6a God's Forgiveness of Sin

So far we have looked at the serious situation of our sin that God's forgiveness addresses, what it takes to deal with that, and the role and action of God in Jesus, particularly in his death and resurrection, to effect our forgiveness of sin.
We now begin to consider how that comes through to us. What happened in the cross and resurrection happened a long time ago. How does what was achieved there reach us now? We have seen that Jesus is alive now, and that we participate in his vindicated righteousness now and in the age to come, but how is that connection made between our glorified Lord in heaven and our lives here on earth?