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 be like wool. Isaiah 1:18 This past week has been a snowy one for us here in Southern Ontario. Yesterday as the snow was falling, and covering everything I found myself thinking; as many of us did I am sure, that everything looks so pure when it is covered by the white beauty of a fresh snowfall. As I have grown older I have found myself liking snow less. It really does make all of the duties of life more difficult to carry out. Last evening we even had to take the unusual step of cancelling our Bible Study. I really found that I missed the time that I spend on a Wednesday evening in fellowship with other believers. If you do not currently attending Bible Study midweek I would encourage you to find and join one. The depth of joyful fellowship which we share is a wonderful encouragement. Having the evening free however gave me the opportunity to spend some time out of doors enjoying the snowfall. The whole world looked so clean and pure as it was covered with a blanket of fresh white snow. This got me to thinking about Isaiah 1:18 with its promise of a covering for sin. As Isaiah writes prophetically for the people of God calling them to turn from their rebellion against God and to repent and to seek Him once again he calls the people to be washed from their sin. What Isaiah is writing about is not something that they could accomplish for themselves. What they need is to genuinely seek to know and love God once again. If they seek Him they will be found of Him. If they cast themselves upon His grace they will find that He will cover over their sin. No matter how stained they are by sin they will be cleansed. Such is the graciousness of God. Their sin will be as white as snow. As I was contemplating this I was reminded of how C. H. Spurgeon once agonized over the fact of Gods redeeming grace. Spurgeons concern was over what it meant for God to forgive sin. If God simply forgave sin as if it did not exist then, Spurgeon reasoned, God would cease to be God. How could He ignore the depth of sin in our lives? This is the crucial question of each of us to answer. In Job 9:2 the question is put in the following way, How can a mortal be righteous before God? This is the supreme question that the Bible forces us to ask ourselves. Personally how can my own sin be covered over? If God would simply ignore it then He would cease to be a just God. Why should God ignore my sin, and not that of someone else? It is this question that the rest of the book of Isaiah, in fact the rest of the Bible answers. In Isaiah 53:6 the prophet sings, We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. John Calvin once stated that all of the Bible points to the LORD Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on Calvarys cross. The Old Testament points ahead to it, and the New Testament bears testimony it its fulfillment. Here is the answer we need. Our sin can be covered over because God took it and laid it on His Son the LORD Jesus Christ. He took our place. Therefore when we come before God in faith in Christ we are viewed as those who have had sin covered over on account of the cross of Christ. We are now clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Like the world last night we are clean and pure in the sight of God.

The question for each of us is are we in Christ? Have you come to Him in faith confessing your sin and receiving His gift of righteousness?