Redeeming Relationships - Part II
God is in the business of restoring relationships. It is the number one mission of the Holy Spirit and the greatest miracle we can experience.
‘Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household.” - Genesis 41:51 NIV
If there was anyone who needed to apply divine forgiveness in was Joseph. In Genesis 37-47 we read the account of how Joseph’s jealous brothers had sold him into slavery and how Joseph went through years of miss-treatment.
Before Joseph had the opportunity to be restored to his family he was able to say; “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house”. When the Bible talks about ‘forgetting’ in these situations, it doesn't mean we have no recollection of what happened. Suppressing bad memories is not healthy and not part of true forgiveness. Forgetting, in these circumstances, means to be aware of what has happened to us, but to no longer be hurt by it and to be able to forgive and love those who have hurt us. It is in this way that God remembers our sin no more (Hebrews 8:12) in that he has forgiven us and did not hold those things against us.
The supernatural forgiveness that Joseph experienced toward his brothers is available to us. God wants us to be free; not only of the sin we have committed but of the sin others have committed against us.
“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. ”
Supernatural forgiveness flows from the revelation of what God has done for us.
Polly Wigglesworth is best known for being the wife of the great evangelist, Smith Wigglesworth. In their early marriage, it was Polly who was the preacher. Smith did a great deal to support her, but as her ministry developed and Smith became busy in his plumbing business, he would often resent the time that she dedicated to the ministry.
Polly lived and preached forgiveness, and to a large extent, it was her unwavering love walk that was a witness to Smith and softened his heart toward God.
On one occasion Smith was so frustrated with her returning late from church, he threw Polly out the back door and locked it. However, he had forgotten to lock the front door. Polly came around the house, in by the front door laughing, causing Smith to laugh and preventing what could have been a ding-dong of a marriage fight. On another occasion, Smith locked Polly out all night in the middle of winter. She slept curled up on the front step of their house. In the morning when Smith opened the door, Polly jumped up joyously and marched into the house asking Smith what he’d like for breakfast.
Redeeming relationships will always involve applying the supernatural forgiveness that God has shown us, to others.
R.T. Kendall pastored Westminster Chapel in London for twenty-five years and wrote a book called ‘Total Forgiveness’, detailing how he was set free to forgive the great hurt done to him by people close to him.
Kendal observed that total forgiveness is a work of grace in people’s lives and that people who are unable to forgive entirely have not come to understand the extent to which they have been forgiven, nor the capability they would have to do the same thing others had done to them, if they were in the same situation.
The key to supernatural forgiveness is a sincere appreciation of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Supernatural forgiveness sets us free from the power of sin that others have committed against us. It heals the scar of hurt, guilt and shame so we can be free to receive love and to love others.
‘For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.’ Colossians 1:13-14 NIV
