Ephesians 4:32:
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

During his earthly ministry, Jesus Christ taught about God’s forgiveness in parables.  In the parable of the forgiving father, the younger of a man’s two sons asked for his inheritance early, and his father gave it to him.  But the son did not utilize that inheritance wisely.

Luke 15:13:
And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

After some time of living in poverty and as a social outcast he “came to himself” and decided to go back to his father and admit his wrongdoing.

Luke 15:18:
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.

Verse 20 shows us the father’s response:

Luke 15:20:
And he [the son] arose, and came to his father.  But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

His father had compassion and ran to him.  He didn’t scold him.  He didn’t accuse him.  He didn’t talk about how hurt he had been when the son left home with his inheritance in the first place.  All he needed to know was that his son had recognized his wrongdoing and that he wanted to be back home with him again.  The father had only forgiveness for his son.

Jesus Christ not only taught about God’s forgiveness; he extended it.  On the day of the ascension we see that Jesus Christ had forgiveness to his apostles for their wrongdoings.  A little over forty days previous to this record, during Jesus Christ’s passion and crucifixion, all of them had forsaken him and fled.  Despite his promise to the contrary, Peter had denied him.  And Judas had made a grievous mistake in betraying him to the Judean authorities.

Yet here on the day of the ascension, Jesus Christ was with all twelve apostles, preparing them for what was to come in a few days on the day of Pentecost.

Acts 1:7-9:
And he [Jesus Christ] said unto them [the twelve apostles he had chosen, per verse 2], It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost [holy spirit] is come upon you:  and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Jesus had forgiven them for their weaknesses and was offering all of them entree into the Grace Administration, which he had given his life to make available.  Jesus knew that when the promise of the Father came on the day of Pentecost they would be filled with the gift of holy spirit and they would have a source of help for their weaknesses.  That is the great forgiveness and grace of God and His Son Jesus Christ.  And eleven of the twelve believed and received.

When we are born again of God’s spirit, we become His sons and daughters and our sins are remitted because of the works of Jesus Christ.  After that time, if we break our fellowship with God, we can still receive His forgiveness.

I John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

A person receives forgiveness when he confesses, genuinely desiring forgiveness and planning to obey God.  And then God quickly forgives and forgets.  God’s forgiveness allows us to move ahead and freely give.

It is available for us to extend God’s love and forgiveness to one another.

Colossians 3:12,13:
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any:  even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

God’s forgiveness has been available to man since the fall of Adam.  It is a tribute to the love and grace of God that He made forgiveness easy to receive and that He revealed in His Word how to receive it.  In the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, we have an example of how to live in love and forgiveness.

Let’s accept God’s forgiveness and then extend it to others.