White As Snow

"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 as red as crimson, they shall be like wool." - Isaiah 1:18-19

In the autumn of 1974, I was starting my not so illustrious schooling at what was then Glyn Grammar School. One incident comes to mind as I think about these verses. My first lesson in biology started with being given a pristine exercise book to record notes. In those days, we were required to use fountain pens and messy ink – biros were banned! I was in the front row of desks. The inevitable happened. As I began to write, my pen ‘malfunctioned’ (due to my inexperience)! A large ink blot stained my pure white page, blotting out my first notes in my new book. There was no way I could rub it out. The evidence would remain! Worse, my biology master just happened to loom over me at that very moment. He looked at me, mildly amused at my awkwardness, and said in a sarcastic tone, ‘Oh dear!’… I wanted the ground to swallow me up!

The people of Israel had turned away from God to worship idols and to indulge in all that went with such practices. Isaiah’s task was a tough one: to bring a message they needed to hear, but which he knew they would fail to heed. Yet amidst the warnings of judgement, the exposure of shortcomings and sin amongst so many, there are remarkable passages of hope where God shows his tender heart for them still – this is just such a passage.

Sin is likened to the colour of scarlet. They had blood on their hands! They were guilty! … but there was a way back. They could be forgiven and be as white as snow, their sins wiped out, their hearts and lives completely cleansed. Repentance required! The promise was real, but the response was not forthcoming.

What a wonderful picture of God’s grace and forgiveness. We are all sinners (Romans 3:23).

In God’s eyes, sin is sin. Any transgression is sin. We are sinful people and sin separates us from God. Our sins are like crimson, yet through Jesus, we are washed as white as snow.

Now I know some people don’t like snow, but I do, so I love this picture in Isaiah. When snow falls (the proper stuff that is, not the small amounts we have around here mostly!) it covers everything and turns everything white. There is a magical look to everything for just a short time until we all trample in it and drive in it, and it gets dirty!

That picture of fresh snow is what Jesus has done (and keeps doing) for us. Our sin – past, present, and future – is covered by His sacrificial death on the cross. He took the blame, the punishment, the judgement, so that we don’t have to.

Of course, we still sin (every day by my reckoning!) but we also have these wonderful words in 1 John 1:9: ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’

Remember, John was writing to Christians. We still get things wrong. We still have bad habits. We still have a sinful nature. Yet Jesus’ death and resurrection has made provision for us. Through confession and repentance (turning away from sin), we are forgiven – completely. We become like that perfectly white snow.

Some of us may harbour thoughts of still not being good enough for heaven. Quite right, none of us are! But through faith in Jesus, we are made righteous (clean, pure, with a right standing before God) in our heavenly Father’s sight, not because we deserve anything at all, but simply because he has done everything necessary for our full salvation.

Of course, everywhere in His Word there are calls to live holy lives; lives set apart for Him. He has graciously given us His Spirit who can give us all the strength we need, the protection we need, the comfort we need, the power we need, the guidance we need every day! We can make progress; we can rely on Him daily and seek to do His will.

King David was and is revered as the greatest king of Israel. Yet if you look at his life, we are shocked at how wrong he got it, and not just once! Comforting then that he wrote Psalm 51, which contains the following words expressing a desire to live a holy life pleasing to God:

‘Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.’ (v 10)

Later in the psalm, David reflects on what he should ‘do’. He realises that the only sacrifice that is acceptable to God is a broken and contrite heart (v 17). It is not a case of appeasing God with ‘good deeds’ (stacking up the good against the bad and hoping we get a credit balance at the end!). It is not a case of justifying our failures by saying ‘we are only human’. It is not a case of rationalising our shortcomings by taking for granted God’s amazing grace.

The only right response every day is to come before Him humbly and admit our sinful nature with a truly broken and contrite heart and allow him to restore, renew and wash us clean once more.

I don’t know if we’ll get snow this winter (I secretly hope we do!) but Isaiah’s inspired words are gloriously powerful. So let us rejoice and praise God, in awe of His matchless grace and endless mercy, his faithfulness and never-ending love. We are as white as pristine snow in His sight! Hallelujah!

Have a blessed week!