How deeply furrowed are the eyebrows of the Almighty?
People have many misconceptions of God. One common misconception is imagining God to be something like Zeus on a bad day: A distant, powerful being who is a) in a very bad mood, and b) looking for someone, anyone, to vent his frustrations on via smiting.
Fortunately for all of us, this grumpy Zeus archetype isn’t the God of the Bible.
The God of the Bible delights in forgiving sinners.
And since everyone is a sinner according to Scripture (Romans 3:23), that means God delights in forgiving me, you, and everyone you know.
God’s desire is to extend forgiveness to sinners. When people come to God through Christ in faith and repentance, God’s response is grace and forgiveness.
Let’s consider a few passages of Scripture.
Mark 1:14-15: After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” He said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
The primary message of Jesus was “good news.” It was “good news” that the Kingdom of God had come near.
Luke 15:7: I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
God Almighty delights in a wicked person turning to Him in repentance. In fact, He delights even more than He delights in a “righteous person who doesn’t need to repent.”
John 3:16-18: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. 18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
The Incarnation, the sending of the Son into the world, was not to unleash condemnation. Rather, God wanted to save the world – He wants to extend forgiveness and eternal life, because He loves the world. Condemnation doesn’t come from Jesus, condemnation comes from rejecting Jesus.
2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God is patient, and His patience is rooted in His desire for people to come life, faith, and repentance.
And for a last thought, I wanted to include this quote, because it encapsulates God’s heart towards sinners well:
“The cumulative testimony of the four Gospels is that when Jesus Christ sees the fallenness of the world all about him, his deepest impulse, his most natural instinct, is to move toward that sin and suffering, not away from it.”
― Dane C. Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers
Application for Christians and non-Christians
This desire to forgive is certainly for those who are outside of the faith, or non-Christians. After all, God’s desire to forgive sinners is how anyone comes into the faith in the first place!
But God’s willingness to forgive is also pertinent to Christians, people who’ve already made allegiance to God through Christ. God won’t turn away a struggling Christian who comes to Him in faith and repentance, because God delights in forgiving sinners! (More on that in the Basic Christian Doctrine 4 article below.)
More Articles Like This: Basic Christian Doctrine Series
- Salvation is Through Christ Alone – Basic Christian Doctrine, Part 1
- By Grace Through Faith, Not by Works: Basic Christian Doctrine, Part 2
- What is (and isn’t) Repentance? – Basic Christian Doctrine, Part 4
Helpful(?) Illustration
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