“Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 1:18-20

The color we most think about during Christmas is white — at least that is my opinion. You may not have thought of white being a Christmas color — but what would a candy cane be without “white”? How would we have snow on our gingerbread houses without “white”? The sheep, the snowflakes…so much of Christmas is colored “white”. To get the color white, it is necessary for all the colors of the spectrum of light to be reflected off of an object. I love the idea that white is a product of light being reflected. There is such a deeper spiritual truth here.

Our verse today speaks of our sins being cleansed to be white as snow or wool. When we pull all of this together, we proclaim that Jesus is the Light. As such, Jesus cleanses us from sin, and so we become reflections of him. From then on G-d only sees us as clean, as pure, as white as snow…because we are seen as through the cross of Christ. Now, this is a beautiful spiritual truth built right into the fabric of nature all around us.

Today as you look around and see things that are “white,” let it remind you that Jesus has paid the price for our sin…paid it in full. There is hope for all of us because we have forgiveness from G-d through our relationship as we reflect the nature of Christ to others.

On this 5th day before Christmas, and on into this new year, may “white” remind us of the hope found in Jesus Christ.

Pastor Dave

“You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— 23 this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. 24 But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.” Acts 2:22-24

During one of my Advent Wednesday Evening services, I showed a picture that was a composite of a Christmas tree and a cross — the two pictures standing side by side. This picture was to remind those in the congregation that Christmas goes beyond the birth of Jesus and all the way to His sacrifice on the Cross.

We have to remember often that Jesus came in the flesh, born to Mary, and lived in a fleshy body. As such, when they drove the nails through his wrists, on the cross, they thought those nails were destroying all Jesus came to do on this earth as they caused His lifeblood to flow down that cross to where they stood. And yet, as in the verse above, this had all been “according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God”. In other words, this did not take G-d by surprise! Just as nails were made by man to build and create, G-d used these nails not to destroy, but to build His Kingdom.

In Him (Jesus) all things hold together. Because of the nails…and the sacrifice on the Cross…the Church is held together.

On this day, seven days before the birth of the savior, we remember the hands of the baby born in a stable, the same hands that nails will one day pierce. Without those nails, the church would never have been built.

Pastor Dave