By John A. Huffman, Jr
Yes, you can know God personally. That's what historic Christianity is all about. The glory of Christmas and of Easter is that God has broken into human history, wrapping His arms around you and me, reconciling us to himself through Jesus Christ.
Question 4: Can I really be forgiven?
Many people come to me with guilt. They are dealing with broken relationships they want healed.
I remember one man coming to me and opening up his heart. His story was sordid. He quickly admitted that for a number of years he had been having an affair. He had done his best to hide it from his wife and children, because he really wanted the marriage to last. On the other hand, he had played his girlfriend along with the promise that soon he would be divorcing his wife and then they could get married.
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This went on for years until finally he was in a real bind. His wife found out, he was divorced, and now his girlfriend was expecting him to marry her and he wasn't certain that he wanted to do it. Could God really forgive him for his years of adultery and the duplicitous spirit that had such a negative impact on his wife, his mistress and his children?
My privilege was that of sharing with him the Good News of salvation, which follows the bad news of the human predicament. I opened up the Bible, as any faithful pastor should, and told him how he was created in the image of God to live a full and meaningful life. I explained to him that something had gone wrong in his life, as in everyone's life. The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that the wages of sin is death, spiritual separation from God in this world and in the life to come.
But that's not the end of the story. God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ to offer forgiveness. That's the Good News. I shared with him that word in 1 Peter 2:24, which reads: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."
I explained to him that Christ died for all sins; for his sin of adultery and for my sin of prideful self-righteousness that I have not committed adultery. I described to him the fact that Jesus had greater problems with people like me, who were self-righteous religious leaders, who thought of themselves as being better than adulterers, murderers, liars and cheats. All of us need the embrace of God's forgiveness. And I shared with him that wonderful word of 1 John 1:8-9: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Jesus came to offer forgiveness. The price of that forgiveness is costly. That's what the cross is all about!