[Reflection] White as Snow

Current state: Snowed/iced in, slightly delusional.

I’m an extrovert, so I naturally gain energy from being around people. Due to frozen roads, I’m completely isolated from humanity – okay, that’s slightly dramatic, but you get the point. Cabin fever is beginning to set in. So far, I’ve named my heater “Sonny” and have been referring to my situation as hanging out with “Sonny and Mer” (get it, Sonny and Cher…). It’s getting harder to convince myself I haven’t completely fallen off my rocker. On the upside, my window faces a fall-colored tree and a yard blanketed with the icy mixture that’s graced North Texas over the last 24 hours.

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As I stare out my window concocting an escape route, I’m pleasantly haunted by the following: Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. My view is breathtaking, and I can’t get over the juxtaposition of bloodstained, red leaves and pure, white snow. Scripture tells us creation points to the Creator (Romans 1:20), yet it always stops me in my tracks when I stumble on such a beautiful depiction of the Gospel right outside my window. As I pout about my circumstances, God is reminding me of what the cross accomplished. My past, present and future sins: washed as white and snow. My debt: paid in full. My soul: accounted for in the book of life. My joy: complete in Jesus.

‘Tis the season.

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“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 like crimson,
they shall become like wool.” -Isaiah 1:18

[Reflection] Abounding Grace

I’m constantly blown away by God’s grace towards rebellious people. We repeatedly miss the mark, yet He continues offering us grace after grace. When I was new to the Faith, the Old Testament terrified me. Why? Because it tells stories that reveal God’s power to destroy disobedience. As I’ve matured, I now see these stories in a new light – laced with grace and hope in the coming Savior, rather than wrath. Traces of grace can be seen throughout the entire Old Testament, beginning with the moment we first tasted death.

At the fall (Genesis 3), God had every right to kick Adam and Eve out of Eden without caring about their livelihood. He didn’t even owe them a “Sayonara!” God clearly stated they were not to touch or eat the fruit from the forbidden tree, and all it took was a serpent spitting promises of false wisdom for them to break God’s only ground rule. I’m not a parent, but I’ve spent several summers coaching. I’ve felt disappointment towards athletes I’ve invested in when they’ve disregarded clearly stated instructions, and can only imagine how much more disappointment and anger God felt towards the very people He breathed into existence. He had no reason to show an ounce of compassion towards Adam and Eve, but…

…the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. -Genesis. 3:21

The very same God who was betrayed, showed grace. My heart can only praise Him for that undeserved gift and what it foreshadowed…Jesus.

At the fall, we became incapable of communion with God because of our sinful nature. We needed someone or something to bridge the gap. We needed to be clothed by robes of righteousness, not rags of corruption. A little over 2,000 years ago a man named Jesus was born, lived a perfect life, preached the Word of God, was beaten to the point of being unrecognizable, spat on by the very people He came to save, and hung on a cross to die with criminals. Three days later He conquered the death we ate in Eden and bridged the gap.

At the cross, God clothed us – again. The leather garbs from Eden foreshadowed the coming of a greater garment – the righteous robes of Jesus Christ. Those who’ve confessed with their mouths and believed in their hearts that Jesus is Lord are no longer draped in rancid rags, but instead are covered in the righteousness of Christ. We’re given grace upon grace upon grace. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels. -Isaiah 61:10

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. -2 Corinthians 5:21