When Your Sin Feels Inescapable, Read This…

“‘Come now, let’s settle this,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.’” (Isaiah 1:18, NLT)

Perhaps you remember the scene with Peter, having caught nothing all night while out fishing naked (the naked part is true, by the way—go look it up); do you remember when he catches sight of the Risen Jesus onshore and jumps in, swims in, and rushes up to see Him? It’s in John 21. Can you picture that whole scene? How he, dripping wet, runs up the rocky shore and there Jesus is, tending a small fire with a few fish cooking on a spit? How Jesus motions toward the incoming boat, filled with the other disciples, filled with the fish He’d supernaturally helped them catch, and says, “Bring me some of those fish”? And how Peter, in the most classically Peter way, then sits on the gunwale of that boat and counts through every single fish, one by one? “A hundred and fifty-three fish!” he announces triumphantly.

“Come and have your breakfast, Peter,” Jesus replies.

After which, walking along the shoreline, with the morning sun getting higher, Jesus does the business of reinstating Peter. You can almost hear the pebbly-crunchy sound of their sandals on the beach as Jesus, three times, reaffirms Peter’s love—and His love for Peter. To me, the tone of that morning is, “Come now, let’s settle this.”

***Listen to this Blog, Read by the Author[audio m4a="https://www.destinyimage.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Promises_from_His_Lips__-_Promise_5.m4a"][/audio]This article has been excerpted from Yesterday, Today & Forever: A Journey Through 30 Unchangeable Promises of God.***The reason this promise from the book of Isaiah is so striking to me is that 1) it’s all the way back in the book of Isaiah, and 2) it sounds to me so much like Jesus. It’s almost as if Isaiah himself, in the work of his office as prophet, had personally encountered the Son of Man prior to His incarnation. That matter-of-fact “Come now, let’s settle this” and that description of our freedom from sin are simply too much like Jesus. We know that in Isaiah 6 the prophet has a direct encounter with God in the throne room of Heaven—fearsome and awesome. And I’ve been sitting here, pondering the wonderful possibility that, perhaps, he also got a sneak peek of our Savior Himself.

Anyhow, back to the promise.

Like Peter, I want you to imagine walking up out of the waters of the Sea of Galilee, with the wind-swell waves lapping at your feet. Ahead of you…is Jesus. He is sitting on a log, poking the fire with a long, sturdy stick, stirring the embers so that your breakfast gets cooked through. Looking up, He sees you and smiles. “Come now, let’s settle this,” He says to you.

But before you give Him a chance to properly settle your affairs, your sense of guilt and shame draws you back to a boat at the edge of the water. You turn your back on Jesus and walk on over and sit right down and begin counting—enumerating—all the ways you’re not worthy. This is not a healthy confession; this is that thing you do whenever you’re trying to (you think) “humble yourself” and “get right with Him.”

Suddenly, He’s standing right next to you. His eyes are not so pleased anymore.

“Come now, let’s settle this,” He says again. And He points back toward the fire and your breakfast, there.

As you sit yourself down across from Him, He’s looking over the warmth of the fire and His eyes are gleaming with the same glowing as the embers. “Are you ready to listen to Me?” He asks.

You nod your head.

“Though your sins were like scarlet,” He says, “I have made them as white as snow.”

You try to interrupt Him. He waves you off.

“And though they were red like crimson,” He continues, “I have made them white as wool; I have done all this, forever, at My Cross.”

You have a great deal you’d like to say to Him—how you’re fairly certain you’re still such a sinner; that your theological understanding doesn’t make room for such a complete wiping-away of sin—and yet it’s difficult to argue with a Risen Jesus, isn’t it?

He watches you across the fire.

Will you accept the reality of this promise?

Eugene LuningGet the whole book: Yesterday, Today & Forever: A Journey Through 30 Unchangeable Promises of God »