Erased forever

Have you ever lost an important file on your computer? While this can be quite unsettling, most people with computer skills can successfully recover the seemingly lost file. It's truly comforting to know that all is not lost when trying to recover information you've accidentally deleted. However, it's anything but reassuring when trying to delete things that burden you with guilt. Knowing that this information might still be lurking somewhere is truly unsettling. That's why there are special computer programs on the digital market that overwrite unwanted files multiple times, rendering them unreadable. Have you ever reflected on your sins and transgressions in this way? Is there a nagging fear that God hasn't erased all your sins and that He might even hold the worst of your misdeeds against you? "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. He will not quarrel forever, nor will he be angry forever." He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Ps 103,8-12)

There is no greater difference than day and night, but despite the assurance of His love and forgiveness, it is difficult for us to really believe and trust that God has created such a great distance between himself and our sins.

It is only human that we do not find it easy to forgive others and ourselves and to forget the missteps and pain that have been caused to us and others. We have a vague assumption that our deleted files are still stored on God's hard drive and will reopen on our screen in an unexpected moment. But just like the digital files that have been made illegible, God "overwritten" our sins and erased them forever. However, this did not require a special software program, but a very specific victim.

The Apostle Paul, of course, didn't have a computer in his time, but he understood that the prerequisite for forgiveness and the removal of our sins required something very special. He imagined that our guilt was written down and therefore had to be erased or wiped away. In his letter to the Colossians, he explains: "God made you alive together with him, who were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, and forgave us all our sins. He canceled the record of our debts, which stood against us, nailing it to the cross." (Kol 2,13–14).

Through his sacrifice Jesus erased the debt of debt and pinned all our sins to his cross. Our missteps are no longer hidden in a heavenly file, but have been erased once and for all. When God says that our sins are as far from us as the evening in the morning, He means it. He doesn't want us to doubt our forgiveness and live with that uncertainty.

When computer specialists find your lost files back, you can breathe a sigh of relief. When God assures us that all of the corrupt files in our lives will be erased forever, it just seems too good to be true. But that is exactly why God brings us forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus.

by Joseph Tkach