Do you have an item of clothing that has a terrible stain on it, one that has just been impossible to remove? Perhaps you spilled red wine on a white dress or light colored suit. Or maybe tomato sauce dripped on a shirt or blouse, or blood stains on an article of clothing. All of these stains are difficult to remove, and sometimes the best one can do is just lighten the stain, as it will never completely come out. Today we will read about another type of stain, not one from food, that is impossible for us to remove. Let’s take a look into God’s Word.
As our Scripture begins in the first chapter of Isaiah, the prophet is bringing the message from God to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Rather than calling them Judah and Jerusalem, he calls them by the names of Sodom and Gomorrah, two ancient cities that God had destroyed because of their sinfulness (Genesis 19:1-29). Both Judah and Jerusalem thought they were the pinnacle of holiness because of the Temple, yet God called them Sodom and Gomorrah, cities so sinful that God had destroyed them (vs. 10). God was repulsed by Judah and Jerusalem’s religious rituals because they practiced these rituals but they also persisted in sin.
The people of Judah and Jerusalem continued to practice some of the rituals of the Old Testament Law, such as offering the animal sacrifices in the Temple, and keeping the religious festivals, however their hearts were not right with God. They mixed their religious practices with that of pagan religions, and worship of their false gods. They also randomly broke God’s Law, doing whatever felt good and what would profit themselves. Sacrifices are meaningless and abhorrent to God if the person is not obedient (vs. 11-15). Gifts, offerings and sacrifices mean nothing to God if they come from someone with a corrupt heart. He hates hypocritical religious activity if one is in sin.
God then, through the prophet Isaiah, called the people to wash and cleanse themselves from the sin that was making them spiritually filthy (vs. 16). When a child gets dirty after playing outdoors, or someone gets filthy after hours of physical work, they always take a bath or shower to wash off all the dirt. God wanted the people to cleanse themselves from all of the sins that were making them even more filthy and abhorrent than just dirt from play or work. They were doing evil. They were not practicing justice in their daily lives. They oppressed others, and were unfair and unjust to those who were unable to defend themselves, such as widows and orphans (vs. 17).
As God looked at these people, He saw that not only were they dirty with sin, they were permanently stained (vs. 18). Their sins were as stained as a red wine stain on a white dress or spaghetti sauce on a white suit, red, bold, and even more impossible to remove. Some food stains are difficult to remove, but sometimes we can find a good solution or a skillful cleaner that can remove them. However, our sin stains cannot be removed by anything we do. God’s Word describes them as being red like scarlet and crimson, bold and noticeable, and impossible to get out. No amount of good works can scrub those stains clean.
Only God can remove the sin that separates us from Him. He does this through His Son, Jesus Christ. If we are willing to turn to Jesus, calling upon Him for salvation, He will forgive and remove even the worst of sins. The sinner must accept the cleansing offered by the Lord, a cleansing of the heart, resulting in true repentance. Only the Blood of Jesus can take away those sin stains. Come to Jesus! Apply His Blood to your life, and be cleansed from your sin.
As the old-time hymn says:
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.
O precious is the flow,
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.
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