REDEEMED INTO DESTINY
Part 1
What do you reckon Jesus meant when He said whoever sins you forgive, they are forgiven? It must be in reference to the power that people have to keep people tied to their past rather than the DESTINY of REDEMPTION.
We all have a past, a past we are not proud of. Those who know our past have the power to hold it over us as a tool of manipulation or shame. Throughout its history, religion has been guilty of destroying people’s future because of the failure of their past. Though God perfectly forgives, if His people do not follow suit then multitudes of believers will not be confident to move forward into their destinies. Their heart can condemn them, robbing them of their confidence in God. Satan also hurls his accusations of their guilt, unworthiness, and corruption to blame them.
Personal failure and the unforgiveness of people are paralyzing, even if God does forgive. People in the church can shut other people down. It is very plausible that many are stuck in the past, while a very promising destiny lies before them. Though God will redeem the destiny of any who repent, people are not that inclined. Though every person is a sinful failure, some religious people believe there are those who must not be allowed to overcome their past. People can do the most unnatural things in a season of great darkness. It is not who they want to be, but a tale of what may lie within their flesh. This disgrace must not define who they are, but many religious people will never let them forget what they did.
I recently watched this happen to a modern sports superstar. He has been celebrated for years, but recently, he had a bad day. He choked … lost when he could have won. He missed a three-foot putt to win one of the most prestigious tournaments in golf. Disgusted with himself, and probably other issues, he left the tournament after his play. He was ridiculed. Many turned him into a monster. Some said, “Well, the true person came out today.” But is that true? Maybe. He had a bad day; he made some bad decisions. He was wrong, no doubt. But is this bad day to be the standard by which we view him now?
People make horrible decisions all the time. Furthermore, everyone falls under the pressure of temptation. I am not excusing sin; I only acknowledge our human struggle. It happens to ministers who fall into sin. It happens to teachers. It happens to physicians. It occurs among friends. People will ignore a thousand acts of kindness, take the rare rudeness, and say, “He or she is so rude.” Wait! If one act of failure makes me a monster, does one act of kindness make me a saint? Will we overlook a thousand acts of sacrifice and kindness because of a moment of weakness? Do my rare moments of failure in a dark night or treacherous season define who I am? Nobody does the will of God absent of personal failure, friends and family rejections, and impossible circumstances of life. Please do not define me by the events of failure.
Jesus refused to let His disciples be defined by their failure. In John 16, Jesus affirmed the Father’s love for the disciples. He told them the Father loved them because they loved Jesus and believed that He came from the Father. Why is this important? Because Jesus knew they were about to find themselves in a season of betrayal. A season where they would not act as though they loved Jesus. Jesus told them, “Tonight you will all forsake me and leave me alone.” How can Jesus tell them in one breath that they love Him and, in another breath, tell them they will forsake Him? Because Jesus was going to redeem their failure. He knew their failure was not the truth about their love. Jesus knew they would go on to give their lives for Him.
Many believers who fail must understand that God can redeem them from failure. Husbands and wives who fail their families may genuinely love them but have a moment of collapse. The failure does not prove their lack of love; it only proves they were bested in a temptation. The beauty of redemption is that this failure does not have to define who I am or what I will be.
DAVID’S EPIC FAILURE
It is no secret that King Saul burned with jealousy over David. He saw David as a genuine threat to the throne. The people loved David. Jonathan loved David. Realizing the friendship between Jonathan and David, Saul hid his intent to murder David. However, David knew of Saul’s murderous plot and was determined to protect his life. Jonathan struggled to believe this, affirming David that his father loved him. Unshaken by Jonathan’s efforts to convince David otherwise, they developed a plan. A scheme full of lies. They conspired on a story to find the intent of the King’s heart toward David. Again, they lied! Outright. Without repentance.
They agreed to deceive the King by explaining why David was not at the King’s table for dinner. When Saul asked about David’s absence, Jonathan lied by saying that David had a family event in Bethlehem he could not miss. David warned Jonathan, if your father is angry with my absence, then be sure evil was in his heart; he intends to kill me.
During the meal on the second day, Saul asked Jonathan about David’s whereabouts. Jonathan told the lie. Saul was enraged. He saw right through the deception. He knew that Jonathan would give his own life for David. Maddened, Saul even attempted to kill his son. Jonathan fled and met David at the appointed rendezvous. As determined, Jonathan shot his arrows and sent the servant to fetch them. Jonathan shouted to the servant to go further; the arrows are beyond you. This was David’s signal to flee.
It gets worse. David fled to Ahimelech, the priest. Ahimelech was visibly afraid upon seeing David. It was strange that David was alone without any provisions. Something was very wrong. So, David lied to the priest. He told Ahimelech that King Saul had sent him on a secret mission without time to prepare victuals, men, or weapons. David convinced Ahimelech to give him food and weapons. A man detained before the Lord that day was watching what was happening between David and Ahimelech. It was Doeg, one of Saul’s servants. Remember him, for it is an integral part of the story.
Once leaving Ahimelech, David took refuge in the enemy’s camp. He fled to Gath, the Philistines. It was not long before they recognized David. They were shocked that David was there even before the King of Gath. Realizing this is the man who has killed thousands of Philistines, and David realizing they are aware of him, begins to change his behavior. He acts like a madman. He claws and scratches at the gate while spitting and drooling on himself. Convinced he is mad, the King of Gath throws him out of the city. David escapes, humiliated. The warrior king of Israel is afraid and acting like a madman. Who is this? Is this David?
I wish it were over; sadly, there is more to the failure. Honestly, the worst part is yet to come. Remember the servant of Saul that was with Ahimelech? In the meantime, he reported to King Saul all that had transpired, all that Ahimelech had done for David. Enraged that Ahimelech helped David, Saul ordered the death of all the priests. Eighty-five priests died because of David’s lies. Wait until you hear David’s response: “David said to Abiathar, I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all your father’s house” (1 Samuel 22:22).
Imagine the man anointed of the Spirit … the God-selected man put on trial, AND HE FAILS! His failure brought the death of God’s priests. He failed at the crucial point … another missionary casualty. Surely, he will not go back to the field … God will write him off.
WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT? 
But what is this story about? Is God exposing David’s sin to vindicate His justice? ABSOLUTELY NOT! The story is not about sin but hope, about how God takes failures and produces victory, about how God redeems people’s destiny.
David’s testimony doesn’t end here, as David would write: “But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help. This I know: God is on my side! I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light” (TLB Psalm 56). David wrote this after his humiliating season of lies and cowardice.
Can a man in the wrong company, who has been doubting and fearing God, allowing faith to be crushed, behaving like a madman – can such a man really talk like that? Yes, he can. Other people cannot see it; all they see is a backslider who is drifting away from God and behaving like a fool. But in his heart, he despises himself for it all, and from the depths, his soul cries out to heaven, “O God, in this, I am going to trust you forever!”
And God heard him. God answered. God forgave him. God redeemed him from his sins and his tragedies. Yes, the consequences were awful. The death of priests. The deceptions. But David lived on. God brought him into splendor. David would go on to sin more. His future sins would be remembered more than those I have written about. However, God would say of him in the end, “He was a man after my own heart.” That is redemption, and God still offers it to all who will repent and call upon Him.
Beloved, your worst day does not have to define you. What people call you is not what God calls you. God has a new name for you. Believers will call you by that new name. The religious will not; they will not forgive or forget. But God will forgive and forget. And God’s people will forgive and forget.
The consequences of your sins may be significant. By foolish decisions of rebellion, you may be suffering from poor health, destroyed relationships, devastated lives, and ruined families, but God can give you a destiny. He is the only One who can. What you have been, you do not have to be. You cannot change yourself. You cannot redeem yourself. You cannot write an excellent ending to your miserable life, but God can; He has already written it in blood.