GOD FORGIVES

From the Long Beach church of Christ
Long Beach, Mississippi
www.lbcoc.com

Pete's family had been driving an old station wagon since he was a little kid. It was brown with fake wood sides on it. The bumper was rusted and it didn't have any hubcaps on the wheels. The seats were torn and the hood was a different color than the rest of the car. Pete was 8 years old and wasn't exactly proud of his parents car. "When are we going to get a new car" he was ask every time his parents would drop him off at school. His dad would always say…"we're gonna keep this car for you to drive when you get your driver's license". Pete would cringe and scream… "I'm never gonna drive this car". "One of these days son when we can afford it…" his parents would say. One of these days finally came.

Pete was standing at the door when his dad drove up in a brand new Dodge Ram 1500 four door. Had the ram horns on the front. That was the truck Aerosmith sang about. It wasn't exactly new… it was used… but it was new to Pete. And it was Jet black! With Leather seats and most importantly …. A CD player!!!!! "Now that's what a man should be riding in… it will be just fine if you want to save that truck for me when I get my license" …Pete told his dad.

Pete jumped on his bicycle and began riding around the driveway with no hands yelling…."I got a new truck…. I'm so cool…". Wo Pete…. Yelled his daddy… come here. We've waited and saved a long time for this truck… and I don't want you to scratch it up with your bicycle. Do not ride your bicycle in the driveway when the truck is parked here…"No problem…" Pete said quickly. I mean it Pete…said his daddy in a very firm voice. "OK" Pete said as he rode off thinking… I can ride a bike… I'm not going to crash into a parked truck.

A couple of weeks later… Pete was bored from playing his video games… and decided to take a ride on the bike…There was the Jet black Ram … man it was a beaut! Pete circled around the truck on his bike admiring the manly mobile…
Dreaming of sitting behind the wheel … singing to himself… "I always knew you were a pickup man" It sure was prettier than that old hunk of junk station wagon. 
And as Pete was coming around the front of the truck OUT OF NO WHERE THE NEIGHBORS DOG RAN INTO THE DRIVEWAY AND IN SLOW MOTION….. PETE LOST CONTROL AND SLAMMED INTO THE SIDE OF THE TRUCK. 
IN A MOMENT… PETE FOUND HIMSELF ON THE GROUND LOOKING UP AT THE UNDERSIDE OF THE TRUCK. 

His hands were scratched and his knee was busted… but he didn't even feel the pain or the dog licking his busted knee. All he could here was his dad's voice in his mind…."Pete don't ride your bike in the driveway!!!!!" He laid there for a while until he got the courage to get up… he didn't want to look…..but he had to. With his hands over his eyes… he peeked. "I'm dead…." "I'm grounded for life and I'm dead". Why….There it was…on the Jet Black RAM …on both doors a scratch. But not just any scratch …. It was 3 feet long….and all the paint was gone…."What am I gonna do" Pete cried…I've got to fix it….he ran to his dad's shop and the first think he saw was black electrical tape…He thought "yeah that will work…" "NO…it will peal off". He looked around till he saw a can of black paint… and a paint brush…That will do it… dad will never notice! So he got the paint, the brush and ran back to fix his mistake. "That's all it is… a mistake… it was an accident… if that dog hadn't of ran out in front of me"…Pete thought.

He quickly put 2 coats of paint on the 3 foot long scratch wiping off the drips with his shirt ran back to the shop with the paint…ran back to the driveway and picked his bike up… OUCH!!!… Pete finally felt the pain from his hands and busted knee. 
I'm hurt pretty bad… maybe they'll feel sorry for me…Pete thought. Now it was getting close to the time dad would get home…(dad was still driving the old hunk of junk). That's what always happens when a family gets a new vehicle!

Pete had made sure that he put his bike in the back yard so it would look like he hadn't ridden it all day. Pete was on the floor playing his video game…when he heard a blood curdling scream….PETEEEEEEEEEEEEE! OH NO!!! Pete melted… how could he have noticed and so soon…Pete ran to his mom….Dad's home I'm going to Tommy's house bye! Wait a minute… His mom said… why are you in such a hurry? No reason…bye!

Wait a minute… aren't you going to tell your daddy hello? It sure seemed like dad was taking a long time coming in. The door opened…..HONEY…. where's that boy of yours? When Pete's dad came in the kitchen Pete had already ducked behind his mom. "Pete" come here. What's wrong honey… Pete's mom asked Pete's dad. Step outside and let me show you. As the family made its way out the door to the driveway Pete was still clinging to his mom. He felt like he was being led to the firing squad. Suddenly his knee and hands started hurting again…Pete started crying in pain…"I'm hurt…look at my knee" he pleaded.

His dad didn't break stride but kept walking. When Pete finally reached the truck and peaked from around his mother's dress… his dad was standing with his hands on his hips shaking his head. Pete looked down and there was a puddle of black water on the ground. His dad had washed the paint off with the water hose before he came inside…He looked up at the truck and there it was… that 3ft. long scratch
It was still there, uncovered…"Pete how did this happen?" asked Pete's dad. You were riding you bike weren't you? Don't you remember me telling you….His dad went on for what seemed like hours… but all Pete could think of was that huge scratch on the truck and the huge spanking that was sure to be coming…

"Pete, Pete… can't you see I'm talking to you boy?" "I'm sorry dad, honest. The neighbors dog …." And Pete began to plead his case to no avail…Pete was still hanging on to his mom hiding behind her dress and pointing at his knee when his dad said very firmly…"To your room son". Oh no! not the room…

Later after the spanking, the grounding, the bike being taken away for a month, and supper….Pete was sitting on the floor watching TV when his dad sat down by him and put his arm around him…Pete thought to himself …"Oh no he's going to spank me again!" Pete's dad softly said…. "You made a big mistake today and I hope you learned your lesson." "I did dad" said Pete…I'll never ride my bike again
Just not in the driveway around the truck… said dad. "I love you Pete". You do? How could you? You may have disobeyed me… and scratched the truck… and even banged up your knee… But you're more important to me than that truck and I'll always love you even when you make mistakes. I know you're sorry and you won't do it again. I won't said Pete and I'll pay for the scratch to be fixed dad! 

Pete's dad knew Pete meant it but also knew it was impossible...That's Ok son, I'll pay for it. He threw his arms around his dad and said… I love you too dad…can I still drive the truck when I get big. Unless you had rather ride your bike?

FORGIVENESS

When God forgives us… our sins are washed clean by the blood of Jesus. God makes us clean. And as Pete learned, there are consequences to disobeying your Father. And while your earthly Father loves you and will forgive you. Your Heavenly Father loves you even more and will forgive you and wash all your sins away. Before we look at some lessons from Pete's dilemma, The memory verse for today's lesson from God Forgives is Psalm 51:10. "Create in me a clean heart O God". There is a song that we sing sometimes taken straight from that verse …. let's sing it.

CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART


1. SIN HURTS

A. As a result of Pete's disobeying his father he not only damaged the truck, he got hurt as well. His hands were scratched, his knee was busted.

B. When we disobey God, we will not only be hurt ourselves, but we may hurt others as well. Before King David asked God "Create in me a clean heart O God"… He said… "Against you and you only have I sinned". David's sin hurt him
God doesn't want us to sin because he knows we will get hurt. The person who does drugs is hurting himself. The person who is an alcoholic is hurting himself but he can also hurt others. David's sin not only hurt him, but it hurt others too. The person who is an alcoholic is not the only one who suffers. His family suffers as well
sin not only hurts us, our sins hurt others too. 

2. CAN'T COVER UP SIN OR HIDE FROM GOD

A. Pete tried to cover up his disobedience by painting over the scratch. We may try to lie to cover our sins but that only digs us deeper. We my try to blame our sins on others…"it was the dogs fault". Trying to cover our sins won't get rid of the sins.

B. Pete also tried to run away and hide behind his mother but that didn't work either. The world isn't big enough to hide from God. Adam and Eve tried to hide from God in the Garden of Eden… but they couldn't. Trying to cover our sins or hide from our sins won't work either.

3. THE CONSEQUENCES OF SINS

A. When Pete disobeyed his dad, he knew there would be a spanking coming. That's why he tried to cover up his mistake. That's why he tried to hide from his daddy. He knew he would be punished because his dad had made it very clear about riding his bike around the truck and he did get punished. He was grounded for a month from riding his bike and he got a huge spanking.

B. When we disobey our heavenly father and we sin against him we need to know we will be punished. Romans 6:23 says that "the wages of sin is death". Sin against God requires punishment. If a person breaks the law of the land they will be punished. If you rob a bank you'll go to prison. If you sin against God and do not repent and are not united with Christ so his blood can wash your sins away…. you will be punished …. Maybe not immediately …but you will be punished. Romans 2:5-8 says "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God will give to each person according to what he has done" To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger…. There will be trouble for every human being who does evil."

There are consequences for sin. We will be hurt by our sins...We can't cover up our sins or hide from God. So what do we do… there is but one way to escape the punishment of sin


4. FORGIVENESS.

A. Pete couldn't cover up his sin, he couldn't hide from his father, and there was really no way Pete could pay for having the truck fixed but in spite of the huge mistake and disobedience of Pete, His dad still loved him and forgave him.

B. Our Heavenly Father loves us very much. He knows that sin will hurt us. He knows that sin must be punished. He provided a sacrifice so we wouldn't have to be punished for our sin. That doesn't mean that when we sin we won't be hurt in this life, but it does mean that we don't have to face eternal punishment. There's no way we can pay for our sins. God paid for them when he offered up his Son Jesus on the cross for us.

CONCLUSION: 

What amazes me is that God is willing to forgive us no matter what our sin is. It amazes me that God could and would and wants to forgive me of my sins. It amazes me that as big and bad as my sins are that my Father would offer His Son as a sacrifice for me. IT AMAZES ME JESUS COULD HAVE SAID "FATHER FORGIVE THEM BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING". But that's how much God & JESUS loves me and you. God's forgiveness is not unconditional, we must be willing to confess our sins and repent of our sins and turn to God and start living for him. We can't cover up our sins, pay for our sins, or hide from God. There's only one thing that will get rid of our sins, that's the blood of Jesus Christ…that's the only thing that will wash our sins away and there's only one way to come in contact with the blood of Jesus and that is to repent of our sins and be buried with Jesus in baptism. When we do that God washes all our sins away and makes us a new creature just like the story today in Bible class of the caterpillar turning into a butterfly. God takes our old sinful man and resurrects a new man to live for him. Stop trying to cover your sins, pay for your sins, and hide from God. God wants to forgive you, He paid the price for your sins, and he will wash your sins away