{"id":18149,"date":"2018-03-21T14:06:18","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T18:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=18149"},"modified":"2018-03-21T14:36:55","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T18:36:55","slug":"worship-wednesday-whiter-than-snow-an-old-hymn-and-chris-tomlins-at-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=18149","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – Whiter Than Snow – an Old Hymn and Chris Tomlin’s At the Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cCome now, and let us reason together,\u201d s<\/span><\/em>ays the Lord<\/span>, <\/span>\u201cThough your sins are like scarlet, t<\/span><\/em>hey shall be as white as snow; th<\/span>ough they are red like crimson, t<\/span><\/em>hey shall be as wool.<\/em> – Isaiah 1:18<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.<\/span><\/em> – Psalm 51:7b<\/a><\/p>\n

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, \u201cBehold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” –\u00a0<\/em>John 1:29<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,<\/span><\/em>…to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.<\/em> – Revelation 1:5-6<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The snow outside has me all distracted. Although Spring is officially here, a day-long snowfall has turned everything white again. Our daffodils have bounced back from an earlier snowfall, a wind storm, and rain over the last couple of weeks. The weight of this snow and the freezing cold may, this time, close out this early season of blooming.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What else came to mind this morning is an old hymn I learned as a child. Whiter Than Snow<\/em><\/a>. We would sometimes sing it at church, after the sermon and during the “invitation”. That call to the altar for those gathered to worship. The lyrics dealt with our sinful hearts and serious need for a Savior. Also within the message of the song was God’s promise and power to take our sins away, through Christ’s sinless life and death on the cross.<\/p>\n

As the Scriptures say, He can indeed make us “whiter than snow”…or as white “as wool”.\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Max Pixel<\/a><\/p>\n

We don’t talk about sin as much today. Even when we did, in my childhood, it was easy for us to get caught up in legalism, looking for latitude in our service in church…rather than wrestling with the condition of our hearts before God.<\/p>\n

That old hymn by James L. Nicholson<\/a> served me well in the waywardness of my youth. The first-person lyric actually gives the image of someone who knows the experience of being cleansed by God, through Christ, and then falling back into sin. There is an earnest longing to be “perfectly whole”. Some would find the theology lacking in this song, because what Jesus did for us, in cleansing us from “all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9<\/a>) was completed on the Cross. The presence and power of sin will be something we wrestle until Heaven, but He has made us clean by His blood.<\/p>\n

That demands a sacred pause…and this snow day has given it to me.<\/p>\n

The version I know of Whiter Than Snow<\/em>, from my childhood, is here<\/a>. Updated versions of this\u00a0 can be found here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It may be just too old to engage some of you, but a bit of the lyric follows:.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
    \n
  1. Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
    \nI want Thee forever to live in my soul;
    \nBreak down every idol, cast out every foe\u2014
    \nNow wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.<\/p>\n