Someone to Set Me Free from My Past - Various Scriptures

During our approach to the Advent Season, we have been looking at one question: “Who are you looking for?” Tonight, I want to suggest that many (and perhaps all of us) are looking for someone who can set us free from our past. We might wish to be free from the scars of abuse or the hidden wounds of the bullies.

My specific focus tonight is the sin, the regret, the shame that you bear because of a choice you made or didn’t make. Perhaps you were the one who was hurt. Maybe you knew what was right to do, but you did the wrong thing anyway. No matter how many people tell you to just forget it, you can’t. Our regrets eat at us until they destroy us from the inside out.

A well know psychiatrist by the name of Dr. Karl Menninger one said if he "could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven 75 percent of them could walk out the next day." This is what guilt, rebellion, and hidden sins do to us.

The good news of Christ is that the baby born in Bethlehem died to set us free from our past, our guilt, the alienation we have felt from God. An Angel told Joseph,

“do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21)

We tend to hear those words in the abstract. In our mind, we are good people who have “made mistakes” in life. Some of those mistakes haunt us. What we look for is a formula or some activity that can help us deal with the guilt or pain of the past. We see it as a minor “tweak” needed in our lives rather than a major transformation.

But this is not the way God sees it. In Romans 3 we read these theologically rich words,

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. (Romans 3:23-25)

God sees our problem as much deeper than we do. He says our problem is our sin; our unwillingness to seek Him and follow Him as the ruler of our life. This sin has alienated us from God and keeps us from knowing the fullness of His blessing. God, in a staggering act of grace and mercy took the form of man to rescue us. He served as our substitute on the cross. The Son of God willingly endured the wrath of God that we deserved, so that we, by trusting in Him, could be forgiven, and given new and eternal life.

The Christmas story was messy. The child who had been promised for so long was born in humble circumstances, rejected by those He came to save, and executed by those who said they represented God in the world. This is not a cute baby story; it is a profound demonstration of love!

If you don’t understand this part of the Christmas story, you don’t understand the real message of Christmas. All you have are the Hallmark movies and a warm notion about a man who gives gifts to good boys and girls. You may celebrate Christmas, but when it is over you will still be trying to swim in life with the weight of your sin making it more and more difficult to keep your head above water!

The message of Christmas is this: Jesus has come to set you free from your past! But this begs the question: “How do we obtain this freedom?” The Bible does not tell us to do a certain number of good deeds to offset the bad. That is math that will never add up. What the Bible tells us, is we must put our trust and faith in what Jesus has done for us and promises to do in us. I like to say we have to be willing to bet our life and our eternity on Him.

This is more than “making a decision.” Lots of people make decisions but never act on those decisions. This decision is to commit yourself to trust and follow Him, believing He is the One who can save you from your past. Think about it like a couple who falls in love. They decide this is the person with whom they want to spend the rest of their life. But that “decision” does not make it so. They must act on that decision. This isn’t about feeling good about Jesus. It is about believing Him, not just intellectually, but also practically. It is putting your money where your mouth is.

I remind you of my favorite riddle: three frogs are sitting on a log. Two decide to jump in. How many frogs are left on the log? The answer is not one, it is three because deciding to jump and actually jumping are two different things!

When we put our faith and trust in Him, and begin to follow Him, we become a new creation; the old has passed away and the new has come. The substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus is applied to your account. In other words, your sin debt is paid for by Christ. You no longer owe anything! Your debt is cleared. The charges are dropped. Your sin is expunged from the record.

And this is where some people say, “I know God has forgiven me, but I can’t forgive myself.” I tell this story a lot because it has had a great impact on me. I’m not sure it actually happened to me the way I remember it, but the point is the same. I was in a group counseling session once and said those same words, “I know I am forgiven, but I can’t forgive myself.” And the Professor/Counselor said to me: “Who do you think you are? If the Judge over all creation has declared you to be forgiven, who are you to suggest that you are not?” When the Supreme Court makes a ruling, the lower courts must accept it as law. If God says we are forgiven there is no one who can overrule that declaration.

This is why Paul can say, “There is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus! Pause and think about this! How would your life be different if you KNEW you were forgiven, and the record of your sin was completely wiped clean? This reality adds a whole new dimension to the words, “Joy to the World, the Lord has come.”

The Apostle Paul, who wrote the words, “No condemnation,” was a man who arrested Christians and had many of them executed as heretics of the faith! This man . . . a mass murderer, or tyrant we might say today . . . was declared not guilty because of what Jesus did. I think when Paul dictated the words “no condemnation” he was shaking his head in wonder. Maybe he even had tears coming down his face. Perhaps he shouted the words with both disbelief and great joy!

It is incredible news! Sin-filled people, like us, are unshackled from our past, our failures, our shameful memories, and are declared to be righteous children of God! It is an astounding, and yes, humanly impossible truth.

Moving Forgiveness from Your Understanding to Your Living

There are times when memories of the guilt and shame of the past put us right back into bondage. How do we live out the reality of what God declares? Let me give you some suggestions.

First, we must ask ourselves this question: “Do you believe God, or don’t you?” Are you going to believe that inner voice in your head or the Word of the Lord? Will you believe the condemning whispers of Satan or the loving assurance of God’s Spirit that says, “You are forgiven!” Do you believe God, or are you going to call Him a liar? In the majestic words of John 1 we read,

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. (John 1:12-13)

Step one is simply to believe what God has said as the One who is True and Righteous.

Second, understand that forgiveness does not erase all the consequences of our sin. We are forgiven for our sin, and it will not be on our account as we stand before Him at the time of judgment. However, some of the effects in the here and now remain. We are told to go and make things right with others when we can do so. This means making restitution where it is needed and asking forgiveness from others when we have offended or hurt someone. Where possible we are to pursue reconciliation.

There may be legal problems, fines, and other consequences from our sinful actions . . . but, before God – we are forgiven!

Third, forgiveness is also not a license to live recklessly. The person who is truly repentant (or wants to go in a different direction in their life) will not want to go back to their sin addiction. We all need help to keep from “falling off the wagon” of right behavior. However, our focus should be to live right before the One who has saved us. If you have been pardoned from prison, why would you want to go back there again?

By far, the greatest gift we have ever, and will ever, receive, is the gift of forgiveness and new life in Christ. Stop right now and ask a question: If I really believed the message of Christmas; If I really believed that God became man to pay for my sin; what prison could I leave?

· You can leave the prison of self-condemnation over the past, and begin living in the present

· You can leave the prison of hopelessness and despair, and enthusiastically live a joy-fueled life

· You can leave the prison of endless comparisons to others, (where you know you don’t fare well), and embrace the fact that God made you, loves you, and has died for you.

· You can get off the treadmill of endlessly pursuing “things that will make me happy,” and instead start enjoying the fulfilling relationship with God that is made possible through Christ.

· You can stop spending all your time on guard against those secrets from your past. You can leave the darkness of fear and embrace the light of His forgiveness and love.

· You can finally let go of the weight of past failures and stop seeing yourself as a failure and learn to see yourself as a child of the King.

The message of Christmas isn’t simply about how to go to Heaven when we die; it is about how we can find full, abundant, and God-blessed life right here and now.

Applications

How do we respond to the reality of God’s gift of forgiveness? First, we should live joyfully. The burden is removed. The sin is forgiven. The stain of sin is gone! If we understand this, we should shout with joy, laugh as one who has been set free, and serve the Lord with enthusiasm. Christmas should indeed be “the most wonderful time of the year” but not simply because of family gatherings and gifts exchanged. It is the most wonderful time of the year because we remember how much we are loved by God.

Second, we should live gratefully. We must never forget that God did not save us because He checked his list twice and found that we had been nice instead of naughty. We are not forgiven because we are more worthy recipients than someone else. We are given new life because God has shown us a staggering grace and mercy. There is not even one reason we have merited forgiveness. It is all a gift. It is the most valuable gift we have ever been given. We must never, ever, take it for granted.

Third, we should live faithfully and worshipfully. I’m not talking about singing songs about God. I am referring to an attitude of the heart which recognizes Him as the ruler over all things. We worship Him by giving Him our lives, our obedience, and our trust. The more we understand the transformative message of Christmas, the more eager we should be to honor and obey Him. We know He wants the best for us. He has earned our trust and obedience.

Finally, we are set free to let go of the hurts we have received from others. We tend to live our lives holding a scorecard. We keep a running tab of offenses that are committed against us. (We do not keep score of the offenses we commit against others). When people offend us, we mark it on the scorecard. We ruminate on those offenses until they become deep ditches of resentment and bitterness. We justify the outward expressions of anger and violence we show. We claim we have a “right” to be angry and bitter.

Jesus is not only the One who sets us free from our scarred past, He plants His life in us through the Holy Spirit enabling us to sees past the hurts inflicted by people.

Right after teaching His disciples the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus said,

14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:14-15)

They are sobering words. If we understand the magnitude of what we have been forgiven, we will let go of the comparatively small hurts that have been done to us. In a sense God wants us to “pay it forward.”

It seems clear: God wants us to treat others the way He has treated us.

This Christmas, there may be someone you haven’t talked to in months, or years, because of some offense. Don’t miss the fact that an unwillingness to forgive is dangerously close to blasphemy, because we are playing God to some extent! We are acting as if we understand the heart, the motives, and all the circumstances surrounding an offense committed. Only God is the true and righteous judge. He is the only One who sees objectively. Only He knows the intention of the heart or the purpose of the trials. He sees every mitigating circumstance.

I suspect we all have someone that makes forgiveness difficult. And there is a good chance that WE are that SOMEONE to another person. The Lord instructs us to forgive because He knows forgiveness is the key to enjoying the forgiveness we have been given.

It is time to put down the scorecard and do what God did for you, forgive. Set someone free this Christmas. Set yourself free from the resentment and bitterness. Restore a relationship that has been broken or strained. Let healing, understanding, and grace reign in your life.

When we address hurts the way God does, the painful times become a classroom in His hands. He will teach us things through the wounds and scars of life we may not learn any other way. If we would focus more on what God is teaching us rather than simply replaying the offense over and over in our head, we would find it much easier to show compassion and extend forgiveness. God turn a deep hurt into a profound blessing if we give Him the opportunity.

A child who was killed in a concentration camp wrote a prayer that was later discovered. It read:

O Lord, remember not only the men and woman of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all of the suffering they have inflicted upon us: Instead remember the fruits we have borne because of this suffering, our fellowship, our loyalty to one another, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown from this trouble. When our persecutors come to be judged by you, let all of these fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.[1]

Here is the surprising truth of God’s grace. God will use the hard times of life to teach some of the most precious lessons about Him, about life, and about what brings joy and peace. Your character will grow immeasurably when you trust God enough to receive His forgiveness or by His mercy, are led to forgive someone else. There is nothing that shows the heart of God in us more clearly than a willingness to forgive.

We have been given the greatest gift at Christmas. If you have never done so, receive that gift today. Stop living in the past! Open your heart to the transforming grace of God which came to us in Bethlehem so many years ago.

God’s forgiveness is the relief we have been looking for in life. The thought that we are loved, cherished, and face no condemnation can transform us! He has come to set us free and to unlock the chains of our past failures and staggering acts of rebellion. We can escape the guilt, regret, and shame of our past!

He unlocks the prison of our failure and shame, and then, He hands us the key so we can assist in freeing others from the chains and prisons of their past. It is the BEST gift we have ever received or could ever give.

[1]Guideposts sept 24. 2015 by Pablo Diaz “The Healing Power of Forgiveness.”

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