White as snow? .......... Parables 621

December 15, 1998

Something magical happens with the first snowfall. From my studio window, I see hundreds of rooftops. In fair weather, they are a kaleidoscope but after the first snowfall, their various sizes and shapes are unified in white, outlined with dark eaves-trough edges. Snow pulls them together in a huge patchwork quilt. It blankets everything.

Although each flake is crystal clear, millions of snowflakes together take on a pristine quality that makes the world look as the cliche says, “white as snow.”

Because of its color and its ability to cover, snow is used in an invitation from God found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah. “Come now; and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”

Scarlet metaphorically suggests sin is the color of shame, vivid and awful in the sight of God. He wants people to reason it out, to get past vague expressions like, “Of course we have sin” to a personal recognition that acknowledges “I am a sinner.”

Part of the reasoning called for in this verse is to also recognize the reasonableness of God. He is not a tyrant eager to drop a judgment hammer but a God who loves us. Sin spoiled our ability to know and love Him in return. For our sake and for His own, He planned to do something about it. This verse becomes a promise as He says, “they shall be as white as snow.”

This metaphorical use of snow also suggests how God does it. As snow covers the ground, the roof tops and everything it falls upon, so the forgiveness of God can cover our sin. He can give our lives a newness that is something like the freshness of that first snowfall.

Making sin white as snow is not the same as covering it up. God does not mask or hide what we have done as someone who pretends it is not there. Before sin can be covered, it must first be acknowledged and confessed. The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

After we uncover our sin to God, He covers it in the sense that His forgiveness cleanses or washes our guilt from His record. Instead of offenses, our slate is wiped clean. In God’s mind, we are as white as snow.

Sin is scarlet but so is its remedy. God says without the “shedding of blood, there is no remission for sin.” Forgiveness and red blood go together. While this is gruesome to us, God uses blood as a cleansing agent for sin, the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

Why isn’t being sorry for our sin enough to satisfy God? Can’t He forgive us on that basis? No, because sin is far more serious to Him than we imagine. It has marred His image in us and we fall short of all He intended. Besides, sin demands punishment. A holy God cannot look the other way.

The wages of sin is death but paying our own wages would not do it. A substitute is acceptable. In the Old Testament, is was an unblemished lamb. Then Christ came, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The substitute had to be perfect and since we are not, we cannot pay our debt ourselves.

God sent Jesus to be our substitute. His death paid our wages for sin and because He was sinless, God accepted His sacrifice. Then He rose from the dead, triumphing over both sin and death. Those who trust in Him are given that same victory.

When we sin, we can look to the Son of God who bled and died for us because He is the only One who can say, “Father, I got it covered.”

Justice and a pardon offered ........................... Parables 049

The school bus was “speeding” . . . through the school zone!

It was 3:45. Students were still at the crosswalks, on the sidewalks, and walking out of the school.
There wasn’t a police car in sight. All that driver received for his offense was the protest I uttered to my two passengers, a protest that he didn’t even hear. Is This justice?

Justice, according to the dictionary, is the rendering of what is due. It is getting what is deserved, or what is earned. Justice can mean a reward for what is good but we usually think of it as punishment for a crime.

Crimes against God are called sin. The Bible defines these “crimes” in various ways:

• “Sin is the transgression of the law” 1 John 3:4
• “All unrighteousness is sin” 1 John 5:17
• “Whatever is not of faith is sin” Romans 14:23
• “The thought of foolishness is sin” Proverbs 24:9
• “He that despises his neighbor sins” Proverbs 14:21
• “In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking . . . ” Proverbs 10:19
• “He that knows to do good and doesn’t do it, for him, that is sin” James 4:17

The punishment for sin has also been declared: “The wages of sin is death . . . ” (Romans 6:23) 

This refers not just to physical death, but to spiritual death, which is separation from God forever.
The Bible says that God is perfectly just, but because we are not struck by lightning, or some such thing, when we break His laws, we tend to think that our transgressions don’t really matter to God, that maybe He looks the other way, or doesn’t care.

The cross of Jesus Christ should remind us that our sin matters very much to Him. Sin is such an offense to God that His Son suffered and died for it . . .  that sin had to be punished. God will not be unjust. Someone had to die to pay for it.

I’m sure that if the speeding bus driver had been caught and an innocent person offered to pay his fine or penalty, he would seriously consider the offer. In God’s system of justice, God does just that. The penalty was due and just, but it has been paid in full, by His Son.

Now He offers us pardon and forgiveness as a gift, but He leaves the decision to us. We can reject His offer, or accept it by faith.