“The LORD, the LORD, (…) maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”
Exodus 34:7
We humans do a lot of bad things. Today’s text mentions the words wickedness, rebellion and sin. From other places, we could add injustice, unrighteousness and transgression. All this cries for God’s judgment. Somebody has to pay for it.
Naturally, the one who sins is the one who gets punished. But God loves the world so much that he offers another solution. If we believe in Jesus, he will pay in our place. He has suffered and died for humanity, so that our sins can now be forgiven. That means not just that we won’t be punished, but that God totally forgets about our sins. Using wonderful imagery, Micah 7:19 rejoices: “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
We need to repent and return to God on a daily basis, because we sin over and over again. But: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). Did you already experience God’s forgiveness?