective, we have been forgiven, cleansed, paid for, healed, and loved.
It is like each day we are given a new clean robe to wear. The enemy tries to get us to put on the old stained and torn one. He wants us to think of ourselves before God from the point of view of our sin, and the whole while God is looking at us as His sons and daughters. Psalm 103 above is a great example of this - as the Psalmist writes from a point of reference knowing his sinfulness and his iniquities, yet realizing that God DOESN'T treat us as one would expect. Instead of punishment he experiences great love and forgiveness. This is true for us all.
In the same way we are forgiven, the Lord calls us to forgive those that have sinned against us. I think this is for a couple of reasons. First, we are invited to model forgiveness so that we can understand the Lord's forgiveness towards us. Second, forgiveness provides us a path to freedom and healing in Him. Third, unforgiveness keeps us living in the past, not able to move forward and not stepping into the things that belong to us, the present and future. We can't move effectively forward if we are always looking backwards. We can move forward somewhat, but not effectively. Forgiveness allows us to step beyond our past and move forward into our present and future.
The Lord wants to have us to shut the door on our past, and move on. As Paul says in his letter to the Philippians 3:13-14 NIV: "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Our future, and our present are what belong to us. Let us step into them with an understanding of the great gift of forgiveness and love that the Lord has poured upon us. Let us step into this new day with our new clean robe, washed clean by the Lord!
Amen!
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