On the road to dealing with guilt a subtle but enormous chasm must be crossed. Strange as it sounds, the focus has to shift away from guilt. Let me explain. In Ingmar Bergman’s film WILD STRAWBERRIES he tells the story of a professor who had come before a judge to be sentenced. The judge looked at the accused and declared, “I find you guilty.” “Guilty of what?” demanded the professor. “You are guilty of guilt,” said the judge. “Is that serious?” asked the professor. “Very serious,” answered the judge.
Think for a moment. If guilt is all we have to deal with, where do we go? How does one remove guilt? If only one can take the next step and say, “I am guilty of sin,” then the answer comes triumphantly-“Ah! I have a savior for you.” Jesus went to the cross to carry that penalty and pay our price. It was not cheap; it was God’s priceless gift of His Son to bear the guilt brought by the sin of the world.
A man once told me how he painfully learned the cost of forgiveness. He had betrayed his wife and family and lived through the anguish of asking for forgiveness and rebuilding their trust. Over a period of time he assumed that even for them, the hurt was mended and the past no longer remembered. One day he returned home from work early and heard his wife, who was on her knees crying and unaware that he was home, asking God to help her forget all that had brought her this pain. It was a rude awakening to him of the cost. Multiply that wrong by a limitless number and you get a glimpse of what Christ bore on the cross for you and for me.
Guilt is a real experience of life, isn’t it? But when it remains as just guilt it is only compounded by self-serving efforts to erase it. Only in our admission of sin is there a genuine restoration. Why? Because we have committed an offense, not only against another human being, but against God. That is what sin is, as unpopular as the word may be. And that is why only God has the ultimate prerogative to forgive. Only then is our guilt erased completely. Only then can the one forgiven genuinely forgive others.
We are all weary of living in a world of unforgiveness and revenge. How great is the forgiveness of God offered to us in Jesus.
_________________________
Copyright © 2002 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. “A Slice of Infinity” is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.