My King came down and paid my debt I owed to Him. He came down as a servant to pay in His own blood the debt I owed to God because of my sins against Him and others. The debt was infinitely great. Even if I gave all I owned a millions times over and gave every good work a million times over, my debt would still be unpaid. So an infinite debt required an infinite payment. I am thankful for this servant who is also my King. I am thankful that Jesus in His grace has forgiven my debt and removed my guilt by giving Himself.

See forgiveness cost. It will either come at the expense of the one injured or the one who did the injuring. In death, on a Roman cross, my forgiveness was purchased at the cost of the one whose glory had been injured. Jesus Christ nailed my debt to the cross, forgave me of my sin and sent me free to rejoice in the gracious gift of life with others who have received the same.

This motivates Christian forgiveness. How great it is, that Jesus did not withhold this gift from those of us who are known by Him. With this knowledge of God?s work in our lives on the cross, the Holy Spirit prompts us to forgive those who have injured us in order that we would display the great work of God in Christ. In forgiving others, we pay the cost and take some measure of suffering. We will be bearing our cross and demonstrate to the world the power of the Gospel.