Forgiveness
0 comments | Posted by Steven Layson on 22 Nov 2009 in From Steve's Study ::
On Monday, Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull offered an apology to “forgotten Australians” and former migrant children who suffered abuse and neglect through institutions and foster homes. This was the second important apology given by the Prime Minister, after he said “Sorry” to the Aboriginal Stolen Generations in February last year. Certainly these were important events, particularly for those who suffered through these terrible policies of neglect and abuse.
Hugh Mackay, in his piece in the Sydney Morning Herald on the same day, however, acknowledged that an apology is only half the story. By definition, an apology is also a request for forgiveness. It is only when there is forgiveness that past wrongs and hurts can be completely done away with.
This is important for us to remember as we turn to Isaiah 40 today. God’s people had done a terrible thing – turning away from the God who made them, rescued them and cared for them – and as a result they were punished (70 years in exile in Babylon).
Now God declares that “her time of hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for” (40:1). The second half of the book of Isaiah declares the forgiveness of Israel and their chance of a new beginning. But it’s not until chapter 53 that we find out exactly how they have been forgiven… it was through the suffering servant, on whom God has placed their sin.
It is this action we are celebrating in the 9.45am service today. Meg Smith is to be baptised today – a symbol of the fact that her sins have been washed away, not by the baptism, but by the death of Jesus, who is her saviour and ours. God completely dealt with our sin and rebellion by taking the punishment for it on himself. Now, when we turn to him in faith and say “Sorry”, our repentance is met with forgiveness and the sure hope of eternal life.
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