Sin is an uncreative power that reigns individually and systemically, within families and within nations, within our hearts and within our world. Yet, we are experts at not seeing our sin. In my last post, I shared how I borrow Tolkein’s orcs from The Lord of the Rings to help me uncover the sin that makes me less human and more orcish.
Another way I use my imagination to recognize the distorting power of sin is to imagine speaking with Saruman, who, after studying the dark magic, eventually coveted it for himself. In these imagined conversations, Sauroman will push me further into my cynical thoughts and critical opinions, twisting my mind from conviction to conceit. These ideas, if unleashed, could benefit the mission of Sauron. Though extreme, imagining either scenario helps me see the reality of the human condition as told in Genesis 3.
What about you?
When this reality stares us in the face and we come to the end of our rope, Jesus is waiting. He is waiting for us to trust in Him, give ourselves to His kind Kingship, and wash us clean. Throughout the Bible, there are images and shadows of the Clean one making us clean (Ortlund, 31). Besides the cross, the image of sin atonement that sticks most in my mind is from the Book of Isaiah.
The Book of Isaiah is filled with comic- book-like, fantastical imagery from the prophet’s dream, visions, and theological interpretations of the sorry status of the exiled Israelites (Try to say that one twice!). It is ripe with images to add to your imagination collection. In Isaiah 6, Isaiah describes himself in the throne room of God. Wild looking seraphim surround the throne of God saying to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). Doorposts shake and smoke fills the temple.
In the face of the Lord’s glory, power, and holiness, Isaiah shouts, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Though he seems like a holy and mighty man because he is about to be commissioned by God to prophesy to the people of God, he is unclean. He is not sinless. He is not holy. But, he is not turned away.
Instead, one of the seraphim flies to him holding live coal from the altar. With it, he touches Isaiah’s mouth and says, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Adapted from Isaiah 4:6-7). So, Isaiah is cleansed from his iniquity by burning coal, something you’d expect would hurt him.
Now, the challenge is to apply this image into our imagination over and above competing images from our Western individualist imaginations. Freedom and healing are not found inside me, instead, they are found in Christ. Being a good human is not a matter of “letting it go” and believing in my own truth, but trusting that God’s truth is better and that I need rescuing. Strengthening our imaginations to faithfully conform to the narrow, but the rich path of biblical wisdom is as much a training exercise as going for a run or lifting weights.
In that spirit, here are some questions to help you borrow Isaiah’s imagination for your own:
Where is my lack? Where is my uncleanness? Where am I sinning?
What am I doing to try to compensate for it, or avoid it and ignore it?
Pause and meet with God in prayer and confession.
What is God actually calling me to do in this midst of my sin and in the light of His forgiveness?
Get quiet again. Pray and imagine yourself in Isaiah 6:1-7.
What does this truth mean in light of your sin? How do you respond toward God, yourself, and others?
Resources:
Ortlund, Dane Calvin.Gentle and Lowly: the Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. Crossway, 2020.
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