A verse in the Bible says, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)). Here are two more that describe all of us: “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:1010As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (Romans 3:10)), and, “All have sinned” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). This is a very dark, hopeless picture of you and me, until we read this message of hope: “But God ... loved us, even when we were dead in sins” (Ephesians 2:4-54But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:4‑5)). The following illustration might help us understand this great love of God.
At one time I had a job in a factory that manufactured clothing for men and women. Hundreds of people worked there, and each person had his own particular job in designing the style, cutting the material, sewing the garments or sending the finished articles of clothing to various stores where they would be sold to customers. But there was one department that was perhaps the most important of all. It was called “FINAL INSPECTION.”
In this department, a group of workers checked the finished garments, and anything less than perfect was rejected and sent to the Factory Shop. This was a factory store where the employees could buy these garments very cheaply. When employees went into that store, they could look at all the racks of clothing and say, “Nothing here has passed Final Inspection— there is not one perfect garment in this store ... ‘no, not one.’” They have all been rejected.
Perhaps this gives us an idea of how God sees the whole human race. We were all born into a world that has been ruined by sin, due to the disobedience of our very first parents—Adam and Eve. As a result, not one of us could pass God’s “Final Inspection,” because we are all sinners, and God cannot have sin in His presence. Our flaws may be different, but every single one of us is imperfect because of our sins, without any hope of being able to make ourselves presentable, since God sees all our efforts as “filthy rags.”
Here is where the good news of God’s love and grace comes in and becomes our only hope. The Bible tells us that God loved this world of flawed, sinful people so much that He gave His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our substitute and die in our place. He is the only perfect, sinless man who ever lived, so that by believing in Him our sins and imperfections are removed forever. God no longer sees us as “rejects”; He sees us as perfect, like Jesus.
The Bible says in Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” How gracious of God to receive us as perfect when we accept His Son as our Saviour. We will never have to fear being rejected by Him, because we have Jesus’ own promise: “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [judgment]; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)).
Do you have God’s promise of everlasting life? Or will you face rejection and judgment?
ML-08/08/2010