Our dog Xena, who has the colors of a Holstein cow, left our house one day through a gate. I was coming home from Waco. Melanie came home from work after dark. We had no idea where to begin to look. "We are worse off than we thought, and more loved than we ever dreamed." Some years ago I heard this summation of the gospel. Before Tim Keller preached this in Manhattan, Isaiah preached it in Israel. How do we ever become what God wants us to be?
First, we notice transparent confession. "We all, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way." Is that your story? If we preach and live the gospel, we will have to be honest enough to own our own brokenness. Isaiah is not blaming his parents, or playing the role of victim. Sheep go astray of their own volition. So do people, only we are much more likely to know we are doing it. We are worse off than we thought!
Second, notice the imputed righteousness. "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." Doesn't that sound patently unfair? We commit the crime and he does the time? God charged our sins to Jesus' account. Unimaginable love.
One of the hardest things to believe is that God loves us, really loves us. Do we live in a church community which would allow us to admit that we are broken people who have gone astray? Or do we play pretend? Are we saved because of what Christ did, or because we are mostly trying to do well? Our answers to these questions have everything to do with our lives and our eternity.
