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When Adam and Eve gave in to Satan's temptation to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden, sin entered the world. At once, they felt shame, guilt, and a need to justify themselves by placing blame on someone else. But the fall also gave birth to something else: forgiveness. That is, excusing an offense without exacting a penalty from the offender. Instead, God would exact that penalty from His own Son. 2 Lutheran Life at is fgeness? In fact, before God spoke words of consequence over Adam and Eve (because sin does bear consequences!), He breathed out hope for restoration to come through woman's offspring. Despite the multiplied pain Eve would now experience in childbearing, through her labor, a Savior would be born to make all things new (see Genesis 3:14–19). From the beginning, we witness God's reconciling power promised amid sin and ful- filled through forgiveness in Jesus. The name-calling, finger-pointing, and pure ugliness of excusing our wrongs continue to plague humanity today. The need for God's promised forgiveness has never been timelier. For Christians, recognizing sin at the root of interper- sonal conflict is imperative. If we don't recognize sin's role in conflict, we could resolve a material issue with- out recognizing the eternal significance it carries. This is resolved through forgiveness. So thanks be to God that "[Jesus] Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24). In an email conversation for this article, author Donna (Pyle) Snow put it this way: "As He hung on the cross, Jesus asked God to forgive those who drove in the nails. When Jesus died, all of our sins were future sins. There is not a sin any of us commit that He cannot, did not, or has not already forgiven on Calvary. Forgiveness is a finished work. Receiving and extending that finished work means abundant life!" This is the central message of the Christian faith. Without God's forgiveness, won for us in Jesus, we're a people without hope. Our justified end is destruction; our glory is shame (see Philippians 3:19). But when we are baptized and redeemed in Jesus, we become new creations. We can enjoy a restored relationship with God and extend forgiveness to others. This message is at the heart of our worship. Each week, we gather to once again confess our failings before God and man. Each week, we are once again reminded of God's great love for us in Jesus. We hear the pastor ab- solve us with God's forgiveness and proclaim to us the Gospel message of God's undeserved grace and mercy for us. We physically take in Jesus' forgiveness, paid for with His body and blood, as we eat and drink the sacramental bread and wine. We partake in this meal When we are baptized and redeemed in Jesus, we become new creations. We can enjoy a restored relationship with God and extend forgiveness to others.

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