WHEN SIN entered the world, Adam and Eve immediately felt guilt, shame, and fear. The horror of that moment, that they had sinned, that the curse of death would now be upon every child they would bear, and that it was impossible for them to fix it, can only be imagined in those moments when we have done the unthinkable and know we cannot take it back.
HOWEVER, within minutes, God revealed the lifeline for the whole human race. God promised that a particular “offspring” of the woman “shall bruise” the serpent’s head (authority) while the serpent “shall bruise his heel.” In other words, God would send a Savior through the woman, born of a virgin, who would absolutely defeat sin, death, hell, the grave, and Satan himself, but through suffering in our place for our sin.
DAVID’S PRAYER was, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” David is using some delightful rhyming thoughts here. “Purge me with hyssop (a medicinal plant)” rhymes with “wash me”. “I shall be clean” rhymes with “I shall be whiter than snow.”
DAVID KNEW the horror of being convicted of sin that can never be taken back. There is no way we can do enough good to undo our sin because our sin already makes us guilty of violating God’s law and we are all without excuse.
THE ONLY HOPE is cleansing. David understood his need then, and we must understand our need now. “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and “the wages of sin is death”. Period.
EXCEPT THAT Jesus is the one “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Why in Jesus and only in him? Because “for our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus suffered God’s judgment against our sins so we could receive God’s righteousness in our place. And the righteousness of God is as clean as it gets.
HERE IS God’s
promise: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That is the new covenant
way of asking for what David poured out from his heart, the cleansing from sin
that only comes through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.
© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)
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