Today my thoughts were on the wonder of the way the holy
and righteous God could enter our sinful world, become a curse for us, bear
with us in our sin, somehow making us righteous in the imputed righteousness of
his Son, all so that he could justifiably touch us with his holy hands, shape
us, and conform us to the reality of righteousness that is in his Son.
This wonder is expressed in Paul’s inspired declaration: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”[2] Now I get to wake up in the morning knowing that I have become the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, while knowing that I am not
yet the finished product God has been aiming for before time began.
At present, I am in that ongoing journey of transformation that
Paul described as, “And we all, with unveiled
face, beholding the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”[3] How is it, then, that God can handle us in this transformational
journey when we are still not yet fully holy and righteous as he is holy and
righteous?
There is plenty of sound doctrine in the Scriptures
explaining how it is both possible, and real. However, I want to share an
illustration that helps me feel the wonders of this gift. I have a picture of
the imputed righteousness of Christ being like a transparent, shimmering film
around me. On the inside of the film, I am still who and what I am, a much-improved version of the old me, but still unrighteous
by any standard of the word.
However, between God and me is this shimmering film of
righteousness making me righteous in God's sight by faith. Through this film,
God can clearly see me as I really am, and yet he can also see me as righteous
in his Son.
God can touch me
through the film, as though he is never touching my unrighteousness, but only
the righteousness of his Son. As God touches me, with this shimmering film
molding itself between me and his hand, he can shape me, change me, rebuke me,
and correct me, all in a hands-on kind of way, while never actually defiling
his holiness by touching my sinfulness. It is a wonder that God can address my
unrighteousness without ever touching it, without feeling that abhorrence over
my sin because he is always touching the real righteousness of his Son.
This is all possible because his Son did become sin for us,
he did become a curse in our place. In the mystery of the Triunity of God,
God-the-Son became sin so that God-the-Father could pour out all his holy wrath
against my sin. The Son felt what his own wrath against our sin felt like from
the Father. He did this so that the Father could touch us through his
righteousness, and so conform us into that same righteousness, from one degree
of glory to another. One day we will experience this
incredible gift of his grace, that we will see Jesus just as he is,[4]
the glory of God in the face of our Savior,[5]
and become just like him.
Again, this is just an illustration, so I will avoid making
too much of it. However, it is one of the ways I see this wonder in my mind,
that God can touch me as I am now, so
that he can mold me and shape me into Christ likeness, touching me where I am
unrighteous, while only feeling the righteousness of his Son.
And, because of this, the whole time he is dealing with me,
molding me through the righteousness of his Son, there is the sparkle of joyful
love in his eyes; the love that planned this incredible gift before the
beginning of time.
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~
Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise
noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
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