Day 245
Isaiah 1:1-2:22, 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2, Psalm 105:1-11
I was having a conversation today about “the Old Testament God”, the one without all the forgiveness, the God of wrath, the God that doesn’t do the reconciliation bit. A lot of people concentrate on this huge difference between the wrath God and the forgiveness of Christ, and in all honesty there is a fair bit of the judgement part in the Old Testament. On the other hand there is the promise tied up in the rainbow for Noah and then there is this in Isaiah.
Very early on, before Isaiah gets into the meaty judgement, God wants to sit down with his people and reason with them (1:18). He talks of the worst possible sins becoming white like snow, he would cleanse all of the dirt in the lives of the people if they chose to turn back to him.
Paul is talking about a similar thing in the ministry of reconciliation, where all people can, if they wish, be reconciled to God through the life, death and resurrection of Christ, “not counting men’s sins against them”. Exactly the same offer that is made through Isaiah, that sins can be turned white as snow never to be counted against us. When I imagine all that I have done in the past, the offer of a clean slate is quite amazing.
Paul is also talking about us being the ambassadors, the people who will be living walking proof of the fact that God is offering to welcome his people back into his loving embrace and the Psalmist even follows this up with “make known to the nations what he has done”, kind of seals the deal.
Read these words today and know that you are forgiven and then tell people that you are forgiven. That is the love of God available to us in Christ and it can be our only response.
I was having a conversation today about “the Old Testament God”, the one without all the forgiveness, the God of wrath, the God that doesn’t do the reconciliation bit. A lot of people concentrate on this huge difference between the wrath God and the forgiveness of Christ, and in all honesty there is a fair bit of the judgement part in the Old Testament. On the other hand there is the promise tied up in the rainbow for Noah and then there is this in Isaiah.
Very early on, before Isaiah gets into the meaty judgement, God wants to sit down with his people and reason with them (1:18). He talks of the worst possible sins becoming white like snow, he would cleanse all of the dirt in the lives of the people if they chose to turn back to him.
Paul is talking about a similar thing in the ministry of reconciliation, where all people can, if they wish, be reconciled to God through the life, death and resurrection of Christ, “not counting men’s sins against them”. Exactly the same offer that is made through Isaiah, that sins can be turned white as snow never to be counted against us. When I imagine all that I have done in the past, the offer of a clean slate is quite amazing.
Paul is also talking about us being the ambassadors, the people who will be living walking proof of the fact that God is offering to welcome his people back into his loving embrace and the Psalmist even follows this up with “make known to the nations what he has done”, kind of seals the deal.
Read these words today and know that you are forgiven and then tell people that you are forgiven. That is the love of God available to us in Christ and it can be our only response.
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