5. NavTools - A More Complete Picture of God’s Forgiveness
Many followers of Jesus struggle to really grasp God’s forgiveness. We like the idea of being forgiven. We believe it intellectually. But we often have a hard time understanding and accepting what it means to be forgiven. Maybe that’s why the Scriptures are so full of examples of forgiveness—and why God uses active word pictures to illustrate His forgiveness.
As he’s studied the topic, Navigator Nate Mirza has found 23 word pictures (so far!) that graphically illustrate God’s forgiveness of our sins. Here are seven of those images. Over the next week, read one of the following passages each day. Take some time to create the active word picture that’s described in your mind. Imagine God taking that action with your sin. Then thank Him for doing that for you.
Blotted Out: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25).
Covered: Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” (Psalm 32:1).
Forgotten: No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Jeremiah 31:34).
Hurled: You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19).
Put Behind His Back: Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back (Isaiah 38:17).
Swept Away: “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:22).
Removed: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12).
Italics added. Adapted from Nate Mirza’s The Completeness of God’s Forgiveness, used by permission of the author. You can review Mirza’s more extensive study/meditation on God’s forgiveness at www.navigators.org/us/forgiveness.
As he’s studied the topic, Navigator Nate Mirza has found 23 word pictures (so far!) that graphically illustrate God’s forgiveness of our sins. Here are seven of those images. Over the next week, read one of the following passages each day. Take some time to create the active word picture that’s described in your mind. Imagine God taking that action with your sin. Then thank Him for doing that for you.
Blotted Out: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25).
Covered: Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” (Psalm 32:1).
Forgotten: No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Jeremiah 31:34).
Hurled: You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19).
Put Behind His Back: Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back (Isaiah 38:17).
Swept Away: “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:22).
Removed: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12).
Italics added. Adapted from Nate Mirza’s The Completeness of God’s Forgiveness, used by permission of the author. You can review Mirza’s more extensive study/meditation on God’s forgiveness at www.navigators.org/us/forgiveness.
