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"The Restart Button"
Text: Isaiah 62:2b-4a ~ “…you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken…”
“Oh, yeah, she’s a she’s a real gem.” (That’s usually said sarcastically, like when we say, “She’s pure as the driven snow.”)
But that’s not what God says! God is not at all sarcastic when he says (Isaiah 1:18), “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Your sins turned as white as snow… You, a “crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord…”
I don’t know about you, but that’s hard for me to believe. I know my heart and “my sin is ever before me…” Oh, I have my good moments, times when I feel really good about how I’ve helped other people. But I also have those moments when I’m painfully aware of exactly how selfish and mean I can be… I know how far short I fall of the love of God. How about you? “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Do you sometimes feel it, too? Nobody has to remind you that you’re not perfect; your conscience and Satan (and sometimes your jealous brothers and sisters) seem to love shoving that hard fact in your face all the time… “What do you think you are, pure as the driven snow?”
Well, God has good news for you! He has covered your shortcomings with the perfection of his Son! He has turned you into his own delight! God almighty has created in you a new heart! What a gem you are – really! You really are pure as the driven snow. God says so! “The Lord delights in you.” (Isaiah 62:4) God himself calls you, “…a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession…” (1 Peter 2:9) Through his prophet Isaiah, God declares, “…you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…”
God’s unconditional love for you is the reason your Maker and Redeemer has clothed you “with the garments of salvation; he has covered [you] with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)
“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress…”
It’s that “alien righteousness” again – the way God Almighty has chosen to take all your sin away, nailing it to the cross of his Son Jesus Christ. And he gives you, instead, full credit for the perfect righteousness (the holiness) of the Son of Mary.
As our epistle lesson for today describes it (Galatians 4:3-7), “…when we were children, [we] were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” God has changed us from “slaves to sin” to his precious children.
Have you ever made such a mess of things that you wished you could start all over again? I saw a billboard in front of a local church that said, “Ever wish life had a restart button? It does!” Now, I’m not saying that that church teaches the pure Word of God, but they got that much right! They may be off on a lot of other things, but “even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while!”
Life does have a restart button! It’s called repentance. Turn from trusting in your own nasty righteousness and turn to trusting only in God, who adopted you and made you his precious child. Trust only in God, who says you are pure as that Babe of Bethlehem – pure as the driven snow, a royal gem in his crown. God declared you his pure child – who can argue with him?
“And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” Galatians 4:6)
“Abba” is a term of endearment for a precious father you love dearly. Imagine calling God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, “Daddy,” or “Papa”! But that is exactly what God invites you to do. See him as the precious Father who loves you with a never-ending love.
“God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” Did you see the Holy Trinity there? “The Spirit of his Son...” God the Father has sent / God the Holy Spirit / of his Son (God the Son, Jesus Christ) into our hearts. “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.” That is how we can believe this foolishness!
Hey, that’s not my word; that’s Paul’s – that’s the Word of God! “Foolishness.” You think it makes sense that God would look at our nasty selves and call us holy? That’s nonsense! Foolishness! And you think God would take his holy, pure, perfect and only Son (God the Son himself!) and blame him for the sins of the world? And then abandon him to die on a cross… Does that make sense to you? Paul called it the foolishness of the Gospel. 1 Corinthians 1:25 ~ “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
You do not have to fully understand this great mystery of “Substitutionary Atonement.” All you have to do is relax and know that God has said you are his precious child. “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
As we begin a new year, may we begin a new life! We can do that, you know. God has made all things new – including you!
With the Spirit of his Son in your heart, you can forgive your brother or sister who has hurt you deeply. You can let it go, like God has let your own sins go…
Knowing that God has declared you a gem in his hand, you can reach out to those who need you.
With the new name that the LORD himself has given you (“my precious child”), you can love others like you’ve never loved before.
As a crown of beauty adorning God Almighty himself, you have the power of God within you – the Spirit of his Son in your hearts – the power to believe the foolishness of the Gospel and tell everyone what He has done.
Now that he has clothed you in the perfect righteousness of his holy Son, please do not turn back to trusting in what you have done. Instead, delight in the good news that God has created in you a clean heart, that God has made you to shine like stars; God almighty has declared you to be a gem in his crown, even his crown itself – a royal diadem in his hand! That’s what God has made you!
Don’t argue with God. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” Be wise and take God at his word. He says you are his delight. Because of all that the Babe of Bethlehem (God’s only Son, Jesus Christ) has done for you, you (like Simeon) can now depart in peace, according to God’s Word. Amen.
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