One of the great truths of the Christian faith is that there is forgiveness for our sins, and that by God’s grace. But, it is very possible to greatly misunderstand this truth in one of two ways. First, we reduce God into some kind of vending machine who dispenses forgiveness without any personal interest: we sin, we deserve His wrath, we push the “ask forgiveness” button, and grace falls from heaven. The other problem is that we seek forgiveness for all the wrong reasons, and miss the real goal or point of God’s grace. In Exodus 32-34 God does not easily or quickly forgive their sin. Moses prays repeatedly for God’s mercy and forgiveness was very slow in coming. This is not because God is reluctant or unwilling to forgive, or that He needs to be convinced by Moses about what is the right thing to do! The truth is, it is not difficult for God to forgive! But, God is teaching them that He is not just a vending machine dispensing grace as a cheap trinket. He is teaching them the true goal and purpose of forgiveness. So what is the goal of forgiveness? Exodus 33 teaches us that the ultimate goal of grace is to live in God’s presence! Grace is more than simply receiving His blessings and benefits. Grace means the way is open for us to live with God and be in intimate personal relationship with Him! We have all disqualified ourselves from such a gift, so the only way to live in His presence is by grace. Through God’s grace He shows the world HIs glory by demonstrating that even though we absolutely do not deserve anything from Him, by His great grace He makes us His own.
