Forgiveness
(... free of our past)
1 Kings 11:38 says "And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did..."
Why did God say David did all these things, when we know he didn't always do them?
1 Kings 11:38 And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, it shall happen that I will be with you and build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.
This was when Solomon was king of Israel.
Solomon was David's son.
The man who delivered that message from God, was a prophet named Ahijah. The man that Ahijah told this prophecy to was Jeroboam.
Jeroboam was not one of David's family.
Ahijah went to Jeroboam and said "God is going to take most of Israel away from David's line and give it to you."
That did happen after Solomon died.
What God told Ahijah to tell Jeroboam was:
1 Kings 11:38 And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, it shall happen that I will be with you and build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.
David had been dead many years when this happened.
The point is this
God said that David:
· Listened to all God told him to do
· Acted in Godly ways
· Did what was right in God's sight
· Kept God's commandments and rules
The problem is we know David did not always do those things:
· He took bread out of the sanctuary
· Lied to a priest to get a weapon
· Took another man's wife
· Had her husband murdered
· Married many women
We know David did not always:
· Act in Godly ways
· Did not always do what was right in God's sight
· Did not always keep God's commandments and rules
In fact in the Psalms many times David talks about how he had sinned.
So then why did God say:
1 Kings 11:38 And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did,
Why did God say David did all these things right when we know David didn't?
There can be only one answer.
We know David repented of his sin with Bathsheba.
David was truly sorry for the things he had done and he asked God to forgive him.
David's story, and the Psalms, are full of places where he asked God to forgive him for the things he had done.
The only possible answer is that when God forgave David, God forgot what David had done.
To God it was like they had not happened.
Yes, David had to suffer the consequences of those sins,
just like we do.
But because David had asked for forgiveness,
and was truly sorry for the things he did,
it was like to God, David was perfect.
His sins were forgiven.
What does that mean for us?
Sure we understand the whole "get into heaven because Jesus made us perfect by bearing the cost of our sins".
But it also means that when we get saved,
when we accept the Lord and our sins are taken away,
when we ask God to forgive our sins,
they are gone.
Yes we have to deal with the consequences, but the actual sin is gone.
Remember that line in 2nd Corinthians:
2Co 5:17 So if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Our sins have been forgiven, the past is truly forgotten
(as long as we have asked for forgiveness and are truly sorry for them).
We really are free of our past.
At least in God's eyes.
So, let me ask you a question:
If our past is forgotten in God's eyes,
why can't we let our past go?
Why do I keep my past as part of my present?
Why do I feel like my past still controls my present?
Why do my past mistakes still feel like they are a part of me?
God has forgotten them.
Actually, I am the only one that will not let them go.
In closing I want to give you one illustration of how crazy we can be.
See, when we look at ourselves we see:
how we have failed,
the mistakes we have made,
the difficult things we had to live through in the past and how they affected us.
We see our struggles when we look at ourselves.
But when we look at someone else we see them as they are.
We see them as they are right now.
We see them as the way they act,
as their character,
we see them as their personality.
That is crazy that we look at others in a different way than we look at ourselves.
What is even more crazy is to realize God looks at us,
the way we look at others.
God does not see us as we used to be,
He does not see us as our failures,
He does not see us as our struggles,
God sees us as we are right now.
If our past mistakes have been forgotten by God, then we should let them go too.
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