1 John 1:9 (NKJV): If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
One night during Bible study the pastor spoke from John 8:1-11, regarding the woman caught in adultery and accused before JESUS, and these words from the pastor resonated in my spirit: “Jesus wasn’t afraid to touch dirt.” At that moment GOD inspired me and gave me a revelation: Dirt is important—in our earthly and spiritual lives.
First, GOD created us, commencing with Adam, who was made from dirt, and, secondly, JESUS' earthly ministry revolved around touching those the proud, self-righteous, and religious of His day considered “dirty” or morally and physically “unclean”—the scandalous, corrupt, diseased, demonized, rebellious, weakened, broken, rejected, hungry, thirsty, homeless, foreign, and dead. He touched these people’s lives, bringing peace into their chaos, life to their dead, and light into their dark situations.
JESUS changed men, women, and children for the better—physically, mentally, and emotionally, and He inspired STRENGTH, COURAGE, BOLDNESS, GOODNESS, GREATNESS, PATIENCE, LOVE, and COMPASSION, and most who came into His presence never left Him the same, because He invited everyone to come and accepted what little faith, hope, or sincere offering they had to give Him, and He gave thanks for it and multiplied it, making the ordinary into something special—something unique—something miraculous and extraordinary.
In the Bible we see snapshots--portraits--of “dirty” souls, and we see just how much GOD loves them, just how much He willingly courts, draws, and reforms them, forever altering their lives—their destinies: There's Jacob, who lied and betrayed his brother; there's Moses, who killed a man and ran away; there's Rahab, who sold herself; there's King David, who committed adultery and had the woman’s husband killed; there's the Samaritan woman at the well, who had been with men, the last one not her husband; there's the woman with the issue of blood who was physically unclean; there are the beggars, the blind, and the demonized, who were social outcasts publicly labeled damaged, weak—“unclean”.
But GOD is GOOD, GOD is JUST, GOD is LOVE. GOD does not change, and JESUS CHRIST is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He still touches us today, with a finger of love and a heart of compassion, even with our “dirt,” even in the middle of our sins—our lawlessness and rebellion. He touches us to our very souls, and He leaves a spiritual imprint, even as He tells us this: “Repent. Go, and sin no more.” And as we draw near to GOD through JESUS, GOD draws near to us, always knocking on the door of our hearts, patiently waiting for us to ACCEPT the INVITATION that JESUS gives to all, to COME and to BELIEVE IN HIM and to INVITE HIM into our hearts, our lives, our circumstances and situations. And when GOD looks at us with the EYES of LOVE through the REDEEMING BLOOD of HIS SON, JESUS, He sees us as CLEAN--MADE RIGHTEOUS--BY HIM, JESUS--and old things pass away, and we become NEW CREATIONS--JUST-AS-IF-WE-HAD-NEVER-SINNED. That's the demonstration of GOD's LOVE; that's the nature of GOD's GRACE, that HE KNOWS that we are by nature DIRTY, but He still DRAWS US TO HIMSELF; He still TOUCHES US, WASHES US CLEAN, and MAKES US WHOLE, with nothing broken and nothing lost. Even IN DIRT, GOD sees POTENTIAL; GOD sees LIFE.
So, our dirty habits, thoughts, and words do not surprise GOD; our secrets and our sins do not shock Him, and our brokenness and ugliness do not repel Him, for GOD’sWORD declares that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor things present nor things to come, nor any created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of GOD, which is in CHRIST JESUS our LORD. GOD loves us with an everlasting love, and GOD so loved the world that He gave His only begotten SON that whoever believes in HIM should not perish but have everlasting life.
All GOD desires is our surrendered lives, our whole hearts, souls, minds, and strength; all He wants is US—fully committed to HIM. And all He asks is that WE COME TO HIM, and when we do, in REPENTANCE—changing our minds, our directions, and our lifestyles—confessing that we are sinners who need Him as our SAVIOR and LORD, then He who is just and faithful, who is loving, compassionate, and gracious, FORGIVES US our sins and CLEANSES US of all unrighteousness. He redeems and heals us; He delivers us and frees us, turning our brokenness into beauty, our pain into joy, our trials into triumphs, and our tests into testimonies, and we become NEW CREATIONS IN CHRIST--SONS and DAUGHTERS, BROTHERS and SISTERS in the KINGDOM of GOD.
From Genesis to Revelation, this is GOD’sWORD: GOD is GOOD, GOD is JUST, GOD is LOVE, and WITH GOD ALL THINGS are POSSIBLE, including NEW LIFE from GOD’s BREATH and PLAIN DIRT and SALVATION and ETERNAL LIFE through GOD’s SON, HIS LOVE, and HIS BLOOD. JESUS paid in full our debt to GOD, which was death--the wage or penalty for sin; He CARRIED our crosses; He BORE our stripes; He ACCEPTED our punishment, so we could ACCEPT HIS SACRIFICE--HIS SUBSTITUTION--HIS PERFECTION--HIS BLOOD--HIS LOVE--HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and we could be RECONCILED TO GOD, who is HOLY, PERFECT, and GOOD; and JESUS' RESURRECTION is the demonstration of GOD's love, which declares to us all that our sins are now forgiven THROUGH HIM--JESUS CHRIST, the ANOINTED ONE. This is the GREAT EXCHANGE: JESUS' life for ours, His righteousness for our sins. And this is the FINGER of GOD and the HEART of GRACE, that we are saved by grace through faith IN HIM—JESUS—and our righteousness—our right standing with GOD—comes THROUGH HIM—JESUS. So, righteousness is not something WE WORK FOR; righteousness is A GIFT--A FAVOR--GRACE--WE RECEIVE from GOD.
Because of Adam, the first MAN of GOD, and the ORIGINAL SIN, that first act of rebellion, we are all born with a sinful—dirty—nature and when we humble ourselves enough to surrender our hearts, souls, minds, and lives to JESUS, the SON OF GOD, and when we ACCEPT HIM as our SAVIOR, REDEEMER, and LORD, we are washed clean through HIS BLOOD and HIS SACRIFICE, and we are JUSTIFIED and seen as RIGHTEOUS--MADE RIGHT WITH GOD--not because of our perfection or any of our good works but because of JESUS’ PERFECTION and ALL HE DID--HIS GOOD WORK. And we have a Life-choice to make: ACCEPT GOD or REJECT HIM. And our choice--our final answer-- will determine our futures, our final destinations: Whether we will live forever IN ADAM as REBELS and SINNERS separated from and rejected by GOD or IN CHRIST as SONS and DAUGHTERS forgiven and reconciled, in the eternal presence of GOD. This is GOD's gift to us: FREEDOM--FREE WILL.
So, if JESUS in His ministry was not afraid to HUMBLE HIMSELF, SEEK and SERVE OTHERS, TOUCH DIRT, and CHANGE LIVES, why, as today’s FOLLOWERS, BELIEVERS, and FISHERS of men and women, should we be? GOD is our LIGHT and our SALVATION, so whom should we fear? GOD is the STRENGTH of our lives, so of whom shall we be afraid? Nobody but Him: The LIVING GOD.
