God's Law and Our Sin

18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
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.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Our first parents were created to resemble God their Creator. We have the ability to “reason” and understand and intelligently communicate our thoughts. Even more amazing, God desires the pleasure of fellowship with us! He reaches out to us, his special creatures. Human beings are uniquely created in God’s own image, an image that God himself declared to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31).

But that image became tarnished and broken. God’s reflection became terribly clouded. When God’s law casts light against our sins, we realize how immensely ugly our moral selves have become.

Yet God has provided us the way to overcome our spiritual blindness and the blemish of our sin. Isaiah assures all of us with guilt on our hands that we can become pure. The crimson of sin can be washed away. Hearts can be made white as snow. How? By redemption that comes through the righteousness of Christ. He alone can fulfill the demands of God’s justice in response to our sins.

Have you come to the point of realizing your need for God’s grace in Christ? When we reach that point, true repentance leads us into a true change of life. Others see it in the obedience we show in our walk with Christ. It does not pay to seek any other way of salvation.

Gracious Lord, thank you for providing us with your Son, who met all that is required for our sins to be forgiven. Please forgive my sins, in Jesus’ name. Amen.