Washed Clean

As I write this, rain is tapping away at the windowsill. The taps are becoming progressively louder as the rain starts coming down harder. At first glance out the window, it looks to be a dreary scene.

The rain has lightened up to a soft drizzle now.

On a second, more concentrated look out the window, I see it - a bush situated right underneath the window. I remember noticing the other day that this particular bush was covered in pollen and spider webs. Thanks to the rain, the bush is now free from the pollen and spider webs. It has been washed clean from all the filth I had noticed before. I couldn't help but be reminded of how Christ's atonement on the Cross gave my soul a similar cleansing when I accepted Him as my Savior.

(I realize this comparison/illustration breaks down, but bear with me a little.)

Back in in the days of the Old Testament, those who loved and feared God were required to make sacrifices to make restitution for their sins (you can read more about this in the first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis-Deuteronomy). Blood had to be spilled to cover their sins, because "without the shedding of blood is no remission [pardon/forgiveness]," Hebrews 9:22b. This wasn't just a one-time event. They had to take a sacrifice to the Tabernacle or the Temple (depending on when they lived) every day of their lives.

Approximately 2,000 years ago, God sent His Son to serve as the once-for-all sacrifice for all mankind. Christ was the Lamb "who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God" (Hebrews 9:14). The little phrase "without spot" carries big significance. God required a perfect sacrifice to make restitution for the sins of Old Testament believers. When Christ came to earth to die for us, that standard had not changed. He couldn't just be "good enough" - he had to be perfect, sinless, something  humans can never be no matter how hard we try. Christ had such great compassion and love for us pitiful, sinful, hopeless creatures that he "washed us from our sins in his own blood" (Revelation 1:5), something we could never do for ourselves.

The rain washed away the impurities I saw on the bush outside my window. The bush had no way of removing the filth itself; it was helpless. Similarly, you and I are completely helpless to cleanse our sinful hearts to be the perfect sacrifice that God requires to atone for sin. When we accepted Christ, Christ's blood washes us clean from all the "dust" and "spider webs," all the impurities of our sinfulness, once and for all. That doesn't mean we never sin again - we still have our sinful nature, and it will remain until we die. But our sins - past, present, and future - are already paid for. We do not have the burden of them on our shoulders anymore because of what Christ did for us on the Cross.

If you know Christ as your Savior, you have great cause to rejoice: you are washed clean of your sins by the blood of the Lamb - FOREVER!