Saviour
The Lord says to his people, ‘I will come to Jerusalem to defend you and to save all of you that turn from your sins’.
(verse 20)
Read Isaiah 59:1-21
Sin is serious business. But it is not the most popular topic of conversation. Preachers don’t like talking about it. People in the pews don’t like hearing about it. Non-Christians wonder what all the fuss is about.
The fuss is that sin is a reality; it is our human reality. Otherwise, there would be no good reason at all for talking about it. Isaiah defines the problem well: ‘It is your sins that separate you from God’ (verse 2). Sin drives a wedge between us and our creator. It prevents us living in harmony with God and one another.
Isaiah tells us that because of sin, ‘truth stumbles in the public square, and honesty finds no place there’ (verse 14). Could we say the same of our modern public squares, our media or parliament?
Public squares reflect private sins. And yet we have a sense that justice and mercy must prevail. That is why God promises a Saviour in whom both justice and mercy do prevail. The Saviour means business. He takes our sin on himself and bears the consequences. He gives us his perfect record in exchange.
Gracious God, thank you for sending a Saviour, your Son Jesus Christ, who came full of grace and truth. Forgive me my sins. Cover me with your grace. Defend me and make me a defender of all that is just and true. Amen.
Devotion by Ben Pfeiffer from “Time Out … with Jesus” (Australian Church Resources, 2014)
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