When it comes to forgiveness, we need to understand the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Although everything Jesus did for us is factual, unless we have revelation of it in our heart, it will not be real to us.
If we want to fully benefit from what happened on the cross, we must see it and know it in our heart as well as in our mind.
A vision of the cross
Here is a vivid account of a friend’s (Ralph Nault) encounter with the cross as he told it to me and I recorded it.
I’m standing out in the middle of a violent storm; it’s pitch black out there. Lightning is flashing all over, wind is blowing, and rain is coming down very hard. It’s a violent storm going on.
I’m wondering, what in the world happened to me? Because a moment before, I was in this church full of people, worshiping God. The next moment I’m in the middle of this storm, and I mean it was real, like you are, as real as could be.
Off to my left a little bit the lightning flashed. On a hill some distance in front of me, I could see some crosses on the hill. When the lightning flashed behind them, I could see these crosses sticking up on the hill.
I’m looking at them, and all of a sudden the center cross began to be illuminated, and it was filled with light. Radiance came up through that cross and it flowed right up into the sky, like it penetrated … it’s just hard to describe. The light came out from the cross right in the midst of that storm.
It’s like all of a sudden that light from the cross hit me here, and suddenly I knew something. I remember exactly what I said, “My God, it’s all for real!” And the reality of Jesus Christ and the cross entered my heart at that point… that’s what happened … the reality of Jesus Christ.
I’d heard the story all my life growing up as a Catholic, Jesus and the cross and everything, but this was when the reality entered my heart. It was not just a story anymore; it was a reality, and it happened, as I am somehow there seeing this violent storm that it talked about in the Scriptures. Then I started weeping; I simply started weeping and sobbing. And the next instant I am back in that church again, standing there weeping.
Revelation of the cross
After I recorded my friend’s encounter with the cross, my husband replayed it and keyed it into a Word document. As he listened, the cross suddenly became alive to him too. He received revelation of the reality of the cross just by listening to the vision― even though it’d occurred some years earlier.
St. Paul recognizes the need for revelation when he prays for the saints at Ephesus:
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling … (Eph 1:17-18).
Many years ago, I memorized Paul’s prayer and prayed it often for several years. And God answered it! You will be blessed if you do the same.