Each day the snow is receding. The frozen remains of a well defined winter are losing their mass, and the promise of new life is here. There is only one problem when the snow is melting - it is ugly! As the snow melts, all the debris of winter is exposed. Our back yard is not yet bright and green, nor is it crisp and white. Instead it is grey, and not just grey, but covered with twigs, dead pine needles, bits of mud and decomposing grass. Each snow storm this winter dropped another beautiful covering of white, everything looked perfect, but it was really just a cover up.
I'm so glad this isn't the experience of forgiveness. Forgiveness is tricky business, because it is impossible to undue what has been done, the nature of consequences is that they happen, and forget about making yourself forget... it doesn't happen. Yet my deepest desire is that when I'm forgiven all is made new, a fresh start, things are "as white as snow." Have you experienced "snow job" forgiveness in your life. It all looks crisp and white, but then in time (maybe the heat of life) the covering melts away, and all the garbage is still there. This isn't the forgiveness we desire, nor is it the forgiveness modeled by God.
Yes, the connection of snow and forgiveness is biblical. God puts this offer out to his people through the prophet Isaiah. "Come now, let's settle this," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow." (Isaiah 1:18) But this speaks of a transformation, not a covering. The forgiveness God can make happen is as radical as turning blood red to pure white - no easy feat. In fact, it sounds about impossible. The other primary reference to this imagery is in the deepest cry for forgiveness found in Psalm 51. The poem of a repentant king who has committed adultery and murder. He cries, "Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." (Psalm 51:7) The cleansing God can perform goes beyond a cover up.
The way of the world is a balance of good for evil; getting the karma balance leaning in your favor. The best forgiveness most people can image is a covering, a blanket of snow covering the debris and damage. But the message God gives in the Bible and makes real in Jesus is of the impossible. God makes the stain of blood turn white, and removes the debris of life as far as the east is from the west. It is thrown behind his back, it is remembered no more, it is gone - not buried waited to be exposed in the next season. It is gone.
And the opportunity for health offered to those who are following Jesus Christ is to not only receive this forgiveness, but also to extend it to others. For when we forgive as we have been forgiven we experience true freedom. When you forgive others, your forgiveness can move closer to the forgiveness God offers when you make the following commitments:
- I will not dwell on the incident (don't do mental replays)
- I will not bring up this incident again and use it against you
- I will not talk to others about this incident
- I will not let this incident stand between us or hinder our relationship
[If you want to read more on this I recommend The Peace Maker by Ken Sande - where the above list is taken from]
Hebrews 10:17-20 Then God says, "I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds." And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices. And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.
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