Yesterday I drove past a strip mall called Tower Plaza. The word tower triggered a thought of the
Tower of Babel. The story of the Tower of Babel is found in Genesis 11:1-9. At
the time of the Tower of Babel, all people of the earth spoke one language.
They gathered themselves together and said “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the
heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the
face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:4. God did not allow their plan
to succeed. He scattered the people and caused them to begin speaking in different
languages. The people were trying to
make a name for themselves and their hope was in their tower and their unity
with one another.
My thought yesterday of
the Tower of Babel was followed with a thought of how people try to climb up to
God. When people try to earn salvation or complete their salvation by their own
righteousness, they are trying to climb up to God on a tower of good works;
their hope is in their good works. But no one has intrinsic righteousness,
apart from Christ. The Bible says that we are altogether an unclean thing. A tower
of good works will be torn down, just as the plans to build the Tower of Babel were
torn down.
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Isaiah 64:6
Christ is the only way to God. Rather than us climbing up to
him, a feat that is impossible and drives us from him, he came down to us. He
came down and bore the penalty for our sins on the cross. He rose again three
days later and ascended to heaven where he sits at the right hand of God the
Father. Those that trust in Jesus, the eternal Son of God as their Savior are
clothed in the righteousness of Christ. In Christ, our polluted garments are
replaced with the clothes of salvation.
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my
soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of
salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns
herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10
Today I would like to share a poem by
John Newton, the author of the famous hymn, Amazing Grace. John Newton’s unrighteousness
was visible to human eyes. He spent
several years in the slave trade until he was converted. By his involvement in
the slave trade, he was responsible for the gross mistreatment of many. The mistreatment
of slaves was so severe it often led to the death of slaves. Some
unrighteousness is hidden in the heart and only God sees it. Attempts at climbing a tower of good works to
earn favor with God is unrighteousness before him. God is not pleased with
anyone apart from Christ. Weather our unrighteousness is visible to the eyes of
men or not, it is visible to God who knows and sees all things. There is
nothing that escapes his eye. But God is pleased to look upon his Son rather
than upon our sins when we come to him by grace in faith, which is a gift of
God (Ephesians 2:8-9.) God will cleanse those who trust in him from all their
unrighteousness, from self-righteousness to murder. This is amazing grace. Before I
move on to Newton’s poem, I would like to share some passages of the assurance
of salvation we have in the Lord Jesus Christ:
“Come now, let us reason together, says
the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Isaiah 1:18
He hath not dealt
with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For
as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that
fear him.
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed
our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame;
he remembereth that we are dust. Psalm 103:10-14
Please note: the word fear in in the above passage
means love, honor, and respect. It does not mean a trembling slavish fear.
“There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.For the law of the
Spirit of life has set you free in
Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done
what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,he
condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the
righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1-4
In closing, here is the poem by John Newton:
In Evil long I took
Delight
In evil long I took
delight,
Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object
struck my sight,
And stopped my wild
career:
I saw One hanging on
a tree
In agonies and blood,
Who fixed His languid
eyes on me,
As near His cross I
stood.
Sure never till my
latest breath
Can I forget that
look:
It seemed to change
me with His death
Though not a word He
spoke:
My conscience felt
and owned the guilt,
And plunged me in
despair;
I saw my sins His
Blood had spit
And helped to nail
Him there.
Alas! I knew not what
I did!
But now my tears are
vain:
Where my trembling
soul shall be hid?
For I the Lord have
slain?
A second look He
gave, which said,
‘I freely all
forgive;
This Blood is for the
ransom paid:
I die that thou mayst
live.’
Thus while His death
my sin displays
In all its blackest
hue,
Such is the mystery
of grace,
It seals my pardon
too.
With pleasing grief,
and mournful joy,
My spirit now is
filled,
That I should such a life
destroy,
Yet live by Him I
killed!
