Isaiah 43:25
I am the God Who forgives your sins, and I do this because of Who I am. I will not hold your sins against you.
Ephesians 1:4
Long ago, even before He made the world, God chose us to be His very own through what Christ would do for us; He decided then to make us holy in His eyes, without a single fault--we who stand before Him covered with His love.
I am forgivable. If I deserved forgiveness, I wouldn't need it. But I am a sinner, born with a defective nature that causes me to be susceptible to making poor choices, deserving God's wrath. Because of Who God is, He chooses to have mercy on me, not giving me the wrath I deserve, but instead to shower His grace upon me, forgiving me and cleansing me of all unrighteousness. This fits me to be in His presence, since He cannot be in the presence of sin.
John 17 records Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, and in it He prays, "Father, I want that all those You have given Me be with Me where I am" (v. 24). This is the joy that was set before Him to enable Him to endure the Cross. He knew that the only way we could be pure and holy to be in God's presence was by the washing in His Blood that He shed. He is the only Way to God, He is the Truth we need to believe, and He is the Life we can live with Him forever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
