I intend on informing you of the ways, manors, and actions of forgiving others and showing forgiveness. The act of forgiving is represented well multiple times throughout the Old Testament, while making its importance well known. In Isaiah 1:18 God tells us how our sins are scarlet red but through “forgiveness” they can be washed white as snow (Alburger, Shaunta). One of Gods most significant examples of forgiveness is shown through Noah and the ark in Exodus. Even though the main point of the story is not highlighted, we can clearly see the example of forgiveness, this forgiveness being the ark. The ark offered salvation for all those who would listen and get aboard the craft. We also see throughout the Old Testament the hint of a future, final sacrifice. This ultimate sacrifice would be the son of God and was the true perfect sacrifice. Forgiving others and showing acts of forgiveness truly is important in our lives, and is why it is a reoccurring theme in the Old Testament but also the new.
FORGIVENESS SHOWN TO ADAM AND EVE
Throughout the Old Testament the act of forgiving is highlighted multiple times. When man was first created, the idea of forgiveness was nonexistent. Sin had no place in the world and had only been recently introduced, this was when Satan tempted Adam and Eve. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he
Miles 2 ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Alburger, Shaunta) Even though both partook in sin,...
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... is only mentioned a few times in the Old Testament. The reason this is so special is because the man who took on sin and became the ultimate sacrifice was Jesus. Who else could be so worthy than the son of God? Without Jesus the only way to receive redemption was through animal sacrifice but now under new law it requires faith and carrying out Gods word. Forgiving is something all Christians should exemplify daily and remember the one who made the ultimate sacrifice for us, so we too may be saved.
Works Cited
"Bible Gateway." BibleGateway.com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 100 Versions and 50 Languages. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2014.
Alburger, Shaunta. "Facts About Adam & Eve in the Bible." EHow. Demand Media, 22 May 2011. Web. 08 May 2014.
"The Death Of Christ: Fulfillment of the Old Testament Sacrifices." Shawn Hall :. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2014.
New International Version. [Colorado Springs]: Biblica, 2011. BibleGateway.com. Web. 3 Mar 2011. Accessed 22 April 2014.
Hebrews 9:22 states that there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. After the fall of man, God provided in a temporary atonement of sins by instituting animal sacrifice. In providing clothes for Adam and Eve and thus covering their shame, an animal had to be slain to teach that access to God was only available through blood sacrifice. Animal offerings were also a symbol to point out to the future sacrifice of Christ at the cross. The purpose of the animal offering was thus of expiatory character (Allis 1951, 99); it was to bring atonement for the sins of the offerer. In Leviticus God commanded, through the Law, these offerings.
The redemption that mostly played out in the New Testament in a part of the New Covenant found in Jeremiah 31:33, “‘or this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” This covenant is also known as the permanent covenant, because God promised to write it on our hearts, and because God laid out His plans for the coming of Christ. The coming of Jesus was prophesied early in the Bible, and according to Williams Rainey Harper in his journal, Micah 5 told of the coming of Christ. The journal states, “A cornerstone shall be established in Zion; and out of Bethlehem from the line of David shall come a righteous ruler, who shall lead Judah against the Assyrians.” These verses in Micah also solidify the prophecy made by Nathan in 2 Samuel 7. Jesus is the Son of God, and He is from the lineage of David, He was born to atone for the sins of mankind. When Jesus first came to earth, and was declared to be the Son of God people did not believe Him. The Resurrection of Jesus and the Hope of Immortality states, “…significance for believers or for all men is considered to depend logically upon the similarity of Jesus to other men and is weakened in the degree in which he is considered unique as the Son of God, the second person in the Trinity.” While it is sometimes hard to understand, God fulfilled the New Covenant. Jesus died on a cross, so we are forgiven our sins. His blood was the price of our sins. The most well known Bible verse John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” His death promised us an eternal
Redemption as a theme in the bible is one that seems to go through a transitional phase. The idea in this case is a representation of freedom, setting free from bondage or exchange of something that one has in their possession for another that is in another person’s possession. The concept in this case can best be defined as a sort of ransoming or trade off. Both the writers in the Old Testament as well as those in the New Testament differently interpret and expound on this theme. The concepts adopted by both sides remain the same to date; however, the events that surround the interpretation from both sides bring out two very different interpretations of the same concept.
Forgiving someone is a way to release us from the pain they have brought us. Justice can just be
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition Bible. Eds. Dom Bernand Orchard, Rev. R. V. Fuller. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1966. Print.
It’s hard to have to bite the bullet and forgive someone who might have caused us so much pain, but it’s worth it, because we are then free of the pain that that person caused us. At the end of the day the pain held inside doesn’t hurt the person who inflicted it, it hurts us. When we forgive we release ourselves of that pain, we become the bigger man. People need to be able to forgive someone as quickly as they expect for God to forgive their sins they cause every day. Matt had to face one of his biggest demons while with God. He had to forgive the man who took his child away from him. It was almost impossible for him to say that he forgave the man but when God told him that he was not a judge and to let go of the pain inside of him, Matt questioned how he could just forget what the man did so easily? God told him that forgiving is not about letting go of what people do but it is, instead setting himself free of being a judge and letting God take care of the pain and right to judge someone. God told him that he can forgive but that didn’t mean that he had to forget what he did to his family. Letting go of the pain inside of himself was worth forgiving the man, he may have needed to say he forgave the man a thousand times the first day, God said, but soon it would of gotten better for Matt (Young, 226-228). When we get hurt it’s hard for us to forgive the person who hurt us but we still have to forgive in order to move
The rattling story of Joseph told of a man who must struggle with the most horrid betrayal from his family in which he learned to forgive them and even helped them flourish in later life. Justified by a need to make them properly atone for their sins, Joseph put his brothers through hell and back. In the end, Joseph ended up feeling happier for reconnecting with his family and saving them from the ominous hands of the famine that plagued Canaan. Although it may seem that the Bible suggests exonerating those who have deeply wronged one shows weakness and too much leniency, forgiveness allows one to become a stronger person and allow for the restoration of bonds amongst once-close companions.
Today, we take this parable very lightly, as we have been brought up in a culture that forgives people’s faults easily. Most people think, “Yeah, I forgive everyone who harms me.” However, if you think about it, this just isn’t true, as everyone has a couple of people they hold a grudge against, and this parable is telling us to stop holding that grudge. Forgiving is a huge part of Christian teaching and should not be taken lightly.
Henry, Matthew, and Leslie F. Church. Commentary on the Whole Bible: Genesis to Revelation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1961. Print.
The New Interpreter's Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha. Nashville: Abingdon Press, ©2003.
Mears, Henrietta C.. What the Bible Is All About. Rev. and updated. ed. Ventura, Calif., U.S.A.: Regal Books, 1983. Print.
Theopedia, an Encyclopedia of Biblical Christianity." Theopedia, an Encyclopedia of Biblical Christianity. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. (Theopedia) (Theopedia)
Forgiveness is the act of releasing an offender of any wrong or hurt they may have caused you whether they deserve it or not. It is a decision to let go of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group of people. When we choose to forgive, we’re wiping the slate clean, cancelling a debt, or as I love to say, “Letting it go.” In the Bible, the Greek word for forgiveness literally means to “let it go.” This concept, “forgiveness,” is easier said than done. Majority of people find it very difficult to let go of offenses and hurts caused by others. I really do believe that most people desire to let it go, but we lack the knowledge of how to do it. As believers, we are instructed by God maintain an attitude of forgiveness.
A strong Christian lesson on the true nature of forgiveness can be found in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount: