February 21st 2016
Jesus Blood Stains Us White As Snow!
Isaiah 1:18 (NIV)
"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.”
Our life as a Christian could be likened to a “junk yard in the winter!” Have you ever observed a junkyard full of old cars and trucks? Many of them damaged and/or stripped down to where they are just a small semblance of what they once were. Parts are strewn all around and oil stains have killed most of the weeds and grass that attempted to grow there. If there is a tree growing there it is bare, as all of its leaves have now fallen. Yes, this is a very ugly site. Imagine how you were before you accepted Jesus as your Savior!
Then it begins to snow. Little by little the snow begins to cover this ugly site. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? (Psalm 147:16-17) At first the snow has a difficult time sticking, as the oil and gas on the ground make it melt. But this is a heavy snow, and it begins to stop melting and begins to cover the ground. As the snow falls on the old vehicles it also melts, as the sun has heated them earlier that day. Finally the snow begins to stick even on the cars and other debris.
So first the lower areas are covered, and it begins to become a beautiful white. Then the larger objects begin to disappear into this blanket of white. It takes a long time for the large objects to become covered, and as the wind blows some of the snow is blown away, and the ugliness again appears for a short time. The snow continues to fall, and once again these objects are covered. Finally, everything is covered and this once ugly place is now a beautiful clean and white wonderland. Everywhere you look there is nothing but the beauty of the snow, and shapes that now make you only think of their beauty.
We just like this junk yard still have some ugliness, but now it cannot be seen, as it is covered by the blood of Jesus. On the outside we look beautiful because what is seen is the grace of God! Very slowly we are transformed by this grace, actually from the inside out, but our appearance has been changed to what other people experience through our modified behavior. We are a new creation through Jesus, but we are a work-in-process, because we have been born again. This birth is the start of our new life made possible only by Jesus offer to cover our sins with His blood. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)
This is the way Jesus sees us every day, because He has supplied His blood (the snow) to cover over all of our ugliness. As followers of Jesus this process will eventually be completed, and we will become like Him. Paul tells us of this final transition into our new body, which will allow us to be holy throughout. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1Corinthians 15:51-52)
The next Christian you see, visualize them as being white as the snow, for they are, as the Holy Spirit now resides in them! You are ready to serve the living God, because you have been transformed through the sacrifice of Jesus shedding His blood for your sins. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:14) Jesus has put us on the narrow path that leads to life, which will “cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death.”
What a friend we have in Jesus! Have you thanked Him today for giving His blood so we can appear white as snow?
Your Salvation Was Assured Before You Were Born!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus, Bob Moak
Isaiah 1:18 (NIV)
"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.”
Our life as a Christian could be likened to a “junk yard in the winter!” Have you ever observed a junkyard full of old cars and trucks? Many of them damaged and/or stripped down to where they are just a small semblance of what they once were. Parts are strewn all around and oil stains have killed most of the weeds and grass that attempted to grow there. If there is a tree growing there it is bare, as all of its leaves have now fallen. Yes, this is a very ugly site. Imagine how you were before you accepted Jesus as your Savior!
Then it begins to snow. Little by little the snow begins to cover this ugly site. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? (Psalm 147:16-17) At first the snow has a difficult time sticking, as the oil and gas on the ground make it melt. But this is a heavy snow, and it begins to stop melting and begins to cover the ground. As the snow falls on the old vehicles it also melts, as the sun has heated them earlier that day. Finally the snow begins to stick even on the cars and other debris.
So first the lower areas are covered, and it begins to become a beautiful white. Then the larger objects begin to disappear into this blanket of white. It takes a long time for the large objects to become covered, and as the wind blows some of the snow is blown away, and the ugliness again appears for a short time. The snow continues to fall, and once again these objects are covered. Finally, everything is covered and this once ugly place is now a beautiful clean and white wonderland. Everywhere you look there is nothing but the beauty of the snow, and shapes that now make you only think of their beauty.
We just like this junk yard still have some ugliness, but now it cannot be seen, as it is covered by the blood of Jesus. On the outside we look beautiful because what is seen is the grace of God! Very slowly we are transformed by this grace, actually from the inside out, but our appearance has been changed to what other people experience through our modified behavior. We are a new creation through Jesus, but we are a work-in-process, because we have been born again. This birth is the start of our new life made possible only by Jesus offer to cover our sins with His blood. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)
This is the way Jesus sees us every day, because He has supplied His blood (the snow) to cover over all of our ugliness. As followers of Jesus this process will eventually be completed, and we will become like Him. Paul tells us of this final transition into our new body, which will allow us to be holy throughout. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1Corinthians 15:51-52)
The next Christian you see, visualize them as being white as the snow, for they are, as the Holy Spirit now resides in them! You are ready to serve the living God, because you have been transformed through the sacrifice of Jesus shedding His blood for your sins. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:14) Jesus has put us on the narrow path that leads to life, which will “cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death.”
What a friend we have in Jesus! Have you thanked Him today for giving His blood so we can appear white as snow?
Your Salvation Was Assured Before You Were Born!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus, Bob Moak
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