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 like crimson, they shall become like wool"

TO PONDER

I want to take us back to Chemistry class today. For those of you who don't know, I used to be a middle school maths and science teacher before entering ministry in the Lutheran Church. One of the things I used to teach was about the difference between a physical and a chemical change.

Physical changes are generally described as the kinds of changes we observe when something changes size or shape, perhaps even when something changes state, like water evaporating or freezing, even dissolving something is a physical change because while the thing dissolving might seem to completely disappear, it is still the same substance, just mixed in very small particles among the dissolving liquid. The key here is that the appearance changes but the substance doesn't.

Chemical changes on the other hand, occur when there is a chemical reaction and the chemicals involved bond together or break apart to create completely different substances, like when Bi-Carb soda is added to vinegar and carbon dioxide gas is formed.

I think we sometimes thing of God's forgiveness as a physical change. That it cleans us up on the outside but deep down we are still sinners. Today's bible reading certainly lends itself to that way of thinking and it has often been taught that way. The crimson stain of our sin is washed away by the righteousness of Christ. The mess is cleaned up, but we remain sinners.

I want to suggest though, that God is getting at something deeper here. The language in Isaiah 1 sounds 'transformational' to me. It's like God is saying you are like this, but I will make you something else. It's not a cover up, or a surface level paint job that simply gives the appearance of difference or cleanliness. It is a complete transformation. The God proclaims us righteous or clean, we are no longer what we used to be, he makes us something new in Christ.

How ave you considered your sin and God's forgiveness in the past? What would change if you saw God's forgiveness as something transformative, rather than just a cosmetic update?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I thank you that through your death and resurrection, you have made me new. I ask that you would help me to remember the truth of your saving and redeeming work on the cross and the transformative power it has in my life. Remind me today, and every day, that in you I am a new creations, the old has gone and the new has come. May others see that reality in me. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.