The Lord’s Shocking Verdict
Jesus truly makes us new!
“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” (Isaiah 1:18).
Three things strike me about this verse.
The first is the Lord’s tone. Imagine a father walking into a trashed house. His children are in high school. They know better. They have done real damage. But the father calls them into the living room and invites them to sit. “Come now, let us reason together,” he says. The Lord’s tone is dignifying and earnest.
The second thing that strikes me is the Lord’s verdict. We read Isaiah on the other side of Christmas and Easter, of the incarnation and the resurrection, so the cost, the means, and the extent of redemption are known to us. Alec Motyer describes the shocking, life-giving verdict of Isaiah 1:18: “The Lord calls his people to the bar of justice where, of course, they can only be found guilty. But it is there that they hear words of free pardon based on the substitutionary death of a divinely appointed sacrifice.”
The third and perhaps most striking thing about this verse is the nature of the Lord’s cleansing. We are not put through a heavy-duty wash cycle and brought out less soiled (but worn down) in the process. Our sins are not simply scrubbed or bleached out of us. Snow is naturally white. So is wool. What’s happening here? Again, Motyer nails it: “The promise, therefore, is of a new, holy nature, not just the cleansing away of the past.” We don’t just get an improved version of our past. We get a gloriously new reality!
On this cold advent day, hear the Lord’s gracious tone. Marvel at the Lord’s shocking verdict. And meditate on the miracle of the Lord’s cleansing. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17).
CELEBRATING SUNDAY…
Sunday: This Sunday, we had the joy of worshipping together for the first time as the new owners of 4301 Charlotte Avenue. God be praised! Pastor TJ continued our Advent series, which you can check out here.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT…
Wednesday night at Immanuel is on Christmas break 🎁 ! Enjoy some time with your family, friends, and neighbors, and we’ll return on January 8th.
ON THE HORIZON
Next Steps: If you are interested in learning more about membership at Immanuel, our Next Steps Seminar is for you! You can join us on Saturday, January 25, 2024, from 9 am to 3 pm at the Immanuel Cafe for our next class. RSVP here.
SADLER AUDITORIUM COFFEE HOUR: We invite you to join us every Sunday in December for coffee, pastries, and fellowship in the Sadler Auditorium from 10:00 am - 10:45 am! The Sadler Auditorium is the building on our campus with the large stairs directly off 44th Avenue. If you need wheelchair accessibility, you can come up the ramp on the side of the Sadler Auditorium. We invite everyone else to come up the steps. Let’s celebrate what the Lord is doing at Immanuel!
Grateful, thank you Vince, thank you Lord!