The Sins of the World Are Forgiven in Christ!

What did Jesus accomplish by His life, death, and resurrection? Did He accomplish a potential forgiveness that is real only when we believe it? Is our faith like some kind of magical genie that wishes the forgiveness of sins into existence? If the forgiveness of sins is not already present, what is faith supposed to believe?
No, our faith does not bring the forgiveness of sins into existence. On the contrary, the forgiveness of sins brings our faith into existence. Our Catechism has a name for it: the Means of Grace. St. Paul writes: How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?… Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ (Romans 10:14, 17).
In human relationships, one person will sin against another person. Sometimes the person sinned against forgives the other person. Whether that person believes it or accepts it has nothing to do with the fact that he is forgiven. The person who sinned had no part in the other person forgiving him. The forgiveness came from the heart of the person sinned against.
We have sinned against God. The whole human race has sinned against God’s Law. God says, “I forgive you; I forgive the whole human race, because of what My crucified and risen Son did for you.” This is the Easter message. This is the Gospel pure and simple. Just as in human relationships when one person forgives another, God says to the whole human race, “I forgive you.” You may not believe it, but our unbelief does not change what God has determined in His heart to do, based on the death of Jesus.
Now, God’s forgiveness of all people does not mean that the whole human race is saved and will be in heaven. Only those will be saved who personally trust in God’s forgiveness, a trust given them by the Holy Spirit. Those who reject the forgiveness Jesus has won for them will have to pay for their own sins in the torments of hell for all eternity, for they “deny the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1).
Only one person was not forgiven by God—that was Jesus. On the cross, God showed Him no mercy, no forgiveness. For though Jesus was essentially innocent, yet He became guilty—guilty of the world’s sins placed on Him by God. As the Apostle Paul says: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). And St. Peter writes: For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God (1 Peter 3:18).
The Easter message is plain and simple: We sinned against God and He says to us and to all people, “I forgive you for the sake of Christ.” Jesus died and rose again to win our forgiveness. May God move us to repent of our sins and to believe on Jesus. Forgiveness is yours through faith in Jesus!
Ronald Pederson is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Suttons Bay, Michigan.