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"As White As Snow"

Isaiah 1:18

"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

My fifth grade teacher once asked us what seeing the world covered in a brand new blanket of snow reminded us of. I immediately thought of ice cream — white, creamy, cold and smooth. Some of the other kids thought of that too. What our teacher thought of was a hospital, where he pictured everything so clean and sterile, so white. Personally, I thought ice cream was much more realistic. (The other kids agreed with me!)

Now, when I see the world newly covered in a thick, white snowfall, I think of something else. I think of the holiness of God — pure, sinless, un-touched by anything unclean. Then, on the other hand, I think of our human sinfulness. I think of how our world really is under that snow: dirty, muddy, full of all kinds of blackness and uncleanness, hatred, anger, obscenity, malice, discrimination and all kinds of sinfulness.

That dirty world is the sinful world of mankind after the fall into sin. How could mankind ever again hope to live together with God? We could not wash the mud and dirt of our sin out of our life. And God could not bring such dirty, sinful creatures into the snowy white purity of His perfect, sinless Heaven. That would be like if a person with dirt and mud all over his boots walked through that field of white snow. The beautiful snowy whiteness would be marred with the filthy mud. Sin cannot exist in a holy place -- sin and sinners have no place in Heaven.

But God wanted His people in Heaven with Him. So He took the initiative and did something to "clean us up." He sent His Son into our sinful world, to take the mud and dirt of our sin upon Himself and wash us clean from it all. In order to do that, He had to be innocent, sinless Himself. He had to be holy and not guilty of sin or He would not be able to clean away our sin. So Jesus Christ, God Himself, came into the world and took on human flesh, yet without sin, so that He could pay the price of our sin. That He did when He died on the cross. When His blood flowed from Him on the cross, it was the pure, holy sinless blood of God Himself, which has the power to wash away sins. He has fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." We have been fitted for Heaven. Our black, muddy sinfulness has been removed and we now live forgiven, covered with the holiness of Jesus Himself, with which He has clothed us for all eternity. One day, we shall walk with clean feet in the snowy whiteness of God’s Heavenly Kingdom. ThankYou, Jesus!

ThankYou, Jesus for becoming sin for us so that we could be made righteous through Your blood shed for us on the cross. Thank You for enduring our punishment for our sins and taking all our sins away. Keep us always safe in faith in You so we may be ready to walk in the holiness of Your Father’s house. We pray in Your Name. Amen.