Ephes 4:32 And be kind to one another, full of pity, having forgiveness for one another, even as God in Christ had forgiveness for you. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, this is the definition of the word, miracle: "an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs." THE MIRACLE OF FORGIVENESS On any given day, at any given moment, people are lined up around the globe looking to be saved, looking for divine intervention, the restoration of a temporarily blocked path to heaven through seeking forgiveness of sins - looking for a second chance from God. From murder to mischief we Christians, and some not so Christians, take the quiet, pensive walk to Christ and ask for his understanding, for a clean slate – for simple forgiveness. We all do it because we are all sinners. And our genuine requests for this thing called forgiveness are answered with a graceful yes and our heartbeats stabilize and our gratitude widens and we get on with life knowing that God has turned the other cheek on our misbehaviour, so to speak. Now, if you read the definition of the word miracle (see above), forgiveness and it's daily, divine and direct, extraordinary intervention in human affairs certainly rises to the term, miracle. It happens all around us a billion times a day. Forgiveness is one of the most significant elements of the Christian faith. It was sewn into our souls by Jesus on the cross when he asked his father to “Let them have forgiveness for they have no knowledge of what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) And since then, every single day, the miracle of forgiveness, the knowledge within Christians that redemption is available by a loving, forgiving God, well, what could be more important than that? Knowing that if we wander in life and sin as we all do now and then, heaven is not a locked steel door with the key tossed away; that remorse and amends can reverse the consequences of transgression and return us to the light of God’s good grace. Just knowing that such a loving God exists in our lives is an indispensable part of the human journey. Forgiveness is a miracle that is happening right now, every second, of every minute of every day in our lives. Forgive me father for I have sinned; easily one of the most iconic statements known to humankind, right up there with “Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.”
Considering the population of Christians on planet earth, estimated at over 2.5 billion, I would bet that at least a billion requests for forgiveness are dropped on Christ’s lap each day. Some quick math suggests that 365 billion requests each year are received, over a trillion every three years. And now try to imagine the hundreds of trillions of requests for forgiveness delivered to God over the past two thousand years. It is simply astounding just how tremendously important the gift of forgiveness is to humankind. And then there is person to person forgiveness; we even ask each other for forgiveness: “Please forgive me, my actions have upset you, how can I make it up to you?” We have an inherent sense of empathy, compassion and grace when confronted by situations that require our forgiveness; it is a powerful element of being a Christian. We mirror the love and generosity and understanding of Christ by our willingness to listen, accept remorse and apologies and extend our own forgiveness which in turn rebuilds a damaged bridge between people and restores harmony and peace and love. My final litmus test of the presence of miracles in our world is to remove the concept altogether from society and see if such a change would negatively impact our lives. Well, it makes me shudder to think of a world where forgiveness did not exist. It would be like living in a world without water to wash and clean a wound. What a cold and calloused dog eat dog wicked place this would be without the wonder of forgiveness. Forgiveness: a miracle of Christ being performed every second of every day without doubt. It is an indispensable, merciful and gracious part of Christianity and most definitely a divine act that impacts humanity on a continuing, eternal basis. Talk about an extraordinary event intervening in, and significantly impacting human affairs.
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