Posted by SPOTTER, LESSON 3: GOD IS FAITHFUL TO FORGIVE
Propitiation (Greek – hilasmos, meaning an offering to appease an offended party.)
How can a God who hates sin so much just let it go unpunished? When He looks at his creation and sees how scarred and polluted sin has made it, He is greatly offended. How can He not pour out his anger on the guilty? How can God let wrongdoers go free? It doesn’t seem fair. Unless, of course, I am the wrongdoer and then my math changes dramatically and forgiveness seems a rather wonderful thing. But the questions are still valid. How is it just to leave sin unpunished?
The short answer is, it wouldn’t be just, if that is what God actually did. But sin has been punished. The sins of God’s people going all the way back to Adam accumulated and accumulated. All the while God in his great mercy withheld punishment, looking forward to a day when One would pay for it all and wipe out the debt once and for all for those who believed in his coming. “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.” (Romans 3:25)
The best news is that, not only did Jesus receive the just wages of the sins of all who went before Him, He also made available that credit of righteousness to all who would believe and receive Him in faith in the future. He became our Passover Lamb. The Lamb was slain, that work is done. It is a historical fact that happened completely outside of us and was purely an act of God. The only question that matters now is have you, by faith, applied the blood of the Lamb to the doorposts of your life? Have your students?
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
(Elvina Hall)
BIG IDEA: Jesus’ death paid for all our sins and He can make us clean.
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Romans 3
Psalm 86:5
Ephesians 1:7
Hebrews 10:12,17
SECTION VERSE:
But God is faithful and fair. If we admit that we have sinned, He will forgive us our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure. – 1 John 1:9
LESSON VERSE:
Lord, you are good. You are forgiving. You are full of love for all who call out to you. – Psalm 86:5
PRAYER:
Thank God that He is faithful to forgive us when we choose sin instead of Him. Ask Him to forgive you today for where you have fallen short of His standard. Thank Him for his abounding love for you.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- Read Psalm 86:5. How has God like this for you?
- Why did Jesus have to die for our sins?
- What does it mean to, “hate the sin and not the sinner?”
- When God forgives your sin, what does He do with it?
LIVE IT OUT!
- Practice your memory verse (1 John 1:9).
- Check with your family members to see if you need to forgive or be forgiven by anyone.
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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader. In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.
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