Tonight in our small group, we watched Rob Bell's "Luggage" NOOMA. Watch it below...The issue of personal baggage evolved into forgiveness, and our discussion took off. Many ideas arose. The thought that stuck with me the most comes from the truth that I would not be able to forgive if I didn't know what it's like to be forgiven previously by someone else. Forgiveness cannot be taught. GOD forgave me for an insurmountable number of things, so I know what ultimate forgiveness is.

What boggles my mind is that GOD had a forgiveness plan for me before He came to earth. So, when the Son actually did come, His perspective wasn't of wrath and judgment--"fire and brimstone", "all of you are sinners and going to hell...too bad"; His perspective and His message from a forgiven standpoint. His coming to earth was to finalize that forgiveness and redeem us.

Can you imagine Jesus laying the smack down on everyone He encountered? What if Jesus' coming was Old Testament-style where GOD showed His mighty judgment on the wicked...the great Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, Nineveh.

And yet it wasn't. The mercy of the Old Testament combined with Grace in the New Testament with Jesus' arrival...because we're forgiven...and because He loved the world SO much.